Uber has said that Prop. 22 provides a wage equivalent to 120% of the California minimum wage, which is $15.50 an hour. It will rise to $16 an hour in January. But a 2020 study by the University of California Berkeley Labor Center estimated that after expenses were taken into account, drivers would earn as low as $5.64 an hour.
Ken Jacobs, chairman of the University of California Berkeley’s Center for Labor Research and Education, believes visions of a driverless future have been “grossly overhyped.”
“Teachers had been reluctant to strike historically, over not wanting to negatively affect children’s education,” Jacobs said. “I think what turned around after the Chicago teachers’ strike was this recognition that while striking can cause real problems in the short term, in the long term, […] those strikes may be what’s needed to have strong public education.”
An August 2020 study from the UC Berkeley Labor Center estimated that, when their expenses were taken into account, drivers would earn as low as $5.64 an hour if Proposition 22 passed.
The highest minimum wage in the state is found in West Hollywood. The small SoCal city known for its competitive wages now pays workers $18.86 per hour.
“The city can do a lot to regulate labor standards, and to set strong conditions that ensure the city has good employers that are benefiting the city and benefiting workers,” Ken Jacobs said.
