Earlier today, Governor Tony Evers took action for working people by vetoing AB 269, the Gig Worker Carve Out Bill. This bill would have permanently stripped important protections like worker’s compensation, unemployment insurance, minimum wage, and overtime pay from Wisconsin’s app-based delivery drivers, the first such statewide legislation in the nation.
Wisconsin law includes a series of tests that must be used to determine whether a worker is eligible for worker’s compensation, unemployment insurance, minimum wage, and overtime pay. AB 269 would have replaced these important standards with a new four-point test designed to ensure that app-based workers do not qualify for these benefits, saving companies the cost of providing them.
Employers mounted a big-dollar corporate campaign in support of AB 269. DoorDash alone spent $1.4 million. The campaign messaging suggested that the purpose of AB 269 was to allow companies to give flexible benefits to their workers. The actual language of the bill said otherwise. It stated employers “may” provide these benefits but placed them under no obligation to do so. Looking beyond the corporate spin, AB 269 would not provide workers with greater flexibility; it would not provide better pay; it would not guarantee workers any additional benefits.
Legislation that makes the loss of important worker rights a certainty while holding out the possibility of flexible benefits if and when the employer chooses to provide them is a bad deal for workers. Thank you, Governor Evers for standing up for workers by vetoing AB 269.
