After setback, union again sues to block California’s gig worker initiative
Rideshare drivers and a labor union are again challenging California’s gig worker initiative in courts less than a week after the California Supreme Court declined to hear their request to quickly strike down the new law.
SEIU and rideshare drivers filed their case in the Alameda County Superior Court, again arguing that California’s Proposition 22 is unconstitutional because it interferes with the ability of the Legislature to establish a workers’ compensation system for gig workers.
The initiative, which passed in November, exempts drivers for Uber, Lyft and other app-based companies from a labor law that requires employers to provide benefits to more workers.
Plaintiffs had initially filed their case in the California Supreme Court in January, saying they had hoped the state’s highest court would intervene to stop the initiative from taking effect.
Because the California Supreme Court’s declined to take the expedited case, the union and drivers are suing in a lower court in the hopes of one day reaching the state’s highest court.
Unions and labor advocates have said the initiative falls far short of what gig workers deserve, such as a full range of benefits including unemployment insurance and paid sick leave.
Ride-hailing companies and proponents of Prop. 22 have said the lawsuit seeks to undermine the “clear democratic will of the people.”
Meanwhile, the California Supreme Court on Wednesday refused to review the lower court’s decision issued in October before the passage of Prop. 22 that said Uber and Lyft must pay California drivers as employees. Prop. 22 makes the issue moot, but the Supreme Court’s ruling does allow California to go after those companies for labor law violations that occurred prior to the initiative’s passage.
