Sigh. So much missing/misleading info in this @Curbed piece. Fact: Prop22 guarantees 120% of min wage, health benefits starting at 15 hours/week +other benefits most drivers (80% are PT less than 20 hours/week) would NOT receive if 22 had failed. None of this mentioned, of course

I get tired of repeating this fact not found in most stories on freelancers: 80% of ICs PREFER to be 1099. A majority of us would not take a W2 job for any salary. With drivers, a majority supported Yes on Prop 22. https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200915005369/en/New-Upwork-Study-Finds-36-of-the-U.S.-Workforce-Freelance-Amid-the-COVID-19-Pandemic

And no, freelancers aren’t idiots, as @curbed implies. PT&FT ICs are 1/3 of the workforce, and most of us FLED bad W2 jobs. Unlike this reporter, we KNOW the benefits of 1099 contracts vs W2 jobs, and we CHOSE to be freelancers. Unhappy app drivers can and should delete the app.

25+ CA newspaper editorial boards urged readers to vote YES on Prop22. Yet this story only links to LAT, which pushed NoOn22 while its execs were busy fighting NOT to W2 LAT’s own contractors, who must abide by LAT rules/time clock. Better link here: https://www.sfchronicle.com/business/amp/Prop-22-What-you-need-to-know-about-gig-15657047.php

What else is missing? NO mention of why CA voted Yes: since Jan 1, #AB5 has wrecked careers/lives in 100s of professions, killing off smallbiz, events even pre-pandemic. AB5 passed by supermajority with NO debate. Voters finally got to say ENOUGH: #RepealAB5 @CA_Dem @GavinNewsom

False assertions that all W2 drivers get healthcare/benefits. PT W2 in CA only get 3 sick days after 52 full-time weeks. N/A for PT drivers. Same with healthcare: CA mandate is only for FT W2 workers. With Prop22, insur begins at 15hr/week, full for 25hr/wk (vs ZERO if 22 failed)

Once again, #AB5 was written FOR union$$ by unions, w/o including input from actual indep contractors, 1/3 of workforce. As Willie Brown explains, it was dirty politics that brought us these stupid laws that ban most self employment. @Freelancers_USA

Apps like @Uber @lyft were simply convenient villains. @LorenaAD80’s game plan has always been to outlaw most self employment, in a nutty attempt to boost membership in failing and corrupt unions. I speak for 80+% of freelancers when I say this: LEAVE US ALONE.

That last image explains why union members should be fighting WITH freelancers, and not against us. A majority moonlight as freelancers. And AB5 resulted in losses for CA TV/film, music, theater - driving business to other states. PROAct would push work OUT of the USA. Pls READ:

And here’s @thekimkavin with an excellent piece correcting several myths @Curbed published, explaining why freelancers - who are often top earners in professions - despise AB5 and other anti-freelancer laws. https://www.nbcnews.com/think/opinion/california-voters-saved-uber-lyft-gig-economy-backing-prop-22-ncna1246680

Also: please don’t call us GIG workers. Most of us are skilled professionals running microbusinesses. Love this part of Kim’s story, explaining US labor dept FACTS on freelancers, usually skipped by the laziest reporters: