OpenMarket: Labor and Employment

Mothers Against Drunk Driving is urging Californians to abolish AB5, the state law supposedly meant to prevent worker misclassification by employers. The nonprofit public safety organization says leaving the law in place would drastically limit the availability of app-based ridesharing services, increasing the odds that intoxicated people would take the risk of driving themselves instead.

The Department of Labor announced that it wants to update rules to require private sector unions to be more transparent in their financial disclosure reports. Among other requirements, unions would have to reveal how much they spend on political activities; how much they offer leaders for travel, accommodations, and other expenses; and how many people pay dues to the union.

A new proposed rule from the Department of Labor on pension funds would clarify the responsibilities of pension fund fiduciaries covered under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act. When investment managers vote on shareholder resolutions on behalf of their beneficiaries, they are required to vote that they believe will maximize returns, rather than with any other goals in mind.

If organized labor and its allies in government are successful in their bid to force so-called gig economy companies like Uber and Lyft to treat their workers as employees rather than contractors, one of the main results will be a lot fewer people working. The companies will be forced to effectively fire people who don’t want to work about 40 hours—a major portion of the people who work for these companies.

Amazon’s critics have made a point of saying the company is endangering its employees by keeping its fulfillment centers active during the COVID-19 crisis. But working for the company doesn’t appear to be more dangerous than working elsewhere, if recent data released by the company is anything to go by.

On September 30, CEI presented its 2020 Julian L. Simon Memorial Award to Dr. Steven Horwitz, Director of the Institute for the Study of Political Economy and Distinguished Professor of Free Enterprise at Ball State University. The program included a lively discussion with Dr. Horwitz and CEI President Kent Lassman, on Julian Simon’s legacy, and what his lessons can teach us today.

Public sector unions represent not just workers for a government entity but also elected leaders’ constituents. That gives them leverage their private sector counterparts don't have. It can get more complicated when elected leaders contend with multiple different unions. New York Mayor Bill de Blasio is getting a lesson in how bruising this can be thanks to the controversy over opening of city schools.

The vast majority of people who drive for rideshare company Uber in California do so for less than 40 hours or less a week. That’s the result of a survey Uber put out on about the drivers for its app-based service. The numbers are in line with other surveys on the subject. Most people who drive for rideshare service companies do so only part-time and therefore can’t be considered traditional employees.

The Department of Labor proposed a new rule this week to adjust the legal definition of “employer” and clarify when people that work for one are traditional employees or contractors. It may help keep gig economy companies like Uber, Lyft, DoorDash, and others from being regulated out of existence.

Last year, California passed AB5, intended to go after rideshare companies Uber and Lyft. The law requires “gig economy” companies to classify all of their workers as employees. These restrictions went into place exactly as the COVID-19 outbreak hit. People found themselves stuck at home and in need of alternate, temporary means to earn money. What are typically called gig economy jobs.