Wage slave or entrepreneur?: Contesting the dualism of legal worker identities

California Law Review

Volumn 105, Issue 1, 2017, Pages 65-123

  Dubal, V B ^a  

^a UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA   (United States)

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

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EID: 85017260203     PISSN: 00081221     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.15779/Z38M84X     Document Type: Article

References (187)

1. Jennifer Middleton, Contingent Workers in a Changing Economy: Endure, Adapt, or Organize?, 22 N. Y. U. REV. L. & SOC. CHANGE 557, 558 (1996).
2. See, e.g., Arne L. Kalleberg, Precarious Work, Insecure Workers: Employment Relations in Transition, 74 AM. SOC. REV. 1, 2 (2009);
3. GUY STANDING, THE PRECARIAT: THE NEW DANGEROUS CLASS 7-13 (2011);
4. ANDREW ROSS, NICE WORK IF YOU CAN GET IT: LIFE AND LABOR IN PRECARIOUS TIMES (2009).
5. The official poverty rate increased from 12.5 percent in 2007 to 15.0 percent in 2012. STANFORD CTR. ON POVERTY & INEQUALITY, NATIONAL REPORT CARD 1, 4 (2014).
6. See, e.g., Party Cab Co. V. United States, 172 F.2d 87 (7th Cir. 1949).
7. Some scholars use the term "micro-entrepreneur" to reference workers in the so-called "sharing economy." See, e.g., The New Sharing Economy Can Enrich Micro-entrepreneurs But At What Cost?, PBS NEWS HOUR (Oct. 10, 2014), http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/sharing-economyenrich-micro-entrepreneurs-promote-unregulated-big-business [https://perma.cc/7JU2-KVDF] (interview comment by Arun Sundarajjan).
8. Tracy V. Yellow Cab Cooperative, No. 938786 (Cal. Super. Ct. Oct. 22, 1996) (order granting summary judgment).
9. See, e.g., O'Connor V. Uber Techs., Inc., No. 13-03826 (N. D. Cal. Aug. 18, 2016).
10. See, e.g., Lauren Weber & Rachel Silverman, Meet the Boston Lawyer Who's Putting Uber on Trial, WALL ST. J. (Nov. 4, 2015), http://www.wsj.com/articles/meet-the-boston-lawyer-whos-putting-uber-on-trial-1446596980 [https://perma.cc/9LEY-NTS7];
11. Therese Poletti, The Lawyer Looking to Kill the "Gig Economy", MARKETWATCH (Dec. 8, 2015), http://www.marketwatch.com/story/the-lawyer-looking-to-kill-thegig-economy-2015-12-07 [https://perma.cc/VPR8-KJ7M];
12. Julia Carrie Wong, Original Uber Plaintiff Says He Agreed to 'Disastrous' $100m Deal 'Under Duress', GUARDIAN (May 16, 2016), https://www.theguardian. com/technology/2016/may/16/uber-plaintiff-speaks-out-settlement-lawsuit [https://perma.cc/UQF6-SPRM].
13. The court has rejected the terms of this contentious settlement. I represented a group of objecting drivers from a workers' organization called the San Francisco Bay Area Drivers Association and filed a declaration detailing why the case should not be settled under the proposed terms. The declaration can be accessed here: http://www.uchastings.edu/news/articles/2016/05/Dubal%20Declaration%20-%20Uber.pdf [https://perma.cc/E69V-87TG].
14. I use the term work law throughout this Article to refer to laws regulating work, including employment and labor laws. This is a common terminological trend in the study of employment and labor laws. See, e.g., MARION CRAIN ET AL., WORK LAW: CASES AND MATERIALS (2015) (the seminal casebook being used to teach law students employment and labor relations).
15. FedEx Home Delivery V. NLRB, 563 F.3d 492, 504 (D. C. Cir. 2009).
16. Reuel E. Schiller, From Group Rights to Individual Liberties: Post-War Labor Law, Liberalism, and the Waning of Union Strength, 20 BERKELEY J. EMP. & LAB. L. 1, 1-2 (1999).
17. KATHERINE V. W. STONE, FROM WIDGETS TO DIGITS: EMPLOYMENT REGULATION FOR THE CHANGING WORKPLACE (2004);
18. Katherine V. W. Stone, Rethinking Labour Law: Employment Protection for Boundaryless Workers, in BOUNDARIES AND FRONTIERS OF LABOUR LAW: GOALS AND MEANS IN THE REGULATION OF WORK 155 (Guy Davidov & Brian Langille eds., 2006);
19. Stephen F. Befort, Revisiting the Black Hole of Workplace Regulation: A Historical and Comparative Perspective of Contingent Work, 24 BERKELEY J. EMP. & LAB. L. 153 (2003);
20. Guy Davidov, Who Is a Worker?, 34 INDUS. L. J. 57 (2005) (analyzing use of economic dependence in U. K. wage and hour law to define a category of worker broader than employee);
21. Jeffrey E. Dilger, Pay No Attention to the Man Behind the Curtain: Control as a Nonfactor in Employee Status Determinations Under FedEx Home Delivery V. NLRB, 26 ABA J. LAB. & EMP. L. 123 (2010).
22. U. S. DEP'T OF LABOR, COVERAGE 1-4(2014), http://www.ows.doleta.gov/unemploy/pdf/uilawcompar/2014/coverage.pdf [https://perma.cc/6UEH-29SU].
23. Luxor Cab Co. V. United Taxicab Workers, 20-RC-16314 (June 15, 1989) (on file with author);
24. Yellow Cab Cooperative, Inc. V. Chauffeurs Union Local No. 265, 20-RC-14735 (Mar. 28, 1979) (on file with author).
25. However, the California Superior Court later found that San Francisco taxi workers were employees for purposes of workers' compensation and unemployment insurance. Tracy V. Yellow Cab Cooperative, No. 938786 (Cal. Super. Ct. Oct. 22, 1996).
26. Richard R. Carlson, Why the Law Still Can't Tell an Employee When It Sees One and How It Ought to Stop Trying, 22 BERKELEY J. EMP. & LAB. L. 295, 298-99 (2001).
27. Cmty. for Creative Non-Violence V. Reid, 490 U. S. 730, 751-52 (1989).
28. United States V. Silk, 331 U. S. 704, 716 (1947).
29. Several jurisdictions add a sixth factor to the inquiry: whether the service rendered by the individual is an integral part of the alleged employer's business. See, e.g., Dole V. Snell, 875 F.2d 802, 803 (10th Cir. 1989);
30. Brock V. Superior Care, 840 F.2d 1054, 1059 (2d Cir. 1988);
31. Sec'y of Labor V. Lauritzen, 835 F.2d 1529, 1535 (7th Cir. 1987);
32. Donovan V. DialAmerica Mktg., Inc., 757 F.2d 1376, 1381 (3d Cir. 1985)
33. cert. denied, 474 U. S. 919 (1985);
34. Donovan V. Sureway Cleaners, 656 F.2d 1368, 1370 (9th Cir. 1981).
35. Most circuits use a hybrid version of the control test and the economic realities test to make determinations under the ADEA, Title VII, and ERISA. See, e.g., Wilde V. Cty. of Kandiyohi, 15 F.3d 103, 105 (8th Cir. 1994);
36. Oestman V. Nat'l Farmers Union Ins. Co., 958 F.2d 303, 305 (10th Cir. 1992);
37. Mares V. Marsh, 777 F.2d 1066, 1067-68 & n. 2 (5th Cir. 1985);
38. Garrett V. Phillips Mills, Inc., 721 F.2d 979, 981-82 (4th Cir. 1983);
39. EEOC V. Zippo Mfg. Co., 713 F.2d 32, 37-38 (3d Cir. 1983);
40. Unger V. Consol. Foods Corp., 657 F.2d 909, 915 n. 8 (7th Cir. 1981)
41. cert. denied, 460 U. S. 1102 (1983)
42. and cert. denied, 464 U. S. 1017 (1983);
43. Cobb V. Sun Papers, Inc., 673 F.2d 337, 340-41 (11th Cir. 1982)
44. cert. denied, 459 U. S. 874 (1982);
45. Lutcher V. Musicians Union Local 47, 633 F.2d 880, 883 n. 5 (9th Cir. 1980);
46. Spirides V. Reinhardt, 613 F.2d 826, 831-32 (6th Cir. 1979).
47. At least one appellate court, the Ninth Circuit, has said that the Control Test, the Economic Realities Test, and any combination therein are functionally equivalent. See Murray V. Principal Fin. Grp., Inc., 613 F.3d 943, 945 (9th Cir. 2010).
48. About two-thirds of states use the ABC Test to determine eligibility for unemployment insurance. See U. S. DEP'T OF LABOR, supra note 16, at 15-6.
49. " Nationwide Mut. Ins. Co. V. Darden, 503 U. S. 318, 326 (1992).
50. "We have considered all the common law factors, and, on balance, are compelled to conclude they favor independent contractor status." FedEx Home Delivery V. NLRB, 563 F.3d 492, 504 (D. C. Cir. 2009).
51. "We hold that plaintiffs are employees as a matter of law under California's right-tocontrol test." Alexander V. FedEx Ground Package Sys., Inc., 765 F.3d 981, 997 (9th Cir. 2014).
52. See, e.g., Karen R. Harned et al., Creating A Workable Legal Standard for Defining an Independent Contractor, 4 J. BUS. ENTREPRENEURSHIP& L. 93, 113 (2010);
53. Jennifer Pinsof, A New Take on an Old Problem: Employee Misclassification in the Modern Gig-Economy, 22 MICH. TELECOMM. & TECH. L. REV. 341, 369 (2016).
54. See, e.g., Noah D. Zatz, Beyond Misclassification: Tackling the Independent Contractor Problem Without Redefining Employment, 26 ABA J. LAB. & EMP. L. 279, 286 (2011).
55. Marc Linder, Dependent and Independent Contractors in Recent U. S. Labor Law: An Ambiguous Dichotomy Rooted in Simulated Statutory Purposelessness, 21 COMP. LAB. L. & POL'Y J. 187, 220 (1999). Linder writes
56. For more information on work as a social institution, see generally CATHERINE R. ALBISTON, RIGHTS ON LEAVE: INSTITUTIONAL INEQUALITY AND THE MOBILIZATION OF THE FAMILY AND MEDICAL LEAVE ACT (2010).
57. DAVID HARVEY, A BRIEF HISTORY OF NEOLIBERALISM 2 (2005).
58. I do not intend to describe neoliberalism in merely causal terms, as either "bottom-up" or "top-down", but rather as a "circuitous process of socio-spatial transformation. " Simon Springer, Neoliberalism as Discourse: Between Foucauldian Political Economy and Marxian Poststructuralism, 9 CRITICAL DISCOURSE STUD. 133 (2012).
59. This will likely affect the ability of franchisee workers to engage in protected bargaining. NLRB Office of the General Counsel Authorizes Complaints Against McDonald's Franchisees and Determines McDonald's, USA, LLC Is a Joint Employer, NLRB (July 29, 2014), https://www.nlrb.gov/news-outreach/news-story/nlrb-office-general-counsel-authorizes-complaintsagainst-mcdonalds [https://perma.cc/37K7-TD9T].
60. See TOMAS MARTTILA, THE CULTURE OF ENTERPRISE IN NEOLIBERALISM: SPECTERS OF ENTREPRENEURSHIP 1-7 (2013).
61. See Fedex Home Delivery V. NLRB, 563 F.3d 492 (D. C. Cir. 2009).
62. See, e.g., Party Cab Co. V. United States, 172 F.2d 87, 92 (7th Cir. 1949).
63. See, e.g., id.; Local 777 V. NLRB, 603 F.2d 862, 886 (D. C. Cir. 1979)
64. See, e.g., Henry S. Farber, The Decline of Unionization in the United States: What Can Be Learned from Recent Experience?, 8 J. LAB. ECON. (1990).
65. Drew Desilver, American Unions Membership Declines as Support Fluctuates, PEW RES. CTR. (Feb. 20, 2014), http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2014/02/20/for-american-unionsmembership-trails-far-behind-public-support [https://perma.cc/NM2E-P6MY].
66. Contingent and Alternative Employment Arrangements, BUREAU LAB. STAT. (July 27, 2005), http://www.bls.gov/news.release/conemp. toc.htm [https://perma.cc/9VSZ-XZ8D].
67. Fidan Elcioglu, Producing Precarity: The Temporary Staffing Agency in the Labor Market, 33 QUALITATIVE SOC. 117 (2010).
68. Legal scholars have long argued that the "Law"-the New Deal legislation and its administration by courts-is more than partly responsible for the decline of organized labor. See, e.g., Karl Klare, Judicial Deradicalization of the Wagner Act and the Origins of Modern Legal Consciousness, 1937-1941, 62 MINN. L. REV. 265 (1978) (discussing the co-optation and disciplining of the workers' movement by New Deal reforms).
69. reprinted in 2 LEGISLATIVE HISTORY OF THE NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS ACT 3119 (1949) (emphasis added).
70. Reported with Amendments, reprinted in 1 LEGISLATIVE HISTORY OF THE NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS ACT 1342 (1948).
71. See NLRB V. Hearst Publ'ns, 322 U. S. 111, 122-24 (1944).
72. Hearings before Sen. Comm. on Educ. and Lab., 73d Congress, Sec. Session, on S. 2926: Part II (Mar. 26-Apr. 3, 1934)
73. reprinted in 1 LEGISLATIVE HISTORY OF THE NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS ACT, supra note 53.
74. See, e.g., Indus. Comm'n V. Nw. Mut. Life Ins. Co., 103 Colo. 550, 553-54 (1939);
75. Unemployment Comp. Comm'n of N. C. V. Jefferson Standard Life Ins. Co., 215 N. C. 479, 483-87 (1939);
76. Nw. Mut. Life Ins. Co. V. Tone, 4 A.2d 640 (Conn. 1939).
77. See, e.g., Nw. Mut. Life Ins. Co., 103 Colo. at 562
78. For evidence of the origins of agency law and the doctrine of respondeat superior in negligence principles, see The Doctrine of Respondeat Superior, 17 HARV. L. REV. 51 (1903).
79. Hearst, 322 U. S. at 124.
80. Joachim Singelmann, The Sectoral Transformation of the Labor Force in Seven Industrialized Countries, 1920-1970, 83 AM. J. SOC. 1224, 1229 (1978).
81. Hearst, 322 U. S. at 134 (emphasis added).
82. See, e.g., Duquesne Warehouse Co. V. R. R. Ret. Bd., 148 F.2d 473 (2d Cir. 1945)
83. rev'd, 326 U. S. 446 (1946);
84. NLRB V. Norfolk S. Bus Corp., 159 F.2d 516, 517 (4th Cir. 1946);
85. NLRB V. Packard Motor Car Co., 157 F.2d 80, 85 (6th Cir. 1946)
86. aff'd, 330 U. S. 485 (1947).
87. Nelson Lichtenstein, Taft-Hartley: A Slave-Labor Law?, 47 CATH. U. L. REV. 763, 766 (1998).
88. Richard W. Hurd, New Deal Labor Policy and the Containment of Radical Union Activity, 8 REV. RADICAL POL. ECON. 32, 29 (1976).
89. 45 U. S. C. A. 151 et seq.]
90. U. S. C. § 152 (3) (2012).
91. See, e.g., Kenneth R. Dolin, The Supreme Court's Rejection of Excluding "Ordinary Professional or Technical Judgment" as Independent Judgment When Directing Employees: Does Kentucky River Mean Lights out for "Mississippi Power?", 18 LAB. LAW. 365 (2003);
92. Ben M. Germana, Protecting Managerial Employees Under the National Labor Relations Act, 91 COLUM. L. REV. 405 (1991);
93. Robert D. Leiter, Supervisory Employees and the Taft-Hartley Law, 15 S. ECON. J. 311 (1949).
94. 29 U. S. C § 152 (3).
95. H. R. Rep. on H. R. 3020 (1947)
96. reprinted in 1 LEGISLATIVE HISTORY OF THE NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS ACT, supra note 53, at 309.
97. See EILEEN BORIS, HOME TO WORK: MOTHERHOOD AND THE POLITICS OF INDUSTRIAL HOMEWORK IN THE UNITED STATES (1994).
98. Willett H. Parr, The Taft-Hartley Law, 23 IND. L. J. 12, 14-15 (1947).
99. LUC BOLTANSKI & EVE CHIAPELLO, THE NEW SPIRIT OF CAPITALISM 218-26 (2005).
100. These precise shifts occurred in the taxi industry through the practice of leasing. See Chapters 2 and 3 of BIJU MATHEW, TAXI!: CABS AND CAPITALISM IN NEW YORK CITY (2005).
101. See, e.g., NLRB V. Associated Diamond Cabs, Inc., 702 F.2d 912, 925 (11th Cir. 1983);
102. Yellow Taxi Co. of Minneapolis V. NLRB, 721 F.2d 366 (D. C. Cir. 1983);
103. City Cab Co. of Orlando, 285 N. L. R. B. 1191, 1192 (1987).
104. See Associated Diamond Cabs, Inc., 702 F.2d at 925;
105. Yellow Taxi Co. of Minneapolis, 721 F.2d at 366;
106. City Cab Co. of Orlando, 285 N. L. R. B. at 1192.
107. Local 777, Democratic Union Org. Comm. V. NLRB, 603 F.2d 862, 886 (D. C. Cir. 1979).
108. Local 777, 603 F.2d at 883-84.
109. Local 777, 603 F.2d at 868.
110. The "all of the circumstances test" finds its origins in the Supreme Court's decision in NLRB V. United Ins. Co., 390 U. S. 254 (1968).
111. Local 777, 603 F.2d at 873 (emphasis added).
112. Party Cab Co. V. United States, 172 F.2d 87, 92 (7th Cir. 1949).
113. Local 777, 603 F.2d. at 874.
114. See generally Air Transit, Inc. V. NLRB, 679 F.2d 1095 (4th Cir. 1982);
115. NLRB V. Associated Diamond Cabs, Inc., 702 F.2d 912 (11th Cir. 1983);
116. Yellow Taxi Co. of Minneapolis V. NLRB, 721 F.2d 366 (D. C. Cir. 1983).
117. Local 777, 603 F.2d. at 876.
118. City Cab Co. of Orlando, Inc. V. NLRB, 628 F.2d 261, 265-66 (D. C. Cir. 1980) (finding taxi drivers to be employees);
119. C. C. E., Inc. V. NLRB, 60 F.3d 855, 860-61 (D. C. Cir. 1995) (finding freight drivers were independent contractors).
120. FedEx Home Delivery V. NLRB, 563 F.3d 492, 497 (internal quotes omitted)
121. (citing Corporate Express Delivery Sys. V. NLRB, 292 F.3d 777, 780 (D. C. Cir. 2002)) (emphasis added).
122. Jonathan P. Hiatt, Policy Issues Concerning the Contingent Workforce, 52 WASH. & LEE L. REV. 739, 750 (1995).
123. See also Ruth Burdick, Principles of Agency Permit the NLRB to Consider Additional Factors of Entrepreneruial Independence and the Relative Dependence of Employees When Determining Independent Contractor Status Under Section 2(3), 15 HOFSTRA LAB. & EMPL. L. J. 75 (1997).
124. Richard A. Samp & Kevin L. Kearns, Court Should Establish Clear Rules on Categorizing 'Independent Contractors', WASH. LEGAL FOUND., http://www.wlf.org/upload/10-24-08samp. pdf [https://perma.cc/62SH-LJYB].
125. FedEx, 563 F.3d at 502 (internal quotes omitted).
126. See Alexander V. FedEx Ground Package Sys., Inc., 765 F.3d 981, 989-94 (9th Cir. 2014).
127. FedEx, 563 F.3d at 498 (emphasis added).
128. For more on the entrepreneur as neoliberalism's quintessential actor, see Carla Freeman, The "Reputation" of Neoliberalism, 34 AM. ETHNOLOGIST 252 (2007).
129. Taxi Drivers Win Battle for $5 Wage: Demand for Eight-Hour Day Also Unconditionally Granted by the Auto Owners' Association, S. F. EXAMINER, Oct. 2, 1919 (on file with author);
130. see also S. T. Dixon of Chauffeurs' Union, CHAUFFEURS' MAG., 1919 (on file with author). The U. S. Bureau of Labor Statistics calculates that, considering inflation, $5 in 1919 was roughly the equivalent of $69.66 in 2016.
131. See U. S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, CPI Inflation Calculator, http://data.bls.gov/cgi-bin/cpicalc.pl?cost1=5&year1=1919&year2=2014 [https://perma.cc/2LFU-T5BY].
132. Labor News, BULL.: S. F. (1911) (on file with author).
133. Cab Strike Headed Off-Vote Set, S. F. EXAMINER (July, 26, 1968) (on file with author). My interviewees informed me that in New York City during the same time, the percentage commission to drivers was between 40 and 42 percent.
134. See, e.g., Party Cab Co. V. United States, 172 F.2d 87, 91 (7th Cir. 1949).
135. Cab Firms Deny Violations of Permit Rules: Holders at Police Commission Hearing Reject Change, S. F. EXAMINER (Mar. 25, 1950) (on file with author)..
136. Charles Rathborne, Taxis and San Francisco Labor History, TAXI-LIBRARY, http://www.taxi-library.org/history.htm [https://perma.cc/5RVZ-875Z].
137. See generally BIJU MATHEW, TAXI!: CABS AND CAPITALISM IN NEW YORK CITY (2005) for an in-depth discussion of the practice of leasing and its implications in the taxi industry.
138. See S. F. Struggles to Get Around in Cab Shortage, S. F. EXAMINER (Dec. 2, 1976) (on file with author).
139. Complaint for Injunctive, Declaratory, & Restitutionary Relief at 11, Tracy V. Yellow Cab Cooperative (Cal. Super. Ct. Nov. 25, 1991) (No. 938786).
140. See, e.g., Veena Dubal, Sweatshop on Wheels: Mayor Gavin Newsom's Attempt to Pillage the Taxi Industry, FOG CITY J. (2009), http://www.fogcityjournal.com/wordpress/1166/sweatshops-onwheels-mayor-gavin-newsoms-attempt-to-pillage-the-taxi-industry [https://perma.cc/V6GB-RB3S].
141. Taxi Barons Endorsed by Supervisors (Dec. 1929)
142. Veena Dubal, Protecting Taxi Workers & San Francisco Consumers: Medallion Transferability and Proposition K, ASIAN L. CAUCUS 3 (2009) (on file with author).
143. See, e.g., Michelle A. Samaad, San Francisco Taxi Medallion Program Expands Niche for CUs, CREDIT UNION TIMES (2010), http://www.cutimes.com/2010/09/08/san-francisco-taximedallion-program-expands-niche-for-cus?slreturn=1461288668 [https://perma.cc/CE3W-XGZF].
144. This amount varies but as of the time of publication, it is about eighty percent. See David Shimakura, How Much Commission Are Uber and Lyft Taking from Drivers?, QUORA (Oct. 12, 2015), https://www.quora.com/How-much-commission-are-Uber-and-Lyft-taking-from-drivers [https://perma.cc/7DQH-P2CQ].
145. See Second Amended Class Action Complaint and Jury Demand, O'Connor V. Uber Techs., Inc. (N. D. Cal. Nov. 12, 2014) (No. 13-3826-EMC), 2014 WL 10805308.
146. See Ryan Lawler, While the California PUC Cracks Down on Ride-Sharing, Sidecar and Lyft Commit to Staying on the Road, TECHCRUNCH. COM (Oct. 8, 2012), https://techcrunch.com/2012/10/08/cpuc-ride-sharing-c-and-d [https://perma.cc/5RQN-CH37];
147. Liane Yvkoff, Uber Lives on Despite SFMTA Cease-and-Desist, CNET. COM (Dec. 14, 2010), https://www.cnet.com/roadshow/news/uber-lives-on-despite-sfmta-cease-and-desist [https://perma.cc/ZC52-FCUE].
148. See Reply Comments of the Taxicab Paratransit Association of California, 12-12-011, http://sfcda.org/CPUC/TPAC-reply-PD.pdf [https://perma.cc/B5G5-P268].
149. Tomio Geron, California Becomes the First State to Regulate Ridesharing Services Lyft, Sidecar, UberX, FORBES. COM (Sept. 19, 2013), http://www.forbes.com/sites/tomiogeron/2013/09/19/california-becomes-first-state-to-regulate-ridesharing-services-lyft-sidecar-uberx/#517162f667fe [https://perma.cc/4G8H-F7RU].
150. See, e.g., Jamie Wong, The Rise of the Micro-Entrepreneurship Economy, FASTCOEXIST. COM (May 29, 2012), https://www.fastcoexist.com/1679903/the-rise-of-the-microentrepreneurship-economy [https://perma.cc/5DTP-N9D6].
151. This image is available at LYFT, https://www.lyft.com/drivers [https://perma.cc/8Y6D-BJ8H] (last visited July 1, 2014).
152. Megan Garber, After Uber San Francisco Has Seen a 65% Decrease in Cab Use, ATLANTIC (Sept. 17, 2014), http://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2014/09/what-uber-isdoing-to-cabs-in-san-francisco-in-1-crazy-chart/380378 [https://perma.cc/2BES-9X2Q].
153. Peter Kirby, San Francisco's Medallion Program and the Damage Done, S. F. EXAMINER (May 1, 2016), http://www.sfexaminer.com/san-franciscos-medallion-program-damage-done [https://perma.cc/778M-XN8Q].
154. See S. F. POLICE CODE § 1124.5 (2016).
155. National Taxi Workers Alliance Affiliates with the AFL-CIO, AFLCIO (Oct. 20, 2011), http://www.aflcio.org/Press-Room/Press-Releases/National-Taxi-Workers-Alliance-Affiliates-with-the [https://perma.cc/F5Q5-ZFC6]. At the time of publishing, the most active UTW advocates remain active in the SFTWA.
156. Interview by V. B. Dubal with Tom Morrison, Taxi Worker and UTW Chairman, in Berkeley, Cal. (Jan. 15, 2012).
157. Interview by V. B. Dubal with Tom Morrison, Taxi Worker and UTW Chairman, in S. F., Cal. (Sept. 9, 2011).
158. Interview by V. B. Dubal with George Lawson, Taxi Worker and UTW Chairman, in S. F., Cal. (Sept. 2, 2011).
159. Interview by V. B. Dubal with Arjun Malhi, Taxi Worker, in S. F., Cal. (Jan. 24, 2012).
160. Interview by V. B. Dubal with Farouk Ali, S. F. Taxi Worker, in San Mateo, Cal. (Feb. 22, 2012).
161. Interview by V. B. Dubal with Ahmed Sayed, Taxi Worker, in S. F., Cal. (Mar. 12, 2012).
162. Interview by V. B. Dubal with Ashok Agarwal, Taxi Worker, in S. F., Cal. (Mar. 1, 2012).
163. In 1970, Yellow Cab disciplined twenty-seven drivers for "failing to meet a company requirement that beards be neatly trimmed and that hair not fall below collar length." Taxi-Hair Issue Put in Kagel Hands, S. F. EXAMINER (Apr. 17, 1970)
164. Long-Hairs Assail Cabbies' Union, S. F. EXAMINER (Apr. 13, 1970) (on file with author).
165. Interview by V. B. Dubal with Samuel Tesfaye, Taxi Worker, in Oakland, Cal. (May 23, 2012).
166. JANICE FINE, WORKER CENTERS: ORGANIZING COMMUNITIES AT THE EDGE OF THE DREAM (2006).
167. Interview by V. B. Dubal with Eyasu Bekele, Taxi Worker, in San Ramon, Cal. (Mar. 10, 2012) (emphasis added).
168. Interview by V. B. Dubal with Govind Kalra, Taxi Worker, in S. F., Cal. (Mar. 6, 2012).
169. Interview by V. B. Dubal with Mohamed Iqbal, Taxi Worker, S. F., Cal. (Mar. 3, 2012) (emphasis added).
170. Interview by V. B. Dubal with Lin Wong, Taxi Worker, in S. F., Cal. (Mar. 16, 2012).
171. See Interview with Eyasu Bekele, supra note 180.
172. Interview by V. B. Dubal with Jitendra Saini, Taxi Worker, in S. F., Cal. (Aug. 3, 2011) (emphasis added).
173. For a discussion of wage labor and minimum wage laws in India as compared to other countries in the Global South, see, for example, Uma Rani, et al., Minimum Wage Coverage and Compliance in Developing Countries, 152 INT'L LAB. REV. 381 (2013).
174. Interview by V. B. Dubal with Ashfaq Swapan, Taxi Worker, in S. F., Cal. (Mar. 14, 2012).
175. For an economic analysis of income inequality in the United States, see Thomas Piketty & Emmanuel Saez, Income Inequality in the United States, 1913-1998, 118 Q. J. ECON. 1 (2003).
176. JACOB S. HACKER, THE GREAT RISK SHIFT: THE NEW ECONOMIC INSECURITY AND THE DECLINE OF THE AMERICAN DREAM (2008).
177. VICKI SMITH, CROSSING THE GREAT DIVIDE: WORKER RISK AND OPPORTUNITY IN THE NEW ECONOMY (2002).
178. DAVID WEIL, THE FISSURED WORKPLACE 28 (2014).
179. see also STEVEN HILL, RAW DEAL: HOW THE "UBER ECONOMY" AND RUNAWAY CAPITALISM ARE SCREWING AMERICAN WORKERS (2015).
180. Although I do not explicitly reference "legal consciousness", my conceptual analysis owes a great debt to the works of Sally Engle Merry, Patricia Ewick, Susan Silbey, and Austin Sarat, who influenced my thinking about subjectivity and legality. Merry defines "legal consciousness" as "the ways people understand and use the law." SALLY ENGLE MERRY, GETTING JUSTICE AND GETTING EVEN: LEGAL CONSCIOUSNESS AMONG WORKING-CLASS AMERICANS (1990);
181. see also Patricia Ewick & Susan S Silbey, Conformity, Contestation, and Resistance: An Account of Legal Consciousness, 26 NEW ENG. L. REV. 731 (1991);
182. Austin Sarat, "... The Law Is All Over": Power, Resistance and the Legal Consciousness of the Welfare Poor, 2 YALE J. L. & HUMAN. 343 (1990).
183. See MICHAEL W MCCANN, RIGHTS AT WORK: PAY EQUITY REFORM AND THE POLITICS OF LEGAL MOBILIZATION (1994);
184. GERALD N ROSENBERG, THE HOLLOW HOPE: CAN COURTS BRING ABOUT SOCIAL CHANGE? (2d ed. 2008);
185. STUART A. SCHEINGOLD, THE POLITICS OF RIGHTS: LAWYERS, PUBLIC POLICY, AND POLITICAL CHANGE (2d ed. 2004).
186. Indeed, we see glimmers of this type of lawyering in some nontraditional, diverse workforces such as the restaurant industry, and, at least in New York City, in the taxi industry. For more on public interest lawyering, law, and organizing, see Sameer M. Ashar, Public Interest Lawyers and Resistance Movements, 95 CALIF. L. REV. 1879 (2007);
187. Scott L. Cummings & Ingrid V. Eagly, A Critical Reflection on Law and Organizing, 48 UCLA L. REV. 443 (2001).