SEIU Local 721 is thrilled to have a respected national labor champion like Los Angeles County Supervisor Hilda Solis join us to defeat Proposition 22. Supervisor Solis understands that Prop 22 is bad policy because it would give a special pass to rideshare companies like Uber, Lyft and DoorDash and let them buy their way out of following California’s labor laws.
Supervisor Solis realizes that Prop 22 would set a terrible precedent that other big companies no doubt would follow.
And Supervisor Solis recognizes that Uber, Lyft and DoorDash would continue to get away with paying their workers less than the minimum, if Prop 22 passed, giving way to the dreaded “race to the bottom” that would ultimately deteriorate labor standards for people working well outside the rideshare app business. Supervisor Solis knows that a NO vote on Prop 22 does not impact flexibility or independence.
She sees through those lies: Prop 22 is about Uber, Lyft and DoorDash trying to fool their own customers, and the general public, into thinking that some of the richest companies in California shouldn’t have to provide the same basic labor protections that every Mom & Pop business provides for their employees – even though these same companies can afford to finance the most expensive ballot initiative campaign in California’s history. That’s wrong. She knows it and we know it – and that’s why many of the LA-based drivers powering the success of these rideshare companies have organized with the Mobile Workers Alliance (MWA) to stop it.
For years, Uber, Lyft and DoorDash have felt zero obligation to make sure their drivers do get paid the minimum wage and don’t get cheated out of the overtime dollars they worked hard to earn. Prop 22 is really the rideshare companies’ way of trying to fool the public into thinking they’re a model employer. But given their own track record, it’s clear to see that they’re not – and that they cannot be trusted to police themselves. Only the power of the law can protect their own employees from being flat-out exploited. Those same labor laws protect the rest of us, too.
Supervisor Solis gets it and we applaud her for her leadership in introducing a motion passed by a majority of the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors to oppose California’s Proposition 22. SEIU 721 and many fellow labor unions throughout the Golden State are very proud of the hard-working people of the Mobile Workers Alliance who have taken labor organizing to incredible new levels and who have been making calls, sending texts and rallying hard non-stop to send a strong message throughout California: “Vote No on Prop 22!” We will continue doing so through Election Day and we are proud to have Supervisor Solis in solidarity with us.
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