Democrats’ PRO Act Would Boost Union Bosses And Sabotage Independent Workers

Mike Rowe, popular TV show host, podcaster, and America’s most famous freelancer, recently declared a crusade against the Protecting the Right to Organize Act (PRO) Act. This bill is going through the U.S. Congress and, if it passes, would outlaw freelancing and take 70 million American freelancers’ financial freedom away.

The anti-freelance provision of the PRO Act is almost identical to California’s AB5 law. In 2018, when deciding Dynamex Operations West, Inc. v. Superior Court, California’s Supreme Court ruled that most wage-earning workers should be classified as employees, not independent contractors, and employers bear the burden of proof for classifying workers as independent contractors. California’s Democrat-controlled state assembly took the ruling and turned it into the notorious AB5 bill, commonly known as the gig worker bill. AB5 radically changed more than three decades of labor classification in the state and compelled employers to reclassify millions of independent contractors as employees. The employer must pass a complex test to classify a worker as an independent contractor.

AB5 supporters claimed the bill would protect workers’ rights. Yet the bill faced strong opposition. Many independent contractors worried they would lose their employment, and small businesses were concerned that since they couldn’t afford full-time employees, they would have to close their shops. California’s Trucking Association (CTA) filed its federal lawsuit against the California attorney general on Oct. 25, 2018. CTA CEO Shawn Yadon said, “In California, more than 70,000 owner-operators choose to work independently because of the freedom, flexibility, and business growth potential that business model provides. These small-business entrepreneurs face irreparable damage should AB 5 be allowed to exist as it relates to the trucking industry.”

But the Democrat-led state assembly ignored workers’ and businesses’ concerns and warnings and passed AB5 anyway. California’s Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom publicly supported AB5 and signed it into law in

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