Gig economy companies spent more than $200M to bankroll Proposition 22 • Hacker News Board

Re: Gig economy companies spent more than $200M to bankroll Proposition 22

#71

Post by tor_anon_1 » Fri, Nov 13, 2020, 2:37 PM UTC

wavepruner wrote: post #56

tor_anon_1 wrote: post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"thank God for these benevolent companies that lobby against universal healthcare and labor unions, so they can then be there for us when we don't have healthcare or union protection" Put another way: "Thank God purdue pharma is now manufacturing the cure[1] for the opioid epidemic that purdue pharma started" 1. https://apnews.com/article/6751b84767e8a1ebbaea6cb628ac2a11

As a disabled person who has also benefitted immensely from Uber, I hear this a lot, and it is really frustrating. No one will help me, especially progressive leaning people. You don't get political or social brownie points for helping disabled people the way you would for other minority groups who are struggling. We are constantly ignored and forgotten. I was in a situation where I needed money for healthcare that w…

>No one will help me, especially progressive leaning people. You don't get political or social brownie points for helping disabled people the way you would for other minority groups who are struggling. We are constantly ignored and forgotten.

I have no idea what this is about but there was very strong activist push to get the ADA in 1990 and similarly the ACA in 2011 but I guess that doesn't count

> I was in a situation where I needed money for healthcare that will never be covered by insurance, especially government sponsored universal insurance

No clue what this means or how you could possibly even know that.

>You healthy people aren't nearly as caring as you'd like to believe.

Bold of you to assume that I'm healthy and don't have a vested interest in universal healthcare getting passed

Re: Gig economy companies spent more than $200M to bankroll Proposition 22

#72

Post by wavepruner » Fri, Nov 13, 2020, 2:37 PM UTC

esrauch wrote: post #64

wavepruner wrote: post #56

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As a disabled person who has also benefitted immensely from Uber, I hear this a lot, and it is really frustrating. No one will help me, especially progressive leaning people. You don't get political or social brownie points for helping disabled people the way you would for other minority groups who are struggling. We are constantly ignored and forgotten. I was in a situation where I needed money for healthcare that w…

I'm confused by the "needed money for healthcare that would never be covered by universal insurance", are you sure such costs wouldn't be covered by NHS or similar had you lived in another country?

No, the treatments I need are experimental, and there is a tremendous amount of hostility from healthcare workers directed at people with my illness. It is very controversial.

Europeans are just as fucked as Americans when they have this illness.

Re: Gig economy companies spent more than $200M to bankroll Proposition 22

#73

Post by piva00 » Fri, Nov 13, 2020, 2:37 PM UTC

treeman79 wrote: post #18

Got injured awhile back. Disability decided to play hardball. Gig jobs are all that kept family off the street while I recovered. Starting and stopping anytime as my body could tolerate. Or renting out rooms on Airbnb. Sometimes it took me 4 hours to change sheets and tidy up, but it made the difference. Not saying their good companies. But gigs was crazy valuable to me.

Gig companies shouldn't take the place of a functioning welfare in a rich society, I'm glad it helped you individually but it's symptom of a much larger issue that when patched that way just hides it away into the future...

Re: Gig economy companies spent more than $200M to bankroll Proposition 22

#74

Post by yadco » Fri, Nov 13, 2020, 2:37 PM UTC

esrauch wrote: post #64

wavepruner wrote: post #56

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As a disabled person who has also benefitted immensely from Uber, I hear this a lot, and it is really frustrating. No one will help me, especially progressive leaning people. You don't get political or social brownie points for helping disabled people the way you would for other minority groups who are struggling. We are constantly ignored and forgotten. I was in a situation where I needed money for healthcare that w…

I'm confused by the "needed money for healthcare that would never be covered by universal insurance", are you sure such costs wouldn't be covered by NHS or similar had you lived in another country?

The NHS has very long waiting list.

Re: Gig economy companies spent more than $200M to bankroll Proposition 22

#75

Post by momokoko » Fri, Nov 13, 2020, 2:39 PM UTC

ericabiz wrote: post #51

My husband drives for Uber, and I’m glad the proposition passed as it is. He drives the way Uber was originally envisioned. He goes out some nights if there’s a surge, and in the morning on the way to work he points the app toward our stores and grabs a person (pre-pandemic) or a food delivery (today) on his way in. It pays for gas money, car maintenance, and then some. Some months he makes a few hundred dollars. Som…

Did he collect unemployment, which he does not pay into, during Covid? What is the max payout for his insurance as we’ll need to cover the rest since he is not covered by workers compensation? I could go on, but the point isn’t to protect him, the point is to protect us from picking up the bill for things he and Uber are not paying into.

Re: Gig economy companies spent more than $200M to bankroll Proposition 22

#76

Post by bazooka_penguin » Fri, Nov 13, 2020, 2:39 PM UTC

satya71 wrote: post #7

jimmar wrote: post #2

Maybe I'm too libertarian-leaning, but doesn't the author of the article have the option of NOT driving for Uber? If California is truly one of the wealthiest economies, the author should be able to find a different line of work.

Have you tried finding work when your education is not in demand? Please don’t minimize other’s lived experience.

Why do you think Uber/Lyft will remain accessible if drivers have to be employees?

Re: Gig economy companies spent more than $200M to bankroll Proposition 22

#77

Post by wavepruner » Fri, Nov 13, 2020, 2:39 PM UTC

tor_anon_1 wrote: post #71

wavepruner wrote: post #56

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As a disabled person who has also benefitted immensely from Uber, I hear this a lot, and it is really frustrating. No one will help me, especially progressive leaning people. You don't get political or social brownie points for helping disabled people the way you would for other minority groups who are struggling. We are constantly ignored and forgotten. I was in a situation where I needed money for healthcare that w…

>No one will help me, especially progressive leaning people. You don't get political or social brownie points for helping disabled people the way you would for other minority groups who are struggling. We are constantly ignored and forgotten. I have no idea what this is about but there was very strong activist push to get the ADA in 1990 and similarly the ACA in 2011 but I guess that doesn't count > I was in a situat…

The ADA is a disaster for many disabled people. It has created a tremendous amount of hostility and misunderstanding.

"No clue what this means or how you could possibly even know that."

I know this because I have the illness and have been to 40 doctors who all denied me healthcare based on this fact.

"Bold of you to assume that I'm healthy and don't have a vested interest in universal healthcare getting passed"

I edited my post to remove the "you" part so as to not make that assumption. Apologies.

Re: Gig economy companies spent more than $200M to bankroll Proposition 22

#78

Post by wildrhythms » Fri, Nov 13, 2020, 2:39 PM UTC

wavepruner wrote: post #56

tor_anon_1 wrote: post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"thank God for these benevolent companies that lobby against universal healthcare and labor unions, so they can then be there for us when we don't have healthcare or union protection" Put another way: "Thank God purdue pharma is now manufacturing the cure[1] for the opioid epidemic that purdue pharma started" 1. https://apnews.com/article/6751b84767e8a1ebbaea6cb628ac2a11

As a disabled person who has also benefitted immensely from Uber, I hear this a lot, and it is really frustrating. No one will help me, especially progressive leaning people. You don't get political or social brownie points for helping disabled people the way you would for other minority groups who are struggling. We are constantly ignored and forgotten. I was in a situation where I needed money for healthcare that w…

>I was in a situation where I needed money for healthcare

By your account, the problem is a for-profit healthcare system. Gig work might have helped you purchase a highly inflated healthcare plan, but it doesn't address the underlying issue: that people shouldn't be forced into that situation in the first place.

You mentioned you are disabled, did you not qualify for disability insurance/SSI?

Re: Gig economy companies spent more than $200M to bankroll Proposition 22

#79

Post by [deleted] » Fri, Nov 13, 2020, 2:40 PM UTC

treeman79 wrote: post #18

Got injured awhile back. Disability decided to play hardball. Gig jobs are all that kept family off the street while I recovered. Starting and stopping anytime as my body could tolerate. Or renting out rooms on Airbnb. Sometimes it took me 4 hours to change sheets and tidy up, but it made the difference. Not saying their good companies. But gigs was crazy valuable to me.

[deleted]

Re: Gig economy companies spent more than $200M to bankroll Proposition 22

#80

Post by crazy1van » Fri, Nov 13, 2020, 2:41 PM UTC

If these companies are as bad to work for as this author describes, why on earth would she continue to work for them? The author’s rebuttal might be that she has no choice because these are her only options. If that were true, then I’d be much more grateful and wouldn’t advocate for laws that might destroy them. These companies didn’t exist a decade ago and the continued existence of gig work is not a foregone conclusion.

Also, it seems like the far more reliability successful path to improve ones lot in life would be to work to personally improve your skill set instead of focusing on legal changes in the hands of millions of people you don’t know and don’t control.