In 2018 California passed #AB5 which reclassified "gig-workers" as actual employee's (workers) rather than "independent contractors". Lyft/Uber/Door Dash have pledged 100 million to fight this measure and are currently fighting giving UI benefits to drivers during #COVID19 1/?

This is long and complicated but I'll (over) simplify it:

Gig companies like Lyft, Uber, Door
Dash, PostMates etc classify employees as contractors. This means via the tax code they're equivalent to small business owners, which meant they couldn't get benefits or UI 2/?

After #AB5 passed these companies basically said fuck you to California and refused to structure their employees properly (it's an ongoing legal battle) 3/?

When the #COVID19 pandemic hit, thousands of drivers had to stop due to quarantine. Congress passed the CARES act which "allowed" gig workers to file for UI. However due to how UI works the UI admin has to confirm reported earnings by displaced drivers with the company 4/?

Companies like Lyft and Uber are basically refusing to cooperate and reporting driver earnings as 0 to deny workers unemployment insurance in an attempt to maintain that distance between worker and contractor and legal recognition of #AB5 5/?

You can get around this and still get UI benefits as a gig worker but it will take a lot of time working with the UI admin which is... Well... An understaffed disaster right now. 6/?

In short, gig economy workers are getting completely fucked out of support via health/dental benefits or unemployment by companies like Lyft/Uber and these companies are actively destroying people's lives so as to protect their broken business models