Headline News
San Francisco Leaders Stand for Workers, Support AB5
By a unanimous vote yesterday, the 11 members of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors passed a resolution calling on the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency (SFMTA) to consider compliance with AB5 in its issuance of permits. AB5 is a law recently passed by the California Legislature which will expand employee status to thousands of workers misclassified by their employers as “independent contractors.”
The resolution, introduced by Board President Norman Yee, was co-authored by all 11 members of the Board.
“The passage of AB5 into law is one of the biggest victories for workers in the Teamsters’ decades-long fight against misclassification,” said Doug Bloch, Political Director with Teamsters Joint Council 7. “We applaud the Board of Supervisors for telling companies that if they want to do business with the SFMTA then they need to create good jobs, not temp or ‘gig’ jobs.”
The SFMTA oversees transit, streets and taxis in the city of San Francisco. In 2015, the agency passed a labor harmony requirement for Silicon Valley’s commuter shuttle buses. The requirement means that a company that fails to operate responsibly could face the revocation of its commuter shuttle permit, including if a dispute affects SFMTA operations.
The Teamsters Union represents thousands of workers at companies that have permits and contracts with the SFMTA, including bus drivers in the tech industry, parking lot attendants, parking meter coin collectors, tow truck operators, paratransit drivers and dispatchers, and more. Most recently, Teamsters Local 665 negotiated a card check neutrality agreement with Skip, one of four companies that just received SFMTA permits to operate scooters in San Francisco.
On a related note, Supervisor Aaron Peskin introduced a resolution to further regulate scooter permits, including addressing the use of third-party staffing agencies. Teamsters Local 665 President Tony Delorio addressed the Board and urged “the SFMTA to use its purchasing and permitting power to create good jobs.”