SAN FRANCISCO – The California Supreme Court on Tuesday will hear arguments on a case that could determine the future of the state’s gig economy.

Prop. 22 was passed in November 2020 by nearly 60 percent of voters.

It classifies rideshare and delivery drivers for companies lke Uber,Lyft, Door Dash and Instacart, as independent contractors, not employees.

As contractors, drivers are supposed to have more flexibility with their work schedules.

But it also means they’re not legally entitled to things like a minimum wage, overtime or sick leave.

Now, some rideshare drivers and state union representatives are challenging the legality of Prop. 22. 

Their argument: some worker rights, like making sure people are paid a minimum wage, should be determined by state law, regardless of what voters decide.

As the justices hear the arguments, a group of drivers with an organization called the “Gig Workers Union,” plan to rally outside the courthouse. 

HALF MOON BAY, Calif. — The owners of two Northern California mushroom farms where a farmworker killed seven people in back-to-back shootings last year will pay more than $450,000 in back wages and damages to 62 workers, the Labor Department announced Monday.

The owners of California Terra Gardens and Concord Farms in Half Moon Bay will also pay $70,000 in civil penalties for illegally deducting money from the workers’ pay for housing them in cramped cargo containers, garages, dilapidated trailers and a moldy greenhouse infested with insects and surrounded by trash, the department said in a statement.

Half Moon Bay mushroom farms cited for workplace safety violations after Jan. mass shooting

Chunli Zhao, who worked at California Terra Gardens and had worked at Concord Farms, was charged with seven counts of murder and one count of attempted murder in the Jan. 23, 2023, shootings that stunned the small coastal community about 30 miles (48 kilometers) south of San Francisco. He has pleaded not guilty.

Authorities said Zhao opened fire at California Terra Garden, killing four co-workers and wounding another one. They said he then drove about 2 miles (3.2 kilometers) to Concord Farms, a mushroom farm he was fired from in 2015, and shot to death three workers.

‘Hidden Crisis: Tragedy in Half Moon Bay’ | Watch full special

California Terra Gardens, Inc.’s owners, Xianmin Guan and his wife, Liming Zhu, illegally deducted money from workers’ pay for substandard housing, federal officials said. Federal investigators discovered 39 workers housed in cramped cargo containers, garages and dilapidated trailers furnished with filthy mattresses, the department said.

At Concord Farms, owner Grace Tung housed workers in moldy, makeshift rooms inside a greenhouse infested with insects, federal officials said.

MORE: Timeline: An in-depth look at the Half Moon Bay mass shooting that killed 7

Emails from The Associated Press seeking comment from the farms’ owners were not immediately answered Monday.

“Our investigators found workers at California Terra Gardens and Concord Farms housed in sickening conditions, forced to sleep near garbage and with insects all around,” said Wage and Hour Division Assistant District Director Alberto Raymond in San Francisco.

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Grower John Gless owns a citrus orchard in Kern County, California, which has greater citrus production than nearly any other county in the state. In 2020, Gless was looking to replace his old orchard and improve the orchard’s soil health through the conservation management practice of whole orchard recycling. With whole orchard recycling, orchard trees are chipped and spread back into the field evenly. Once chips are incorporated into the soil, the field can be replanted with a new citrus orchard. This practice improves soil health, nutrient levels, soil structure, and water retention, resulting in healthier orchards. 

Gless applied for the California Department of Food and Agriculture’s (CDFA) Healthy Soils Program Incentive Grants, funded through California Climate Investments, and received an award of $94,825 to implement whole orchard recycling in his 110-acre orchard. In addition to greenhouse gas reduction benefits, estimated at 26 metric tons of CO2 equivalent for this project, using whole orchard recycling serves as an alternative to burning orchards, preventing the release of particulate matter that otherwise would harm health.