While many poll watchers had expected a razor-thin decision on the Proposition 22 ballot measure exempting gig drivers from California’s AB 5 law, voters delivered overwhelming support for the companies’ push to let their workers stay independent contractors.
While the results still need to be certified, the race was called Tuesday in favor to the measure, which Uber and Lyft had been campaigning for since last year.
The most recent figures available from the California Secretary of State showed voters approved the measure by a 17-point margin, 58.5% to 41.5%.
The court case ordering Uber and Lyft to comply with AB 5 remains open, but the proposition’s passage will diminish the court order, Mary-Beth Moylan, associate dean for Academic Affairs at the University of the Pacific McGeorge School of Law, told the Northern California Record.
“We have a new law, so the court case that is suggesting that the app-based companies were violating the labor law [AB5] is going to become moot,” Moylan said.
Uber, Lyft, DoorDash, Instacart, and other gig economy ventures had put roughly $200 million toward passage of the ballot measure.
“I really do think this is somewhat unprecedented,” Moylan said. “I really attribute the success of 22 not to just the money, I think it was a masterful marketing campaign. The ‘Yes’ people, they had unlimited funds to spend; they did a really good job of occupying every possible airwave, media, social media site, phone, text messages. I think they really infiltrated peoples’ consciousness with a very compelling, humanized sort of message that masked the fact that there were big companies and huge dollars behind this.”
After the courts ruled the companies would have to comply with AB5, it raised questions about whether it would lead to them leaving or paring down operations in California, potentially costing consumers more to get around or get deliveries, a particular concern amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
“I do think that heavily influenced people; the prospect of losing services in the pandemic – those were compelling and relentless messages that infiltrated the collective mind of the electorate,” Moylan said. “Certainly in California, the vote was heavily Democratic and we went for Biden in huge numbers, but on the propositions, people were voting about their pocketbooks.”
Meanwhile, as employment laws vary from state to state, there may be similar ballot measures other places.
“Now these companies know that this is one pathway to get what they want and not go through the legislature or the court,” Moylan said, adding there is a lawsuit in Massachusetts right now that seeks to have Uber and Lyft classify their drivers as employees.
A federal gig worker law also could be possible.
“We are committed to working with lawmakers across the country and in Washington to develop tailored solutions that reflect the 21st century economy, and provide certainty to everyone who has come to benefit from the gig economy,” DoorDash Chief Executive Officer Tony Xu said in a blog post.