LONG BEACH, Calif.—Michael Clifford works for a trucking company in Utah but spends much of his time making deliveries in California.
As a non-resident company employee, Clifford said he’s not happy with California’s new labor law—Assembly Bill 5 (AB 5)—that was passed and signed into law in 2019 and went into effect last month after a failed legal challenge.
The new law requires independent truck owner-operators—some 70,000 strong throughout the Golden State—be classified as employees, with few exemptions.
“The owner-operators run on a tight profit margin. Everybody thinks they make a lot of money, but they don’t,” said Clifford while standing in line at a transportation logistics company near the Port of Long Beach on July 26….