The Contractor Conundrum

 

With the state of California continuing to advance the case that rideshare drivers are employees and not contractors, Lyft and Uber have been

a) spending a lot of money to try to influence the electorate to vote to let them continue operating as is, and

b) sending surveys to Drives Like Me to see what kind of thing we'd go for, and what we would not, if the world changes and they want to / have to make some of full-time.

The trouble, of course, is the very nature of the work. I'm a full-time driver if and when I have to be, because something has gone sideways in the other ways that I make my nut. If I'm able to sell that time to better places for more money, I do. And if I make enough that I can just occasionally take an evening or few hours off, that happens too. Especially when the surge prices, ride density and bonus packages aren't flowing. It's not just the flexibility of choosing when and how long you want to work, it's a strategy to make sure you are doing so in the hours that make the most sense.

I have no idea how you put this toothpaste back into the tube, honestly. If one of the platforms wants to bid for my services, give me better health benefits, guarantee a certain take home even if the riders aren't there... well, it's a negotiation, let's negotiate.

But how you do that with everyone who could be in the worker pool and maintain a price and business that makes any kind of sense, let alone fails to tank your stock with the people who were only here in the first place because your valuation was baked into no benefits, unions, etc.?

There is one thing I do know, though.

If I'm an employee, I'm a remarkably disloyal one.

Just like my would-be employers!

I have, honestly, no idea. 

And neither, as far as I can tell, does anyone else.