Uber and Entrepreneurs vs California and Big Government
The real issue is that of control. The government wants control of Uber like it has seized control of the taxi industry.
I can see the Fed Ex drivers being called employees because their work was almost exclusively for Fed Ex and the only reason Fed Ex wanted to declare them all as independent contractors was to avoid the insurance requirements. (Now the whole discussion becomes moot if we individualize health care and treat it just like auto insurance, etc. but that's another story.) Uber drivers, however, are at best part-time and certainly have other employment opportunities. I believe that the ruling is factually incorrect and motivated more by politics than law.
I can see the Fed Ex drivers being called employees because their work was almost exclusively for Fed Ex and the only reason Fed Ex wanted to declare them all as independent contractors was to avoid the insurance requirements. (Now the whole discussion becomes moot if we individualize health care and treat it just like auto insurance, etc. but that's another story.) Uber drivers, however, are at best part-time and certainly have other employment opportunities. I believe that the ruling is factually incorrect and motivated more by politics than law.
They're saying someone wants a ride and someone wants to give one, and this is horribly wrong even though they're all consenting adults.