Once again, the California unions and the Democratic Super Majority in Sacramento are flexing their Marxist muscles.
Organized labor, which has the largest number of lobbyists working to influence politicians working in the state capital city of Sacramento, continues the push for legislation that would force independent contractors to become workers.
The reason why is workers can join their union and pay dues, but contractors can’t.
Even though a law signed in 2019 could have significant repercussions for those living in and/or do work in the Golden State, they are collectively pushing for the courts to allow it to go into effect.
If allowed to go into force, an estimated 70,000 independent truckers would immediately be out of work. This would obviously create more massive supply chain issues and further drive-up inflation for the 35 million residents of the Golden State.
California Assembly Bill 5 was signed into law by California Gov. Gavin Newsom, which is a progressive direct attack on independent contractors.
AB 5, Gonzalez. Worker status: employees and independent contractors.
“A person providing labor or services for remuneration shall be considered an employee rather than an independent contractor unless the hiring entity demonstrates that the person is free from the control and direction of the hiring entity in connection with the performance of the work, the person performs work that is outside the usual course of the hiring entity’s business, and the person is customarily engaged in an independently established trade, occupation, or business.”
Certain professions were exempt from AB5, However, truckers were not.
The trucking industry has been fighting the law ever since it went into effect and won a temporary injunction that prevented the bill from including independent truckers in January 2020.
California Attorney General Xavier Becerra called on U.S. District Judge Roger T. Benitez to reverse the injunction. Becerra stated in March 2020. “This Court should reverse.”
On June 28, the U.S. Supreme Court declined to review the case of the California truckers battling against AB5. Truckers must now be employees of trucking companies and not independent contractors in order to be able to work in California.
However, there seems to be confusion on how the law will be enforced.
The Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association, told Bloomberg, “We have never gotten any good answers from anyone official in California on how this is supposed to be enforced or how our members can comply.”
If the law is enforced, California faces a possible mass exodus of the state’s estimated 70,000 independent truckers.
The Port of Oakland would be especially affected by the law.
“There’s 9,000 trucks that serve the port on a daily basis, and 90% of them are independent contractors. So, this is a big, big impact,” said Bill Aboudi owner of AB Trucking.
“It just doesn’t work. You own your own truck, it’s your truck. I can’t take possession of it and start using it,” he added. “In a case like my company, we just eliminate owner/operators and just reduce the workload.”
Former CA Assemblywoman Lorena Gonzalez authored AB5 before resigning from the state assembly in January to become a lobbyist. She took over the California Labor Federation and has no sympathy for the truckers.
“They’ve known for the last two and a half years that it was equally possible that this injunction would not hold,” Gonzalez said. “This is not a shock.”
“The fact that trucking companies will have to abide by basic labor laws in CA takes us one step closer to rebuilding the middle class that was almost deregulated out of existence,” tweeted Gonzalez:
The fact that trucking companies will have to abide by basic labor laws in CA takes us one step closer to rebuilding the middle class that was almost deregulated out of existence. Proud of my @Teamsters union, #defendingDynamex hasn’t been easy… but nothing good ever is. #AB5
— Lorena Gonzalez Fletcher (@LorenaSGonzalez) June 30, 2022
On Wednesday, California Republican lawmakers called on Gov. Newsom to intervene.
NEW: California Republican lawmakers request @GavinNewsom use his executive powers to delay AB5 (worker classification law) or exempt truckers from it altogether.
The group warns the workforce will take a hit, disrupting the supply chain, and drive inflation. pic.twitter.com/sfUUXKUE6u
— Ashley Zavala (@ZavalaA) July 6, 2022
One of those replying to the tweet laid out what the real issue is.
If he doesn’t, CA will be in a world of hurt. 70k owner operators – a lot those drivers service the ports will not be allowed to deliver commodities. This is nothing more than a payroll tax grab!
— JHarris (@JHarris84877060) July 7, 2022
As someone who lives in the communist state of California, this struggle between organized labor (crime) and the massive trucking industry which helps keep our state of 34 million citizens shelves full, could blow up big time.
I can’t imagine how bad the supply chain issues will become if the 70,000 independent truckers are prevented from working. In most metro areas, things are already sparse, leading to higher prices.
By: Eric Thompson, editor of EricThompsonShow.com. Follow me on Twitter and MagaBook
This story syndicated with permission from Eric Thompson, Author at Trending Politics
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