California’s Prop 22, Funded by Uber and Gig Platforms, Is an Assault on Workers and Democracy

California’s ballot initiative is a brazen power grab by Big Tech

WASHINGTON – Uber and other powerful gig platforms on Tuesday rewrote California employment law in their own favor and against their workers’ interests by bankrolling the most expensive ballot measure in California history: Proposition 22.

In response, Sandeep Vaheesan, legal director at Open Markets Institute, issued the following response:

“Prop 22 is a slap in the face of American democracy. Corporations such as Uber, Lyft, Doordash, and Postmates spent more than $200 million on a propaganda campaign to mislead and intimidate gig-economy workers and voters, just to pass Prop 22. Through this referendum, these powerful platforms have robbed gig workers of basic employment rights in California. Prop 22 makes a mockery of democracy.

“If anything, Prop 22 has further demonstrated that Big Tech corporations are predatory and incompatible with democratic government. These corporations will spend huge sums of money to protect their business models at the expense of workers’ rights and livable wages. Alarm bells are ringing everywhere, and Tuesday’s result in California underscores the urgency of taming these corporate titans and subjecting them to democratic controls.”

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