Ok, but the legislation in CA that was aimed at uber already negatively impacts me and my work as a freelancer consultant in a variety of ways and ironically uber is now exempt.
In my small shop of guys, we ended up having to all independently form our own corporations just so that we can share work amongst eachother to better serve the various clients we each bring in without having to do stupid things like write 3 separate contracts with the client. We don't meet the new ABC test because we all perform a similar scope, so whereas before, it was trivial to just write a 1099 for eachother at the end of the year, now we have to have all the corporate infrastructure which is a huge PITA.
It's not unlike the gun laws in CA... People that don't like guns and know nothing about them write meaningless and often incredibly arbitrary legislation that doesn't address the problem they are really meaning to address but makes things a pain for everyone else.
So, I don't really buy the argument that these types of complaints should just be dismissed. The reality is it's really hard to target "gig" work very specifically without roping in a BUNCH of other contractors that aren't really of interest but will have to comply with the law anyway.
I think there's a factor that people are missing when they try to define these gig workers: marketability -- who directly benefits from the reputation from customers if a worker does a good job?
If the worker does a good job does that impact their marketability -- enable repeat customers and advertising for them specifically (such as via word of mouth) or does it reflect more on the company they are "contracted" to?
In the case of Uber and Lift and Instacart, the platform practically prohibits customers from preferring certain providers that have provided good service in the past, so all of the reputation goes to the platform provider. Things would be a lot fuzzier if these platforms provided matching services and would depend on how competitive these markets effectively are. The market for transportation from point A to point B with pickup in the next 10 minutes is inherently limited by providers that can be at point A in the next 10 minutes, so this market may not be competitive for all sources and destinations.
In general, contractors should not be interacting with their hiring company's customers on the company's behalf. Only employees should represent the company, since the benefits of those interactions reflect on the company and not on the worker performing the interaction.
In my small shop of guys, we ended up having to all independently form our own corporations just so that we can share work amongst eachother to better serve the various clients we each bring in without having to do stupid things like write 3 separate contracts with the client. We don't meet the new ABC test because we all perform a similar scope, so whereas before, it was trivial to just write a 1099 for eachother at the end of the year, now we have to have all the corporate infrastructure which is a huge PITA.
It's not unlike the gun laws in CA... People that don't like guns and know nothing about them write meaningless and often incredibly arbitrary legislation that doesn't address the problem they are really meaning to address but makes things a pain for everyone else.
So, I don't really buy the argument that these types of complaints should just be dismissed. The reality is it's really hard to target "gig" work very specifically without roping in a BUNCH of other contractors that aren't really of interest but will have to comply with the law anyway.