It is disturbing to read so much push back on a sight supposed to elect “more and better Democrats” pushing back on California’s new ABC test for freelance work.
The argument seems to come down to people wanting to be free to make their living contracting with employers as freelancers and fearing the imposing new tests will force them to be hired as employees instead of retaining the freedom truly independent contractors have.
This argument is also PRECISELY the language used to pass “right to work” laws. Workers don’t want to be forced to join unions… on the surface because they don’t want to pay union dues… but also because unions, especially in the trades, hold people to higher work standards, protect seniority, and provide for career ladders making junior electricians, say, work their way up to take on the bigger jobs.
Now, hiring a young writer for you ad campaign is not going to cause the damage hiring an inexperienced electrician could cause. But the bottom line is creative class workers deserve union protections, career advancement and solid health care and retirement plans. The idea that because YOU have a lot of talent and have it figured out, you shouldn’t have to participate in a system to protect others is a purely Republican, pro-business and anti-union stance.
Uber drivers are being exploited, and should be considered employees. Likewise, many freelance artists and writers. If you had to be treated as employees, in states like CA or pro-union states, you would also gain significant bargaining power to get better benefits, money, etc.
I am also disturbed by the number of business owners commenting, basically complaining that it will cost them too much to hire all these people and give them benefits. Do you see what’s going on here? Business owners ARE exploiting the majority of people as freelancers because these should be employees.
But wait, I don’t want the responsibility of being told what to do every day, I want to bounce around from gig to gig…. say the top 5% of earners who freelance. The rest of the freelance community is left scrambling living “paycheck” to “paycheck”…
… with everyone on a forever downward spiral of gig employment, no real protections on overtime, holidays, sick pay… all of the things Unions fought and died to bring into our economy… are being wasted away because people, including the creative class, are not continuing the fight.
In 10 years, the 40 hour work week, time and a half, and holiday and sick time, will only be a reality for traditional Union employees (govt, auto, etc) in blue states.
Kos and the creative class on here really need to re-examine their position on this issue.
Note a lot of these issues go away with universal healthcare.