Labor News & Commentary July 26, 2024 federal judge sides with SpaceX over the NLRB & more

[Omaha Steve]

https://onlabor.org/july-26-2024/

By Holt McKeithan

Holt McKeithan is a student at Harvard Law School.

In today’s New and Commentary, the California Supreme Court upholds Uber and Lyft-backed Prop 22, video game workers take action, and a federal judge sides with SpaceX over the NLRB.

Yesterday, the California Supreme Court upheld Proposition 22, a ballot measure that classifies drivers of ride-hailing apps as independent contractors rather than employees. The court rejected a constitutional challenge to the law. Opponents argued it would limit the state legislature’s ability to oversee workers’ compensation. The initiative was first passed in 2020 behind an enormous lobbying campaign in which gig companies spent $200 million to support the measure. Yesterday’s ruling means that the hundreds of thousands of drivers who work for Uber and Lyft in California will continue to be classified as independent contractors. While Uber and Lyft cheered the decision, the plaintiff, Hector Castellanos, condemned it. According to the New York Times, he said the ruling comes “at the expense of the Black, brown, and immigrant workers.”

Yesterday, the SAG-AFTRA actors’ union called a strike against video game companies that use actors’ images or voices in games. SAG-AFTRA is seeking higher wages and job protections from artificial intelligence. “We’re not going to consent to a contract that allows companies to abuse A.I. to the detriment of our members,” said Fran Drescher, the union’s president. Members of the union, who number 160,000, will no longer voice act in video games produced by Activision Blizzard, Electronic Arts and eight other companies.

FULL story at link above.