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

theguardian.com

271–280 of 401 posts

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

#271

When software companies switch to on-demand flex labor at below minimum wage everyone on this site who supports Prop 22 will be singing a different tune.

A very irrational comment.

Software engineering isn't something everybody in the country can do at the drop of a hat.

If somebody wants to be a full time driver-employee, there are taxi firms/limousine companies/bus driving companies/courier companies.

They don't want that though.

They want the freedom that comes with picking your own hours using a low effort/common & widespread skill(driving a non-commercial vehicle).

Also, the site fiverr and similar sites already exists(as well as entire outsourcing industries) if somebody does want to have their software developed by transient programmers.

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

#273
post #69

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…

It's anecdotal but I always chat with my Uber drivers and nearly 100% of them are driving full time. I assume it's a "most rides are driven by a full-timer, most drivers are part timers" situation. I don't really see why we need a third category, it should just be that some drivers are full time and some are not. I don't believe that Uber could sufficiently fulfill even half the rides with only the true part timers s…

According to a survey of SF drivers[0]

71% of drivers work 30 or more hours, and 50% work 40 or more.

More troubling, 53% relied on gig work for all of their income. Another 10% said gig work accounted for at least 75% of their income.

[0] https://transform.ucsc.edu/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/OnDema...

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

#274

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…

Just to be clear: I'm assuming you're employed with traditional benefits, so your husband is on your insurance et. al.? Is "you have to have a spouse with a traditional job" really what you imagine "the way Uber was originally envisioned?"

That seems to be sorta missing the point. People don't want "Uber to BE a full-time job", they just want it to be possible for it to replace one.

> I still think we need a third class of employment, but that’s not what was on the table here.

Really what this is proof of is that employer benefits are a fundamentally broken idea. Employers will always, ALWAYS find ways to cheat their way around providing them when they can. Regulation will always be catching up.

Back in 2009, I thought the hippies were crazy to be staking so much on their failed quest for a public option in the ACA. Now? Sign me up as a M4A proponent. The system's just broken.

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

#275

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No. He wasn't a political actor. He was concerned with God's law and not the law of man. Not to mention that social justice as a concept came long after Jesus's time.

Everything is political. Social justice existed LONG before Jesus' time, it just didn't have a specific name.

Biblical societies had overt caste and class systems. Social justice tries to flatten anything resembling these. You mentioned that you think Jesus was an advocate of social justice but didn't explain why. Maybe our understanding of social justice is different from one another's.

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

#276

Alternative spin, same facts: "voters undo unpopular overreach by state government".

Ironically, the next article at the bottom of the page is "America has chosen Joe Biden to be the 46th president of the United States. The American people have disavowed four years of a thuggish presidency."

Perhaps this article should start with "California has chose the gig economy. The Californian people have disavowed the fascist overreach of AB-5"

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

#277
post #198

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This really seems to be a common trend on these Uber discussions. Americans bringing up cracks in the terribly terribly faulty infrastructure/systems (such as the legal system or the healthcare system) and try to find a way to blame it on Uber/gigwork. It's quite incredible really.

No it's not that incredible. Workers have rights. That's been true for over 100 years. The fact that Uber is trying to skirt it, and they've been getting away with it is incredible.

The only failing of Uber(maybe the legal system) is that there's either no legal requirement to check the driver has the correct insurance before allowing them on the platform and that doesn't exist because there's no law that requires it of Uber(w.r.t OPs comment)

That's a a failing of your local/state/federal legislators not the company.

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

#279

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The point that you're ignoring is that most people working these "entry-level" jobs in fact DO depend on them to cover their living expenses. What you're suggesting is to set those people in a race to the bottom along with the high school kid and retiree looking for "a little extra money". The point of setting a living wage is to set a bare minimum standard for employment. You'd also find that the same politicians pu…

No, that point that you're ignoring in pointing that out is that if they don't depend on these jobs then they're entirely unemployed . Chopping off the bottom of the labor market benefits a few people, yes, it just throws others who are less valuable to your political party into the abyss. > You'd also find that the same politicians pushing a for a minimum wage are the ones trying to address broken housing policies.…

> No, that point that you're ignoring in pointing that out is that if they don't depend on these jobs then they're entirely unemployed.

Those jobs don't disappear just because you mandate a living wage.

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

#280
post #69

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's anecdotal but I always chat with my Uber drivers and nearly 100% of them are driving full time. I assume it's a "most rides are driven by a full-timer, most drivers are part timers" situation. I don't really see why we need a third category, it should just be that some drivers are full time and some are not. I don't believe that Uber could sufficiently fulfill even half the rides with only the true part timers s…

Where are you taking Ubers? I'm surprised by this since even low level entry jobs, like hostessing(sp?), working at the grocery store, delivering pizza, all pay better than Uber. In Houston almost everyone I talked to were - retired, raising kids, had another jobs, going to school, or had some health issues that prevented full time employment. The vast majority of the economy is made up of jobs where a company tells…

My experience with Uber drivers here in CZ is that they are guys who like to drive.
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