Why You Should Vote "NO" on Prop. 22
Why Voting No on Prop 22 Is Better for Chauffeured Transportation
The short answer is that we all just want a more fair and equitable playing field. I am a business traveler. Until 2014 I routinely used livery services when traveling. Ten years ago, the price to go from LAX to my headquarters in Torrance (12 miles) was $250 – one way, including fees/gratuities. My company paid the bills as if that was the norm. Why? Because it was. We enjoyed a corporate account with a chauffeured service for years until one day, Uber knocked on our door with a “sweetheart deal” and just like that, our longstanding relationship with the limousine company ended. Fast forward to now, those rates of old seem surreal. Uber charges $50 for that same ride.
Ride Hail businesses crushed us with price because they circumvented our labor laws from the beginning. It was only a matter of time that they’d go public at which point their financials would be on full display (including the $46 million package for their CEO…hem hem). Cast their outrageous spending against the backdrop of a blue-collar driver, who truly clears about $5 an hour, and it really begins to smell like a sweatshop.
If Uber loses this argument because VOTE NO wins, we ALL get to reset the consumer’s expectation on pricing. In other words, we get a very much needed bounce. Uber has vowed to downsize their business model and focus on intercity transportation allowing us to expand our turf - or in some cases reclaim - the suburbs (there’s good money there).
If Uber wins with a VOTE YES they will get a special carve out that we may or may not be entitled to. You can bet that the GCLA is looking at this from both sides and we will be prepared to pivot.
Which is the better path for us in California? Winning the VOTE NO campaign offers more surety that we will be able to increase market share. Further, the demand will be greater than the supply and you know what that means to pricing, right? It goes up. That is better in the long run than if Uber wins. If the YES has it, chauffeured transportation will make the argument that we should get the same deal as Ride Hail businesses but it’s easy to imagine a lot of pushback from the state of California. There are other worries in a YES scenario. Our pricing will likely be pushed down while quality control and liability issues will rise.
The GCLA has worked long and hard to get AB 5 passed and made into law this year. We must see this through with all the muscle we have as an industry. This is our one shot and if we win, rest assured, you are gong to be the beneficiaries of a rebound of business the likes we have not seen.
Every vote counts; yours, your relatives, your friends, your customers. And, with time on our hands there’s no excuse for you to stay on the sidelines. Take action in your community with all you’ve got and use the GCLA VOTE NO slicks on all your emails and social media marketing.
We’re in It to Win It.
—Sara Eastwood-Richardson
