Exclusive: U.S. states pass laws backing Uber's view of drivers as contractors

Reuters reports:

State legislators in Ohio and Florida are moving ahead with regulations governing Uber and other ride services that would designate all drivers as independent contractors, bolstering a critical but much-disputed aspect of Uber's business model.

The states would join North Carolina, Arkansas, and Indiana in requiring the contractor designation as part of new laws governing so-called transportation network companies, a Reuters review of state legislation showed.

The contractor provisions of the current and proposed laws in the five states have not previously been reported. Reuters reviewed the transportation legislation of more than 40 states that have considered regulations for companies such as Uber and its rival Lyft over the past two years.

Uber has built its business on the contractor model, arguing that its smartphone app simply connects riders and drivers, who own their cars and pay their own expenses.

But Uber is fighting a class-action lawsuit in California by drivers who said they should be treated as employees. Many of a group of 160,000 California drivers could potentially be part of the class, according to a judge's ruling Dec. 9, and possibly be eligible for back pay and reimbursement of expenses.

The struggle against the rent-seekers of the taxi cartel.