Not surprising. Remember, House Democrats had already gotten on board with the push to eliminate the gig economy and shove everyone into a union. Even, and maybe especially, if it means wiping out millions of jobs.
And while you may not like the gig economy, these measures also eliminate freelancers. That would wreck a lot of family incomes, force even more working mothers out of the job market, and eliminate a whole range of occupations, including a big chunk of conservative journalism.
Just ask Californians.
It’s one of those many issues that should have been played up in the 2020 election but unfortunately wasn’t.
Is the Biden administration ready to put some executive muscle behind the push to wipe out independent workers?
Biden’s Secretary of Labor says yes.
A lot of gig workers in the United States should be classified as “employees” who deserve work benefits, President Biden’s labor secretary said on Thursday, suggesting a shift in policy that is likely to raise costs for companies that depend on contractors such as Uber and Lyft.
That just means those companies go away. So does any part of the job market that depends on freelancers and independent contractors.
The Dems obviously prefer a dozen union members working a job that prices out most employers and customers to a thousand independents. The former put money in Democrat war chests and the latter don’t.
“We are looking at it but in a lot of cases gig workers should be classified as employees,” Marty Walsh told Reuters.
Walsh’s views on the issue could usher in new rulings from the department, which sets legal guidelines for how employers treat workers. Before his appointment, the Labor Department’s Wage and Hour Division proposed rescinding a rule adopted in January that would have made it easier to classify workers as independent contractors.
And once that happens, companies drop or eliminate a lot of their workers. And redefine their business model. That has implications that go well beyond Uber and Lyft potentially wiping freelancers out of existence.
Article posted with permission from Daniel Greenfield
