Speaking of Teamsters ... thanks for reminding me of Gonzalez's relationship with the Teamsters. Their lobbyists wrote the new California law, Freelance Worker Protection Act. It was sponsored by San Francisco's Sen. Wiener but written by the Teamsters. This Act purports to be like the freelance-isn't-free laws elsewhere--a government agency that insures freelancers and independent contractors get paid. But California's is different--it's limited to independent workers who successfully make themselves exempt from AB5 under section 2778 of the law.
In a way, I suppose this makes sense. Only folks who are exempt from AB5 can legally work independently, anyway. But here's the thing. In the half dozen other cities and states with freelance-isn't-free laws, no one cares if an independent contractor's status is legal or not. They only care if the contractor worked the work and should have been paid. Here the labor movement, as you said, didn't give a damn about the rest of us. It only cared if we toed their line.
Speaking of Teamsters ... thanks for reminding me of Gonzalez's relationship with the Teamsters. Their lobbyists wrote the new California law, Freelance Worker Protection Act. It was sponsored by San Francisco's Sen. Wiener but written by the Teamsters. This Act purports to be like the freelance-isn't-free laws elsewhere--a government agency that insures freelancers and independent contractors get paid. But California's is different--it's limited to independent workers who successfully make themselves exempt from AB5 under section 2778 of the law.
In a way, I suppose this makes sense. Only folks who are exempt from AB5 can legally work independently, anyway. But here's the thing. In the half dozen other cities and states with freelance-isn't-free laws, no one cares if an independent contractor's status is legal or not. They only care if the contractor worked the work and should have been paid. Here the labor movement, as you said, didn't give a damn about the rest of us. It only cared if we toed their line.
There's a saying: "People are policy." These people continue to show that they are no friends of independent contractors.