There's no such thing as a 1099 employee. Either you are a contractor who is classified as a sole proprietor of your own business and receive a 1099, or you are an employee and receive a W2.

Just nitpicking.

This post was edited by inkanddagger on Aug 20 2020 11:59am

Sure, I would agree with you if that was indeed the case. But this isn't the case because it's a publicity stunt to garner up support for Prop 22. Our state makes them WAY too much money.

8.5 billion net loss in 2019 from Uber.

I'm sure Cali is one of the better states to operate in because it's relatively wealthy, but still let companies at least turn profitable before finding ways to increase their costs. No stakeholder here is better off with Lyft suspending operations other than competitors who can now give drivers less money and enjoy less competition. Not the state that gets less tax revenue, not the drivers, not the riders.

Should I be able to skirt regulations just because I'm operating at a loss? Isn't that a bit silly? There are very simple things Uber could do to be in compliance such as allowing drivers to dictate how much they should get paid (which is what contractors can do)

Look, I applaud Uber for being a trailblazer because they truly changed the world. However, they were operating in a "no man's land" so to speak when it came to labor laws and the state of CA fixed it (which is their job). Uber has had PLENTY of time to comply and they chose to go the lobbying route instead. If Uber dies because of this, then so be it. Another, more innovative company will take its place. That's the beauty of capitalism.

Lyft and Uber bluffing, they have no capital to spare and have had negative quarters for far too long - and that was pre pandemic

There are other ride sharing companies out there that are slowly rising through the ranks

Uber has AI development going for them, but Lyft is going to be fucked

Sure, but they've had time. They're huge companies in fierce competition. As long as there's demand the hole will be filled. There's no need to worship at the feet of big business. It's demand that creates jobs, not corporate money. Corporate money will always come in to fill the hole if there's sufficient demand, and there is, but no amount of corporate money will create jobs without demand.



This this a million times this. We have been worshiping big corporate money for too long. Bending to them in cases like this is one factor that kills smaller businesses trying to compete in the same playing field.

This post was edited by Thor123422 on Aug 20 2020 01:19pm

Here is an article that should interest everyone: https://hbr.org/2019/07/the-debate-over-how-to-classify-gig-workers-is-missing-the-bigger-picture

I agree that we should have more classifications that allow for flexibility. The question at hand is whether or not current gig workers are more like independent contractors or FTEs....AND what the default classification should be!

Until the legislature comes up with a better solution, ride share companies should abide by the current law.

The demand for taxi services will be fulfilled quite quickly by other regular taxis services or ride sharing apps. It's quite a generic, low-skill service in a saturated market and they make such big losses they won't pay tax anyway. Uber/Lyft need driverless vehicles to have a profitable business, so they'll be rolling forward their tax losses to offset against (potential) future profitable periods for years to come.

Tesla is an innovator with huge growth potential so they would be a miss, no doubt.

People working for Uber/Lyft/Doordash etc are contract workers. I could go sign up to work tomorrow and do it for 30 minutes or 60 hours or i can choose to not do a single ride. It's my choice as a contractor, it's also my choice if i want to accept certain orders/rides, or if i feel unsafe i can just stay home.

You can't have your cake and eat it too as a contractor. Most of these jobs like Uber people make more than minimum wage. I bet in Cali people probably make 25-30 bucks an hour easy. You can't say i want the flexibility and non committal nature of what these jobs offer then turn around and say i also want healthcare, sick days, vacation days, etc.

Ride share companies will abide by this law but they will transfer these costs onto the consumer, you realize that right?

Uber came along and destroyed the taxi business. Now government is doing it's best to stifle the free market and have people pay 60 bucks for a 5 mile ride again.

This post was edited by ofthevoid on Aug 20 2020 02:02pm

Good? Isn't that the way it's supposed to work?

I agree that they are contractors but they do not have the required flexibility of independent contractors. Like I said, the ride share companies could easily fix this. For example, Uber could remove all price controls and allow each driver to dictate the price. However, until Uber gets off its ass and innovates, their "contractors" must be classified as the default classification.