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Rideshare operations are being suspended in California

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Re: Rideshare operations are being suspended in California

#411
post #49

The move seems to be specifically in response to the recent court order: > Superior Court Judge Ethan Schulman ruled Monday [August 10, 2020] that Lyft and Uber's thousands of contract drivers should be given the same protections and benefits under labor law as other employees of the ride-hailing companies. > The judge said Uber and Lyft have refused to comply with a California law passed last year that was supposed…

Interesting how cities are being allowed to violate the same by not holding their own taxi services into account[0] that they regulate thereby letting them skirt the law. This is likely because these companies tend to put good money into local political campaigns. This law is impacting people outside of Uber and Lyft but those two are highlighted because it thwarted the lock down many municipalities had over cab comp…

> Then throw in that Uber and Lyft were truly effective alternatives to unionized mass transit lines operated in many cities

No they weren't. It's called "mass transit" for a reason - replacing trains and buses with masses of individuals riding in separate cars is not an effective alternative. While Uber and Lyft are more convenient for certain trips, mass transit still has a place due to capacity constraints.

> If they were out to protect workers they had many more ways to do it.

Such as what? Strengthening collective bargaining rights? Oh wait, you don't like unions either.

Re: Rideshare operations are being suspended in California

#412

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I live in Austin and sometimes I think if I really need a major procedure it would be just simpler to drive to Mexico and get it done there. This even has a name: Medical Tourism.

I wonder if medical tourism provides a capitalist solution to the healthcare problem in the US. Could it be cheaper for a health insurance company to pay for flights to and from other countries along with procedures in those countries? There are a lot of non-emergency medical issues which can be serviced this way. In the long run, such insurance would drive down the price of traditional health insurance as well as th…

They literally already do this

Re: Rideshare operations are being suspended in California

#413

California has proven itself again and again to be really good at centrally planning the economic activities of individuals so I think this will work out pretty well in the end.

That is why the California economy is collapsing. /s Everybody likes to complain about California. When I was born here it was about 15m people. Now its 40m. If you are unhappy, please leave to a lower cost, lower tax state. People have been predicting California's decline my entire life and the real problem is it can't handle the growth. Also, California has been sucking up employing the young and of mid-west and so…

When California had 15m, most of the controls in place now did not yet exist.

Re: Rideshare operations are being suspended in California

#414

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is an interesting idea. Is this an unintended consequence of binding health insurance to your employment? According to the NYT: "During World War II, federal wage controls prevented employers from wooing workers with higher pay, so companies started offering health insurance as a way around the law. Of course, this form of nonmonetary compensation is still pay. When the war ended, the practice stuck." I would mu…

It would seem like businesses brought this on themselves ... It's potentially good for employers, as it increases friction in the labor market.

Good point. Health insurance is a form of golden handcuffs. The pain of switching health insurance providers has definitely deterred me from changing jobs before. Microsofts insurance in the early 2000's was so good, I stayed there long enough to become grossly underpaid. When I finally did leave, my salary increased by 50%!

There is really isn't much incentive for companies to stop offering health insurance as a benefit.

Re: Rideshare operations are being suspended in California

#416
post #394

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I keep paying my health insurance premium at my home country just because the health insurance in the US is completely broken. I feel that if you get seriously sick in the US you're in an almost sure path to financial insolvency. My employer pays probably a shit ton of money for my health insurance and what I get is the most subpar, confusing, broken and sometimes blatantly extortive service ever. I live in Austin an…

>>I live in Austin and sometimes I think if I really need a major procedure it would be just simpler to drive to Mexico it is amazing what a Free market would bring right? Instead in the US we have this flawed belief that more government is what we need to solve healthcare never understanding that Government is the source of the problem

Wow you took a very flawed lesson from that post.

Re: Rideshare operations are being suspended in California

#417
post #359

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Friend does this - she raves about the results.

I definitely recommend it for dental work. You can easily find a dentist in Mexico that went to school in the US and has the same credentials. You'll save so much money.

I recommended a friend who needed heart surgery with less than great US health insurance go to India to have it done. US trained doctors, recuperated in accommodations equivalent to a five star resort. Cheap enough they could pay for it in cash.

I am downright surprised I haven't seen a YC startup that performs this sort of medical tourism brokerage to be honest. Take this business model! I'll be your first angel investment.

Re: Rideshare operations are being suspended in California

#418
post #31

Am I nuts, or is the heart of this issue really the fact that our healthcare system is built on tying benefits to full time jobs?

This is an interesting idea. Is this an unintended consequence of binding health insurance to your employment? According to the NYT: "During World War II, federal wage controls prevented employers from wooing workers with higher pay, so companies started offering health insurance as a way around the law. Of course, this form of nonmonetary compensation is still pay. When the war ended, the practice stuck." I would mu…

>>It would seem like businesses brought this on themselves by offering benefits to get around compensation limits imposed by the government.

That is a strange way to Phrase that... Government imposes unethical pay caps, and the "business" brought this on, not government?

No this problem is 100% the fault of the government not business

Re: Rideshare operations are being suspended in California

#419

What people are not talking about is how much congestion these services bring to city streets. For San Francisco traffic congestion increased by 60% between 2010-2016[1] and Lyft/Uber contributed to half of that. That is very bad as more traffic leads to more traffic accidents, more fatalities and pedestrians getting hit. In addition lets not forget the heavy toll on the environment with air pollution and its myriad…

If Muni was any good, people wouldn't have used ridesharing. Ridesharing costs a bit more. This just shows that public transit in SF is so bad that people would rather pay more money for a taxi.

Re: Rideshare operations are being suspended in California

#420
post #380

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Driving jobs already exist if that’s what they wanted. Turning ridesharing into full-time employment doesn't solve anything other than removing the freelance opportunity for many who find it fits their situation best.

> Nobody is being forced into anything. They're choosing this because it's the best opportunity. That is such a lazy take. Of course people are forced to take whatever job is available: humans need food, shelter and healthcare. If society doesn't collectively agree about a minimum standard of what a job entails, you inevitably ends up with the "bottom of the barrel" living in inhumane conditions. As a society, it is…

Anybody who thinks you can't be "forced into a job" has never been desperately poor.
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