[HN Gopher] Uber Drivers Sue Company over Pressure to Support Pr...
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       Uber Drivers Sue Company over Pressure to Support Prop 22
        
       Author : ra7
       Score  : 54 points
       Date   : 2020-10-22 22:25 UTC (34 minutes ago)
        
 (HTM) web link (news.bloomberglaw.com)
 (TXT) w3m dump (news.bloomberglaw.com)
        
       | megaman821 wrote:
       | I guess you can sue for anything, but does saying Uber could
       | theoretically use your answers against you in the future hold any
       | water? It is going to be very hard to prove actual harm here.
        
         | laser wrote:
         | Probably more about the visibility than the outcome--an attempt
         | to drive a narrative that Uber et al are corrupt regulatory-
         | capturing entities that are manipulating the public through a
         | suit like this could help the NO on Prop 22 cause. The trouble
         | is, although that is substantially true, California legislators
         | have broken things so badly with AB-5 that the public has no
         | choice but to vote YES on Prop 22.
        
           | jkaplowitz wrote:
           | That's a false dichotomy. Addressing any perceived problems
           | with the law through less extreme means than Prop 22 would be
           | another option.
           | 
           | As one example of how Prop 22 is extreme, it imposes an
           | absurdly high 7/8 supermajority requirement to make
           | legslative changes "consistent" with the proposition and a
           | new initiative vote to make inconsistent changes. Entrenching
           | self-interested corporate-written legislation to that extreme
           | is awful.
        
           | whimsicalism wrote:
           | I'm not voting for any loosening of labor laws that requires
           | a 7/8th majority to change.
           | 
           | And, honestly, what Uber has been doing with its platform
           | recently has been really worrying me. I get a push
           | notification almost every single day now asking me to vote
           | Yes on Prop 22. I'm worried for what the future holds if this
           | sort of thing is permitted because of Citizens United.
        
             | vinay427 wrote:
             | The Uber Eats order I placed recently (in CA) felt more
             | like a political campaign than a restaurant delivery
             | service. It didn't exactly drive me further towards a Yes,
             | no pun intended.
        
             | reso wrote:
             | I can't believe the 7/8ths rule isn't a bigger story than
             | it is. Insanely undemocratic. I wouldn't vote for _any
             | bill_ that included that stipulation.
        
       | mpd wrote:
       | I am Jack's complete lack of surprise.
       | 
       | It's not like 22 ever had 100% driver support.
        
       | smabie wrote:
       | " And because drivers could reasonably believe they will be
       | deactivated from the platform or denied favorable ride matches if
       | they don't express explicit support, the data collected about
       | driver support and used for promotion is skewed and misleading."
       | 
       | I'm not sure it's reasonable believe that drivers would get
       | kicked off the platform for answering "Ok". In fact, I think if
       | you asked almost anyone, they would say that's a totally
       | unreasonable belief.
       | 
       | Sounds like a lawyer is trawling for settlement fees, not that
       | any driver actually wanted to do this.
        
         | whimsicalism wrote:
         | > I'm not sure it's reasonable believe that drivers would get
         | kicked off the platform for answering "Ok". In fact, I think if
         | you asked almost anyone, they would say that's a totally
         | unreasonable belief.
         | 
         | You've clearly never been involved in any sort of union push if
         | you think that employers are so above something like this. Even
         | if they wouldn't do something like this, there are often behind
         | the scenes conversations about how to create the perception
         | that they would - because that is equally as effective.
         | 
         | In that context, repeatedly pinging drivers asking if they
         | support the legislation (with _yes_ in bold /highlighted) could
         | definitely be a calculated move to create that environment.
        
           | [deleted]
        
         | aqme28 wrote:
         | I highly disagree. Uber's platform is heavily gamified for
         | drivers to encourage the driver behaviors that Uber wants. It
         | is reasonable to expect them to gamify this piece too.
        
         | tolbish wrote:
         | Would it be reasonable to believe that drivers would be
         | rewarded for expressing support for Prop 22?
        
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       (page generated 2020-10-22 23:00 UTC)