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PEOPLE in the US have been so busy freaking out about the recent presidential election that it was easy to miss a vote in California for a ballot measure called , Lyft, DoorDash, Instacart and Postmates sponsored the measure, to the tune of $205 million. Some even converted their apps into propaganda machines, exhorting users to vote 鈥淵es on Prop 22鈥�.

The measure passed, and now California has a new class of worker: 鈥渋ndependent contractors鈥�. The result is that there is a special exemption for gig work companies from certain labour laws and benefits, such as those related to sick days and retirement.

Now gig companies want to export this idea of work across the globe. As Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi sai , he and his colleagues will 鈥渨ork with governments across the US and the world to make this a reality鈥�. So, what will that reality be like?

We have to start with some crucial backstory, which is that the state of .

When the law came into effect, gig companies would have to start paying for their drivers鈥� health insurance among other benefits. Uber and Lyft flatly refused to abide by AB 5, and put Prop 22 on the ballot to override it.

(Note for non-Californians: we have an unusual system in this state by which anyone with enough signatures can put propositions on the ballot, and as a result we vote on a wide range of public policies.)

Fair enough so far. Gig companies didn鈥檛 like AB 5, so they put it to the people of California to vote on the question of whether gig workers are contractors or employees.

But then, the drivers said, the gig companies started playing dirty. Uber and Lyft used their popular rideshare apps to push messages about Prop 22 to California passengers and drivers. When you opened the Uber app, a . 鈥淵es on 22,鈥� it read. 鈥淧rop 22 is progress.鈥� To get rid of the pop-up, you had to click one of two buttons: 鈥淵es on Prop 22鈥� or 鈥淥K鈥�. You couldn鈥檛 say no.

鈥淭o get rid of the pop-up, you had to click one of two buttons: 鈥榊es on Prop 22鈥� or 鈥極K鈥�. You couldn鈥檛 say no鈥�

Uber drivers claiming that the pop-up was a way of pressuring people to vote yes on the proposition, and that it amounted to coercion and bullying. A judge refused to hear the case. He said there was no evidence that they were being punished for not supporting Prop 22.

Still, for all the passengers who had to look at that pop-up constantly, it was a clear example of the company using its products to push a political agenda.

And the tactic worked. Prop 22 has passed, and the experience was so inspirational for gig companies that they want to recreate it in your state or country, too. It is an obvious win for a company like Uber, which still isn鈥檛 profitable.

Now Uber doesn鈥檛 have to pay for the same level of worker protections someone classed as an 鈥渆mployee鈥� would get, although Prop 22 does promise who work an average of between 15 and 25 hours per week. But 鈥渨orking鈥� is defined as only those times when a driver is picking someone up or driving them. So all those hours when a driver is fixing their car, or waiting for a passenger, or getting fuel, don鈥檛 count.

My favourite part of Prop 22 is a policy 鈥渓imiting app-based drivers from working more than 12 hours during a 24-hour period, unless the driver has been logged off for an uninterrupted 6 hours鈥�. That sounds safe, doesn鈥檛 it? Your driver is invited to sleep for 6 hours between 12-hour shifts, unless they figure out a way to game the app or simply use a different app after the 12 hours have elapsed. This is a very real possibility; many gig workers toggle between Uber and Lyft and DoorDash to pick up more work.

Ultimately, Prop 22 means that people whose jobs are already precarious have even less job security and virtually no healthcare.

But, say the gig companies, they have freedom! They can work whatever hours they want, on a flexible schedule. Of course, they are paid only for a fraction of the time they are actually working, because it is impossible to pick up passengers or deliveries without also waiting around for jobs to roll in.

If gig jobs become the norm, it is easy to imagine that the next trend in employment could be indenture. People will have become so traumatised by their lives under policies like Prop 22 that being housed and fed by companies that own them might feel like an awful sort of paradise.