Budapest Post

Cum Deo pro Patria et Libertate
Budapest, Europe and world news

AOC warns of big tech’s influence on Biden after Prop 22 win

AOC warns of big tech’s influence on Biden after Prop 22 win

Democratic representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez says she is ‘very concerned’ about Uber’s role in Joe Biden’s incoming US administration.

United States Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has warned about the influence big technology companies may have on President-elect Joe Biden’s incoming administration, after Uber, Lyft and DoorDash won a political victory in California with the passage of Proposition 22.

Speaking to constituents during a townhall meeting on Thursday, Ocasio-Cortez said she was “very concerned about the role that Uber executives would play in this administration after we saw what happened in California with Prop 22”.

Proposition 22, which passed with 58 percent support, lets firms like Uber classify their drivers as independent contractors, dodging state requirements for labour protections and workers’ benefits.

Opposition labour groups were vastly outspent by Uber, Lyft, DoorDash, Instacart and Postmates, which contributed more than $200m to successfully persuade California voters to support the measure.


App-based gig worker Terresa Mercado participated in a demonstration outside Los Angeles City Hall to urge voters to vote no on Proposition 22


“Our district here, New York 14 – we are a district of cab drivers, which includes yellow cab medallion drivers, and app drivers,” said Ocasio-Cortez, a Democrat who represents parts of the New York City boroughs of The Bronx and Queens.

Prop 22 allows ride-hailing and delivery companies to offer limited benefits, such as a guaranteed minimum wage and flexible hours.

“These app companies have made very public that they want to roll back the labour protections that they successfully did in California and bring that nationwide,” she said.

Ocasio-Cortez’s comments are the first post-election sign of what is likely to be a fight between progressives in the new US Congress, the incoming Biden administration and Republicans about rules governing the gig economy.

“What we are seeing is a dawning of a new era whereby we are moving towards recognition of a new hybrid category of worker between a contractor and an employee,” said Richard Meneghello, a lawyer in Oregon who writes a gig economy blog.

Nationwide push


Uber Chief Executive Officer Dara Khosrowshahi told investors in an earnings call on November 5 the firm would be seeking to apply the Prop 22 model nationwide.

“We should be adding benefits to gig work to make it better, not getting rid of it altogether in favour of an employment-only system,” Khosrowshahi said on the call with investors.

Uber will “loudly advocate” for similar legislation and will “work with governments across the US and the world to make this a reality”, he said.

Tony West, the chief legal officer of Uber who was a leading advocate for Prop 22, is Vice President-elect Kamala Harris’s brother-in-law.

West is married to Harris’s sister Maya Harris and has been a longtime political adviser to Harris since she first ran for office in 2003.

Both Harris and President-elect Biden opposed Prop 22 during the campaign and Harris has told the Los Angeles Times she has never been lobbied by West, although he was a major fundraiser for the Biden campaign.

Prop 22 overrides a 2019 California law that attempted to give gig workers regular job benefits such as overtime pay, sick leave and unemployment insurance.

Uber, Lyft and other companies argued successfully the California law would crush their business models and eliminate services relied on by millions of Californians.

“What I’m going to be looking for and what I’m concerned about are picks [in the Biden transition] from big tech, that will pose an incredible, incredibly damaging role in labour rights and impact on labour,” Ocasio-Cortez said on Thursday, without specifically naming West.

‘They feel emboldened’


“It is interesting to see AOC jump into this,” said Shannon Liss-Riordan, a lawyer in Boston who has pursued class-action lawsuits against employers that classified workers as contractors to avoid paying for benefits.

“They feel emboldened after what they did in California to try to take this show on the road nationwide and it is critical that Congress and the public understand what they pulled off in California and not let them do it anywhere else,” Liss-Riordan told Al Jazeera.

Biden, who campaigned with the support of the AFL-CIO labour federation as “a union guy”, will be under pressure to roll back new regulations promulgated by Donald Trump’s administration that would make it easier for companies like Uber to classify employees as gig workers.


Democratic presidential candidate former Vice President Joe Biden gave a thumbs-up as campaigned with union leaders outside an AFL-CIO union hall in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania


“This is a fierce fight that has been going on for years. Those regulations are very, very pro-employer,” said Michael Maslanka, an assistant professor of law at the University of North Texas at Dallas College of Law.

Outgoing Trump Labor Secretary Eugene Scalia on Thursday said California’s Prop 22 vote was a rebuke of efforts by pro-labour politicians to prevent the liberalisation of new gig worker rules.

“That vote in California is a strong warning to progressives who believe that Americans want radical changes in our employment laws,” Scalia told a meeting of The Federalist Society, a conservative legal group, according to a Law360 report.

In September, a group of Democratic legislators led by Senators Patty Murray and Sherrod Brown introduced legislation in Congress that would provide protections and require benefits for gig workers.

AI Disclaimer: An advanced artificial intelligence (AI) system generated the content of this page on its own. This innovative technology conducts extensive research from a variety of reliable sources, performs rigorous fact-checking and verification, cleans up and balances biased or manipulated content, and presents a minimal factual summary that is just enough yet essential for you to function as an informed and educated citizen. Please keep in mind, however, that this system is an evolving technology, and as a result, the article may contain accidental inaccuracies or errors. We urge you to help us improve our site by reporting any inaccuracies you find using the "Contact Us" link at the bottom of this page. Your helpful feedback helps us improve our system and deliver more precise content. When you find an article of interest here, please look for the full and extensive coverage of this topic in traditional news sources, as they are written by professional journalists that we try to support, not replace. We appreciate your understanding and assistance.
Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Altman Says GPT-5 Already Outpaces Him, Warns AI Could Automate 40% of Work
Russian Research Vessel 'Yantar' Tracked Mapping Europe’s Subsea Cables, Raising Security Alarms
Global Cruise Industry Posts Dramatic Comeback with 34.6 Million Passengers in 2024
U.S. Demands Brussels Scrutinize Digital Rules to Prevent Bias Against American Tech
Private Equity’s Fundraising Surge Triggers Concern of European Market Shake-Out
Tokyo’s Jimbōchō Named World’s Coolest Neighbourhood for 2025
European Officials Fear Trump May Shift Blame for Ukraine War onto EU
The Personality Rights Challenge in India’s AI Era
Italy Considers Freezing Retirement Age at 67 to Avert Scheduled Hike
Italian City to Impose Tax on Visiting Dogs Starting in 2026
Study Finds No Safe Level of Alcohol for Dementia Risk
Trump Says Ukraine Can Fully Restore Borders with NATO Backing
Europe Signals Stronger Support for Taiwan at Major Taipei Defence Show
Germany Weighs Excluding France from Key European Fighter Jet Programme
Cyberattack Disrupts Check-in and Boarding Systems at Major European Airports
Björn Borg Breaks Silence: Memoir Reveals Addiction, Shame and Cancer Battle
When Extremism Hijacks Idealism: How the Baader-Meinhof Gang Emerged and Fell
JWST Data Brings TRAPPIST-1e Closer to Earth-Like Habitability
Trump Orders $100,000 Fee on H-1B Visas and Launches ‘Gold Card’ Immigration Pathway
France’s Looming Budget Crisis and Political Fracture Raise Fears of Becoming Europe’s “Sick Man”
Three Russian MiG-31 Jets Breach Estonian Airspace in ‘Unprecedentedly Brazen’ NATO Incident
European manufacturers against ban on polluting cars: "The industry may collapse"
Turkish car manufacturer Togg Enters German Market with 5-Star Electric Sedan and SUV to Challenge European EV Brands
Christian Brueckner Released from German Prison after Serving Unrelated Sentence
World’s Longest Direct Flight China Eastern to Launch 29-Hour Shanghai–Buenos Aires Direct Flight via Auckland in December
New OpenAI Study Finds Majority of ChatGPT Use Is Personal, Not Professional
The conservative right spreads westward: a huge achievement for 'Alternative for Germany' in local elections
Pope Leo Warns of Societal Crisis Over Mega-CEO Pay, Citing Tesla’s Proposed Trillion-Dollar Package
Poland Green-Lights NATO Deployment in Response to Major Russian Drone Incursion
U.S. and China Agree on Framework to Shift TikTok to American Ownership
Le Pen Tightens the Pressure on Macron as France Edges Toward Political Breakdown
Czech Republic signs €1.34 billion contract for Leopard 2A8 main battle tanks with delivery from 2028
Penske Media Sues Google Over “AI Overviews,” Claiming It Uses Journalism Without Consent and Destroys Traffic
Indian Student Engineers Propose “Project REBIRTH” to Protect Aircraft from Crashes Using AI, Airbags and Smart Materials
One in Three Europeans Now Uses TikTok, According to the Chinese Tech Giant
Could AI Nursing Robots Help Healthcare Staffing Shortages?
NATO Deploys ‘Eastern Sentry’ After Russian Drones Violate Polish Airspace
The New Life of Novak Djokovic
German police raid AfD lawmaker’s offices in inquiry over Chinese payments
Volkswagen launches aggressive strategy to fend off Chinese challenge in Europe’s EV market
France Erupts in Mass ‘Block Everything’ Protests on New PM’s First Day
Poland Shoots Down Russian Drones in Airspace Violation During Ukraine Attack
Apple Introduces Ultra-Thin iPhone Air, Enhanced 17 Series and New Health-Focused Wearables
Macron Appoints Sébastien Lecornu as Prime Minister Amid Budget Crisis and Political Turmoil
Vatican hosts first Catholic LGBTQ pilgrimage
Apple Unveils iPhone 17 Series, iPhone Air, Apple Watch 11 and More at 'Awe Dropping' Event
France joins Eurozone’s ‘periphery’ as turmoil deepens, say investors
France Faces New Political Crisis, again, as Prime Minister Bayrou Pushed Out
Nayib Bukele Points Out Belgian Hypocrisy as Brussels Considers Sending Army into the Streets
France, at an Impasse, Heads Toward Another Government Collapse
×