San Francisco (AFP)

The attorney general of California sued Uber and its American competitor Lyft on Tuesday, accusing them of considering their drivers as self-employed and not employees, depriving them of social rights such as minimum wages or health insurance.

"These companies take the work of people but do not give them protection in return," said the attorney general Xavier Becerra, in a statement.

This procedure comes after the entry into force at the beginning of the year of a Californian law which must force the giants of the reservation of cars to requalify the drivers of VTC as employees.

"Sometimes it takes a pandemic to shake us up and make us understand what this situation really means and who is suffering from it. Uber and Lyft drivers who catch the coronavirus or lose their jobs quickly realize what they are deprived of," argued M Becerra.

"But it is not just these workers who are losing out. American taxpayers find themselves having to help carry this burden that Uber and Lyft do not accept."

"At a time when the California economy is in crisis with 4 million people unemployed, we must facilitate access to income, not complicate it," said a spokesperson for Uber.

The company has promised to challenge this lawsuit, "while pushing for the improvement of working conditions for independent drivers, including guaranteed minimum earnings and new benefits".

Uber has already filed a complaint on December 31 against the US state to challenge the law called "AB5", in an attempt to preserve an economic model attacked from all over the world, and which has so far never made a profit. .

- Judicial standoff -

The Californian group had teamed up with the delivery start-up Postmates and two drivers to sue the text.

"The complainants (...) defend their fundamental freedom to work as independent service providers and as technology companies in the on-demand economy", they said in the complaint for "violation of constitutional rights" .

They joke around with an "irrational" law targeting the economy of the self-employed while exempting certain professions, such as "sales representatives, construction truck drivers or commercial fishermen".

In San Francisco, independent drivers seem to be divided between the concern of losing the flexibility they currently have in terms of timetables and the lack of social security coverage.

Other categories of contract workers, such as associations of freelance journalists or truckers, contest the AB5 law.

The California attorney general was joined in the action launched on Tuesday by prosecutors in Los Angeles, San Diego and San Francisco.

"California law is very clear: Uber and Lyft drivers are employees," said Mike Feuer, the attorney for the city of Los Angeles.

According to him, these two companies "exploit their drivers and illegally transfer the costs of their responsibilities as employers to Californian taxpayers".

"We look forward to working with state attorneys and mayors to bring the benefits of California's innovative economy to as many workers as possible," Lyft said.

"Especially in this time when creating jobs with access to affordable health care and other benefits is more important than ever."

© 2020 AFP