Posts tagged ballot measure
Commentary: Plan B is Activated
November 19, 2024 // They are now turning to Plan B, which is sectoral organizing. And they notched a big win in the recent election with a ballot proposition in Massachusetts—a win that the mainstream media is heralding as a good thing. In fact, the same pro-union media bias that we saw with reclassification attempts such as Assembly Bill 5 and the PRO Act is simply resetting and restarting anew. Now, it’s being used to promote this other way of trying to limit self-employment.
Massachusetts Ballot Measure Would Shove Rideshare Workers Into the Arms of Unions
October 12, 2024 // Even as independent contractors, however, unions still threaten drivers’ flexibility. Unions might negotiate standardized rates, mandatory breaks, or limits on working hours, which, while beneficial in some industries, could restrict a driver’s ability to capitalize on peak demand periods or adjust their work hours to fit personal schedule. The risk of such changes only magnifies when one considers that the Ballot Measure only requires a 25% vote from drivers to form a union that would represent them as a whole. This means that the 30% of drivers working full-time, who would benefit most from being treated like employees, might be able to dictate policy for all rideshare drivers.
Commentary: The Big Fear? A Real Rematch
July 6, 2024 // Just a few hours after the court’s ruling dropped late last week, allowing both ballot measures to proceed, the Massachusetts attorney general made an announcement of her own. She agreed to a deal that will let Uber and Lyft drivers in Massachusetts remain independent contractors, with a minimum hourly wage of $32.50 and some benefits. Interestingly, the attorney general’s announcement noted that the deal averts giving the people of Massachusetts a chance to vote on the matter:
Minnesota’s Misguided Crackdown Of Independent Contractors
November 1, 2023 // Much to the chagrin of Minnesota regulators, rideshare drivers overwhelmingly identify as independent contractors and not employees. Uber and Lyft drivers have, instead, advocated for portable benefits as a means to insulate themselves from forced reclassification. Utah recently became the first state to pass this reform, while states like Massachusetts are mulling similar bills and will also have an opportunity to vote on a 2024 ballot measure to maintain their IC status. Minnesota should study California Assembly Bill 5 and similar efforts that displaced workers and left them worse off under the guise of “fighting” misclassification.
California fast food workers to get $20 minimum wage under new deal between labor and the industry
September 12, 2023 // Before the law could take effect, the fast food industry gathered enough signatures to qualify a referendum on the law in the November 2024 election. That meant the law would be on hold until voters could decide whether to overturn it. Furious, labor unions sponsored legislation this year that would have made fast food companies like McDonald’s liable for any misdeeds of their mostly independent franchise operators in the state. Democratic lawmakers also restored funding to the Industrial Welfare Commission, a long-dormant state agency that has the power to set wage and workplace standards for multiple industries.
Two states, two visions for the future of labor “Right-to-work” is on the ballot.
October 3, 2022 // Two economic papers published in the last year also reached different conclusions about the consequences of right-to-work laws. The first found right-to-work laws associated with increased manufacturing employment, increased employment, and greater upward mobility. The second found that right-to-work laws lower wages and unionization rates.
Opinion: States should protect caregivers’ Medicaid funds from union skims
June 27, 2022 // Yet, while a number of states including Michigan have taken action to prohibit the dues skim, a May rule by the federal Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) reversed a Trump administration effort to stop the skim nationally. A separate 9th Circuit decision last week also continues to allow unions to trap home care providers into paying them. Robert and Patricia Haynes, cerebral palsy, Gov. Rick Snyder, Harris v. Quinn, Cindy Ochoa, most pro-union president ever,
Democratic Party weighs banning its consultants from anti-union activity
April 19, 2022 // POLITICO has obtained a draft of a contract addendum that would forbid Democratic-aligned consultants from participating in union-busting, aiding an employer in a labor dispute or lobbying against union-backed legislation.
Opinion: Time for a Law That Puts Workers, Not Unions, First
March 25, 2022 // The Employee Rights Act of 2022, unlike Biden’s PRO Act, encourages innovation and job flexibility.