BERKELEY, Calif. (AP) — An appeals court has granted a stay giving reprieve to Uber and Lyft to continue operations in California.
A ruling from a San Francisco judge last week ordered the ride-sharing companies to comply with a new California law, and gave them 10 days to do so. That would have ended Thursday night.
Uber’s CEO, Dara Khosrowshahi, wrote an op-ed for the New York Times last week stating the company agrees gig-workers should be treated better, but disagrees with singling out ride-sharing companies and the wording of the new law that would limit flexibility.
“Our current employment system is outdated and unfair. It forces every worker to choose between being an employee with more benefits but less flexibility, or an independent contractor with more flexibility but almost no safety net. Uber is ready, right now, to pay more to give drivers new benefits and protections. But America needs to change the status quo to protect all workers, not just one type of work,” Khosrowshahi’s op-ed states.
The companies are also pushing an initiative on California’s November ballot, called Prop 22, that would grant them an exemption from the state’s new law.
