A nascent political action committee, Illinoisans for Independent Work, is being bankrolled by rideshare giant Lyft, with one of the Bay Area-based company’s top executives at the helm— signaling a potential expansion of efforts to carve out independent contractor status for their drivers following a win at the ballot box in California.
More precisely, the committee’s listed address is the office of California-based boutique law firm Politicom Law LLP, which specializes in political compliance law and was cofounded by the committee’s treasurer Darrin Lim. The BOE website also states that the chairperson of Illinoisans for Independent Work is Jordan Markwith, the head of Lyft’s external affairs. Markwith, Lim, and Illinoisans for Independent Work did not respond to interview requests from the Reader.
“It’s one of those public relations slogans that’s a meaningless gimmick that is designed to make you sound like you’re cruel if you choose to oppose it,” Cuffaro says. “The point is that they can’t just be honest and say that their slogan is, ‘we support candidates who can be paid enough to look the other way so that their constituents can get taken advantage of by billion-dollar companies who care more for a buck than a buddy.'”
“The recent passage of Proposition 22 in California demonstrates the widespread support for preserving flexible work with access to benefits,” the Alliance said in the announcement about its founding. “The broad support from drivers and voters across the political spectrum demonstrated that policymakers and workers must find solutions that provide independence plus benefits.”
