In California, ride-hailing app makers, led by Uber and Lyft, have succeeded in their $200 million campaign to prevent gig economy workers from becoming employees eligible for benefits and job protections. Proposition 22’s passage by California voters is a stinging defeat for organized labor. The ballot measure was opposed by Human Rights Watch, which produced this video urging a “no” vote.

Human Rights Watch video: “Gig companies classify workers as independent contractors instead of employees. That allows them to circumvent federal and state labor protections since independent contractors don’t get minimum wage protections, guaranteed sick pay or the ability to join a union. The gig companies also don’t pay into Social Security or Medicare on behalf of the workers they classify as independent contractors.”