Prop 22 Hellscape: Von's Firing Union Workers

[Zaktar]

And it can be the simplest things, like knowing which lightswitch tends to get stuck and need replacing more often.

It can also be really important things, like communication. In most jobs your team doesn't operate in a vacuum, you connect to numerous other teams and it's important to coordinate. When people are doing a job for 1-2 years then moving on, it's hard for those communication paths to remain stable. You can create all the documentation you want but when someone comes into any given job there is a lot to learn, and "when to let someone know you flipped a switch that affects them" or etc, usually isn't high on a priority list. When a lot of workers have been in the same role for 5+ years, they develop relationships, the communication paths become normalized and it gets easier to coordinate between departments, to make sure that changes benefit the company as a whole and not just one group. Maybe that doesn't make too much sense, it's one of those concepts that's easy to grasp once you've seen it, but hard to articulate.

[SavoirFaire]

Institutional knowledge is immensely valuable, yet so few bother to even consider it as a thing.

Feels like a timely observation to me. Had a 20 year employee turn in their resignation yesterday. The amount of “little stuff” she knows is immeasurable. It’ll take years, and potentially bad “learning experience” mistakes, to get someone 90% of her level, and the fear is once they get near 90%, they’ll go elsewhere for more $$$. I’ve never been a position hopper, but I can see the benefit: not being around in those times the shit hits the fan.

[Kokolums]

People were warned about the fallout from CA Prop 22. Unfortunately, media was flooded by misinformation from corporate sponsors of the initiative. So even well meaning voters were confused. Shows a need for laws to safeguard against bad faith messaging in public forums.

Vons and Albertsons stores in California just laid off every one of their full-time, union delivery drivers, and will replace them with DoorDash gig workers who receive no benefits as a direct result of Prop 22.

The state of California is looking at replacing the state gasoline tax with a tax on every vehicle per mile driven. This would likely destroy Uber, Lyft, DoorDash, etc. So if Vons did make this transition to DoorDash, it would be only temporary.

https://dot.ca.gov/news-releases/news-release-2020-034


Caltrans Seeks Volunteers for Road Charge Research
Published: Nov 09, 2020

Californians can sign up at CARoadCharge.com

District: Headquarters
Contact: Tamie McGowen
Phone: (916) 416-8615

SACRAMENTO — The California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) is looking for 150 volunteers for continued research on a road user charge as an alternative to the state gas tax.

The California Road Charge Phased Demonstration will first explore how drivers could be charged for the miles they travel rather than the gasoline they use by testing a user-friendly pay-at-the-pump and electric vehicle charging station system, or through a usage-based insurance approach. Participants will be eligible to receive up to $100 in incentives each for their time and feedback. Future phases of the Caltrans demonstration will include testing of app-based payment of rideshare miles and capturing data from autonomous vehicles.

Taxes on fuel are the primary source of state funding for road and highway repairs and upgrades. With vehicles growing more fuel efficient and more zero-emission options becoming available, Caltrans is testing various methods to collect per-mileage fees in a system where drivers contribute based on how much they use the road.

“Caltrans is continuing its research to explore how a future road user charge can fund transportation projects throughout the state. We want Californians to join us in testing payment options that will inform our research in designing an equitable and sustainable road charge program.”
Toks Omishakin, Caltrans Director

The six-month demonstration will start in January 2021 and builds on California’s 2017 Road Charge Pilot, that tested the feasibility of funding road and highway repairs based on how many miles a driver travels instead of how much gas they purchase.

[Elegiac]

The state of California is looking at replacing the state gasoline tax with a tax on every vehicle per mile driven. This would likely destroy Uber, Lyft, DoorDash, etc.

Considering that the gasoline tax didn't and the per mile tax is a reform to account for the transition to electric vehicle fleets, no it won't.

Stop making shit up, lol.

[Edge-]

The state of California is looking at replacing the state gasoline tax with a tax on every vehicle per mile driven. This would likely destroy Uber, Lyft, DoorDash, etc. So if Vons did make this transition to DoorDash, it would be only temporary.

What makes you think that these companies wouldn't just push those costs to their drivers, who already pay the gas tax themselves?

[Zan15]

Good i think its time in the next election to offer up Prop 23.

Prop 23 would make all govt employees, tech workers, executives....hell every employee in the state of CA....an independent contract employee.
I mean if its good for those workers why not everyone!!!

You think for a second this would get more than 5% of the vote....hell 1%.


I have no idea how this is even legal?
How do you get to vote away federal and state labor laws around employment classification???
What's next vote away overtime??? Prop 24?

[Edge-]

How do you get to vote away federal and state labor laws around employment classification???

Because ballot measures trump legislative laws, usually.

What's next vote away overtime??? Prop 24?

Well, prop 22 kills that for gig workers so they're already partway there.

This is one of the dangers of direct democracy on issues: People are generally uninformed as shit, short sighted, and easily swayed by massive ad campaigns : /

[Grapemask]

America's deep anti-union sentiment really shows you how successful corporate propaganda is at convincing people to go against their own interests.

As a software engineer, I'd kill to have a union. I'm also in a state where I can be legally fired just for thinking about a union.

[Zan15]

The state of California is looking at replacing the state gasoline tax with a tax on every vehicle per mile driven. This would likely destroy Uber, Lyft, DoorDash, etc. So if Vons did make this transition to DoorDash, it would be only temporary.

https://dot.ca.gov/news-releases/news-release-2020-034



[/B]

It actually wouldn't since they would be able to write this cost off on their taxes just like they do today.

The only reason any of these drivers make money is because of the 56 cents write off per mile you can claim on your taxes. Or greater if your actual cost exceed 56 cents and you can prove it.

If any of these drivers pay any state of federal income tax they really need to hire a tax professional to teach them how to file correctly.

I do my brother in laws taxes each year. He made 42k delivering newspapers and never had to pay a single dime of taxes on it because of the pure amount of cost he gets to write off just on his vehicle each year.

100 miles a day (which starts from his house and back since that is his place of business). That's a write off of 20,440 on top of the standard deduction of 12,400. Throw in all the random business write offs (especially during covid for supplies), deductions, depreciation, interest, health insurance, etc etc.

Poof goes the taxes "regular" employees all pay. This even includes employment taxes, goodbye 15.3% tax.

- - - Updated - - -

Because ballot measures trump legislative laws, usually.

So in an extreme example, you could ballot measure something like arson being legal? (i was going to go way worse, but i think people will get the jist)

[Edge-]

So in an extreme example, you could ballot measure something like arson being legal? (i was going to go way worse, but i think people will get the jist)

I'm no lawyer but...probably not.

Making these employees contractors simply overrrules AB5's reclassification of workers, and now requires a 7/8 vote to overturn it (because gig companies are fuckin evil and intentionally wrote this as impossible to repeal, you couldn't even get 7/8 of the state to vote for "Water is good."). It's overrulling a law reclassifying workers, not a criminal law. My understanding as that is can't override criminal law or anything of the sort, though. They couldn't just vote arson legal to my knowledge.

[JohnBrown1917]

From everything I've observed thus far. It's about protecting bad employees and making money for the union leaders. Ie yea we know he's broken literally every company policy this week, but he's had no formal written warning. So that's the best we can do.

Also if you can't master a job in three years and become ready to move up, you've peaked. 3 years is generous. It also allows you to constantly be in competitive salary ranges. Not having ambition is something I'll never understand in people. I get that people get comfortable. But staying somewhere and doing the same thing for 10+ years. I think i'd actually die.

A lot of jobs can't be mastered in 3 years,

Did your parents just happen to give you a new cushy job every 3 years to keep you happy? Because I otherwise I don't understand how you can be this sheltered from the reality of having to work for a living.

[Blur4stuff]

One of the many reasons why you're worse off working in the US compared to dozens of other countries.

[PACOX]

America's deep anti-union sentiment really shows you how successful corporate propaganda is at convincing people to go against their own interests.

We're all institutionalized to take what we can get as long as someone else has it worse.

[Kokolums]

What makes you think that these companies wouldn't just push those costs to their drivers, who already pay the gas tax themselves?

If you push costs to drivers, you lose drivers. So its not that easy.

[Edge-]

If you push costs to drivers, you lose drivers. So its not that easy.

It is that easy, actually. A lot of drivers are desperate for work and income, and won't realize how much of the cost of operation they're eating instead of their employer.

Pretty much how it works now.

[prwraith]

A lot of jobs can't be mastered in 3 years,

Did your parents just happen to give you a new cushy job every 3 years to keep you happy? Because I otherwise do I understand how you can be this sheltered from the reality of having to work for a living.

I'm literally working for a living?

[TigTone]

I'm literally working for a living?

He’s assuming you are some trust fund baby or a child of parents with influence in your workplace which allows you to move up quickly.

[prwraith]

He’s assuming you are some trust fund baby or a child of parents with influence in your workplace which allows you to move up quickly.

O, that I know someone at every company i apply to every few years haha. I mean it'd be nice lol

[JohnBrown1917]

O, that I know someone at every company i apply to every few years haha. I mean it'd be nice lol

yeah, most people don't have that luxury.

[Krastyn]

Pretty much a 1:1 line of the reduction of the share of middle-class income with the gutting of unions over the decades. Unions are help reduce income/wealth inequality, which is a good thing for the economy overall (reduced inequality).

I'm fine with unions, but do feel they need to change with the times, specifically taking a more pro-active role in weeding out bad actors.

The graph shown however, is a great example in how people like those who wrote that report twist numbers to try to make a point. The data appears to be a 1:1 reduction because they've stretched the graphs to make it look that way.

Over the timeline:
Union membership drops from 28% to 10% a drop of 18%
Middle class share of income drops from 53% to 45% a drop of 8%

So union membership has been falling at more than double the rate of middle-class share of income. they squish it by only showing an 11% spread on the income numbers but a 22% spread on the union numbers, there by turning a 2:1 relation, into appearing line a 1:1.