I've done lots of things that deprive full time subsistences. For example, I used to repair people's phones and gadgets as a beer money gig; which deprive full-time repair shop employees.

Should it be illegal for me to offer that service?

That's not what anyone is arguing for. The whole argument is that a company who treats people like employees (full control over interactions with and access to customers) should have to provide the benefits and pay the costs of an employer.

Companies who treat people like employees generally:

* do not allow them unlimited flexibility into when and where they work

* do not allow them to take days off, without notice, for any reason, for as long as they want

* do not allow them to choose which jobs to do and not do (see: trip destination filters)

but most importantly:

* do not allow them to work for a competitor at the same time.

If Uber is too driver-unfriendly, drivers can switch to Lyft. Or maybe Amazon Flex. There's a very, very real choice that you do not get with a traditional employer-employee relationship.

Uber is in between an employee, and an IC. I believe the appropriate treatment is also somewhere in between.

Yeah, it almost seems like a compromise would be an hourly line. If you work more than 30 hours, you become an employee but you lose freedom in the hours you choose since you're now in an employee relationship and below 30 hours, you're just a contractor. Some kind of part time tinkerer.

29 hours a week for Uber, 29 hours a week for Lyft, and 29 hours a week for the next ride-sharing company.

Have to be careful not to accidentally burn your hours by being logged into both apps at once.

I'm not sure that's actually better for drivers; it just makes for more paperwork and regulations to track.

This is what prop22 essentiallu tried to accomplish.

AB5 without parttime employment would almost certainly force Uber to start scheduling shifts or putting arbitrary limits on the # of simultaneous drivers in the app (the law isn't written to explicitly require that, but it's a blatant side effect of requiring Uber et al to still pay minimum wage when the supply of drivers outstrips passenger demand)