March 10, 2021 11:07 PMLegal
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LOS ANGELES The PRO Act, federal legislation that takes the provisions of California’s AB5 law restricting how companies may hire freelance workers and makes them national, took a major step toward becoming law Tuesday when the United States House passed the bill on a mostly party-line vote, 225-206. Five Republicans voted in favor of the bill, whose full name is Protecting the Right to Organize Act, along with all 220 House Democrats.
Identical to AB5, the PRO Act includes the so-called “ABC Test” used to determine which workers can be deemed independent contractors, and which must be treated as employees. When AB5 took effect in California at the start of last year, it created alarm within the adult industry, where most performers and crew members work on a freelance basis.
(Martin Clarke/Michelle Janikian via AP)
It has been a little over a year since I started my fight against California’s AB5: the so-called “Gig Workers” law that was supposed to right the wrongs of misclassification of 1099 Independent Contractors who should have been employees.
Authored by San Diego Assemblywoman Lorena S. Gonzalez-Fletcher (D-Chula Vista), and backed by powerful unions such as the AFL-CIO, what this law did was remove a person’s right to choose to work as an Independent Contractor, freelancer, or gig worker in the state.
My life as a freelance writer, reinvention coach, and Yoga instructor was upended, as were the lives and livelihoods of millions of other independent professionals, from translators and interpreters, to musicians and the theater community. Even after all this time, a new crop of professionals are discovering that they too fall under the heavy boot of this poorly crafted law.
Of course, supporting Democrats usually doesn’t end well, and the Chamber is finding that out the hard way. The ProAct, a nationalized version of the absolute garbage legislation that is California’s AB5, is currently making its way through Congress. That has the Chamber suddenly feeling buyer’s remorse on politicians they helped to elect.
We are disappointed to see the House pass the #PROAct. This bill would threaten worker privacy, force employees to pay union dues or lose their jobs, and trample free speech rights. Full statement on today s vote here: https://t.co/I61l3qDpFr
A phrase comes to mind: Get bent.
AP Photo/Evan Vucci
How concerned is California Governor Gavin Newsom that the current recall effort will qualify for the ballot? So concerned that he brought in the man who trounced all opponents in the state’s Democrat Presidential Primary in 2020 to denounce the recall as an “extremist Republican” effort to undermine democracy – never mind that the “extremist” label was tried two months ago and failed to make a dent in the recall’s support.
Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) tweeted his denunciation Monday morning – after news that recall proponents have gathered nearly 2 million signatures on the recall petitions broke, claiming that those terrible extremists want to recall Newsom “for the crime of telling people to wear masks and for listening to scientists during COVID,” adding that “We must all unite to oppose the recall.”
AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes
I am sure it is of no surprise to you, but Congress is on a campaign to control every aspect of our lives. It is mostly Democrat-driven, but we have Republicans on board with this too. It is so much easier to tell people what to do, than to protect people’s right to live as they choose, and craft legislation that benefits this.
Whether through legislation or the courts, lawmakers are leaving no stone unturned that would allow your and my freedoms to remain intact. They desire to neuter your right to vote as you choose and for your vote to be properly validated and counted. They desire to limit your ability to produce and earn as you see fit, and only want certain types of enterprise or employment to be considered essential and acceptable. This process was started during this awful COVID-19 pandemic, and there is legislation (along with a Supreme Court case) on the table that if passed and rendered law, aims to finish it.