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Konstantine Anthony, a 38-year-old Uber driver, usually starts his morning by picking up a commuter in Burbank, California, and heading over the hills on Highway 5 toward downtown Los Angeles. From there, he traverses back and forth across the city, from Beverly Hills to Koreatown, from Inglewood to Los Angeles International Airport. “There’s no way to determine where I’ll end up,” he told me. (Uber does not reveal a driver’s destination until they accept a ride.) Riders have taken him as far north as Ventura County and deep into the desert in San Bernardino County—once even to Las Vegas.

Uber and Lyft drivers chanted and cheered outside the Uber headquarters building in San Francisco on Friday as they delivered a letter demanding negotiations for better working conditions. A coalition of labor unions and advocacy groups for the drivershas been pushing for improved wages and employee protections for drivers, who are classified as independent contractors and receive no benefits, no matter how long they work.

Assembly Bill 5 (AB-5) is a controversial law working its way through the California state legislature which defines the legal standards for employees and independent contractors within the state. Uber and Lyft drivers are rallying in support of the bill because they feel it will offer them better working conditions and job security. Lorena Gonzalez, D-San Diego, introduced Assembly Bill 5 in December of 2018. Currently it has been passed by the California Assembly and is being debated in the California Senate.

Uber and Lyft drivers chanted and cheered outside the Uber headquarters building in San Francisco on Friday as they delivered a letter demanding negotiations for better working conditions. A coalition of labor unions and advocacy groups for the drivers has been pushing for improved wages and employee protections for drivers, who are classified as independent contractors and receive no benefits, no matter how long they work.

Lyft and Uber drivers will hold a protest in San Francisco while a bill in Sacramento is debated that aims to give gig economy workers more benefits. Uber and Lyft drivers say they don’t want to be classified as contract workers anymore. They say if they were made employees, they would get more benefits and likely higher pay.