A federal judge granted a temporary restraining order against a new California labor law impacting more than 70,000 independent truckers.
The restraining order was sought by the California Trucking Association, and U.S. District Judge Roger Benitez of San Diego will be considering imposing a permanent injunction.
The “gig worker” law (AB5) was passed late last year and makes it more difficult for companies to classify workers as independent contractors instead of employees, who are entitled to minimum wage and benefits.
The judge said truckers are likely to suffer irreparable harm and that temporarily blocking the law from applying to truckers is in the public interest.
The new law was intended to largely involve ride-share companies such as Uber, and food delivery companies such as Postmates.
However, workers in California doing jobs such as cleaning, construction, building maintenance and trucking are likely to feel its effects.
