Uber, Lyft drivers set to launch protest caravan across California

They will be protesting in a caravan of cars heading from North to South California.

If you regularly take an Uber or Lyft to work, you need to be aware that you may face issues booking a ride in California in the coming days. Drivers' unions Gig Workers Rising and Mobile Workers Alliance have announced that a protest caravan of Uber and Lyft drivers will drive from Southern California through San Francisco to Sacramento from August 26-28.

Two hundred drivers will travel in 75 different cars across the state with more drivers joining along the way to support California legislature bill AB5, which makes it harder to classify workers as independent contractors. If the bill is passed through the State Senate, it will make it harder for Uber or Lyft to hire drivers without giving them protections that are generally reserved for employees.

According to the bill, workers will only be classified as independent contractors, if:

They are free from control and direction of a hiring entity.
They perform work outside of the entity's usual course of business.
They perform a job or business of the same nature as the work they do for the hiring entity.

The bill is expected to pass through the Democrat-controlled Senate without any issues and is expected to turn the business model followed by the ride-sharing services on its head.

According to TechCrunch, the companies have been involved in efforts to kill the bill but have been generally unsuccessful. The drivers are using their cars as tools to protest against efforts to stymie the passage of the bill, as well as lending their support to the legislation.

If AB5 goes through, its effects will be felt not just in California but throughout the US and even globally. It is expected to push drivers in other states and locations to protest against the loophole of hiring independent contractors and using them even more than regular employees.

Drivers generally work 8-9 hours a day and make around $150 per day, while the organization makes much more per driver. Both Uber and Lyft are private companies, which are yet to disclose how their exact business model works.