9% of employees in Britain
are denied their workers' rights because the state
does nothing to punish their employers for doing that.
Similar problems happen in the US, including theft of wages,
denial of sick leave,
and exploitation in the
gig economy.
The traditional reason has been that elected politicians
listen to what the employers want. However, the California referendum
shows that big tech companies have the power to mobilize voters
to vote to exploit these workers so that they can enjoy somewhat lower
prices as customers for gig platforms.
Since some of the benefit of paying the low wages is kept by the
gig platforms, the net benefit goes to the wealthy, and the people
overall would be wise to support the higher wages.