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Comment by throwaway123x2 | Hacker News Reader

People freely worked under abusive conditions in factories in the Industrial Revolution before the labour rights movement. No one wants to go back to that.

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This is a tired argument. Please name the abusive conditions that actually apply here.

AB5 affects more than just ridesharing too. Many writers, artists and other creative professionals are suffering as well. What abuse are they affected by?

you dont get vacation days. you re not paid for national holidays off days. you dont get sick days.

you may say it’s what contract is. but without me being able to see where to drive, whom to drive and set price as I wish, without affecting my rating - it’s just talk.

That's not abuse. You work whenever you want, whether it's a holiday or not. That's the whole point of being freelance and applies to any other industry.

And you can set the price. You can't see the destination but you do know the approximate time and direction.

>Tough to call anything done as voluntary with a gun held up to the head.

If you don't have total control and transparency of the contract you pick up then it isn't contracting

The point is that Industrial Revolution capitalists used the same argument that you're using. Those people were "freely" working, except that it was the only real work that could be had. Are people working for Uber/Lyft for whom it's the only way to feed their families, or to supplement their income enough to pay the mortgage or make the rent still "freely" working? If everyone had secure salaries with healthcare and vacation days, how many of those people would "freely" choose to continue working for Uber and Lyft?

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