'We Are Hopeful'
In this Q&A, Patrice Onwuka explains why the Independent Women's Forum is still fighting for independent contractors, and what she expects next in Washington.
Patrice Onwuka is director of the Center for Economic Opportunity at Independent Women’s Forum, which is a nonprofit organization committed to increasing the number of women who value free markets and personal liberty. The IWF advocates for policies that expand opportunities, especially flexible opportunities. Through Independent Women’s Network, it has chapters of women across the country.
I’ve gotten to know Onwuka in recent years because of IWF’s advocacy on behalf of independent contractors. Earlier this month, the organization published a great feature series that highlights the stories of three women who are independent contractors in the trucking industry.
The work that IWF is doing can have a real impact on federal policy. Also just announced this month is that May Mailman, who has been director of IWF’s Law Center, is joining the White House to serve as Deputy Assistant to President Trump and Senior Policy Strategist.
Here’s my conversation with Onwuka about why IWF created this feature series about independent contractors, about what she expects next on self-employment policy out of Washington, D.C., and more.
Q&A with Patrice Onwuka
What is the focus at the Center for Economic Opportunity at IWF?
My portfolio of issues includes labor, technology and broad economic policy. We educate and amplify policy solutions for policymakers and in the media.
Why is independent-contractor policy one of the areas where IWF tries to influence policy?
As an organization comprised of all women in various stages of life, we attract new moms, seasoned moms, moms-to-be and women looking to move from one field into another, so we understand why creating flexible opportunities is so important to women.
Flexibility is critical to keeping women in the labor force. Women are caregivers for children and aging parents. They may also have health conditions or unique circumstances that prevent them from working a traditional 9-to-5 job. Independent contracting allows women to continue fulfilling careers or side hustles, while balancing priorities that are important to them. Furthermore, independent contracting offers women greater control and choices over their time and labor. The government should respect women’s choices in the workforce.
When troubling threats to independent contracting emerged, we jumped into the fray. In 2019, when we first learned about California’s ABC Test through Assembly Bill 5, we were drawn into the fight to protect independent contracting by women who reached out to us. We were flooded with stories of women who overnight saw their incomes and livelihoods disappear.
We’ve educated, advocated and, through our sister organization, Independent Women’s Voice, activated women to speak out against harmful policies from the Protecting the Right to Organize Act to the Biden administration’s independent contractor rule. The fight is far from over.
The feature series that IWF just published highlights the stories of three women who are independent contractors in the trucking industry. Why did you decide to create this series?
Trucking is a vital industry to our nation’s supply chain. Truckers move the goods that we produce and consume. Not only is keeping the transportation industry moving, critical to our national economy, it’s important for national security. Truckers move highly sensitive material and munitions.
How many people know that not all truckers work for trucking companies? Many work for themselves. At least 40% of them own their own trucks and run their own transportation businesses as owner-operators. These individuals are self-employed as independent contractors.
Female truckers are a small but growing portion of truckers. According to the Women in Trucking Association, women comprised over 10% of over-the-road truck drivers in 2019. These women prize the benefits of independence, including flexibility and freedom. They worry about the impact of the Biden independent contractor rule on their ability to remain owner-operators.
We launched the series, titled “Behind the Wheel: Women Truckers Fight for Their Independence,” featuring Angela Masterson, Sheryl Myers and Jeanette Lonergan. These female truckers are accomplished and award-winning. Affiliated with Bennett Family of Companies, they join many other truckers and independent trucking companies in opposing the Biden-era Labor Department rule.
I fully agree with you that most people fail to realize how integral independent contractors are to the trucking industry. I personally didn’t know this when the current wave of freelance busting began. The figures shocked me.
Back in 2019, when my home state of New Jersey tried to pass a freelance-busting bill that would’ve copied California’s disastrous law, we heard testimony that 77% of the driver workforce at the Port of NY&NJ is owner-operator truckers. One woman who testified against that bill was a mother who needed a translator because she spoke Spanish. She was crying, telling the lawmakers through tears that the reason she became an independent contractor was so she could take her sick child to the doctor.
I also didn’t know the data back then about how some 40% of independent contractors in all kinds of professions are caregivers, and how 62% say that being caregivers influenced their decision to become their own boss in the first place. Your series also touches on this fact, that a lot of women, in particular, are independent contractors because being their own boss makes it easier for them to care for other people in their lives.
Bingo. Caregiving is a major driver—no pun intended—for owner-operators and all female independent contractors. Some 46% of freelancers say they depend on contract work because their personal circumstances prevent them from working in traditional jobs.
We’ve spoken to women who battled sickness such as cancer while raising their children because they were independent. One woman survived a rape and murder attempt. She could not work in a traditional setting around other people after such a traumatic incident. She still needed to earn a living and care-give for her family. Independent contracting allowed her to do that.
There are so many stories of women and men raising families or caring for an aging parent or managing their own health conditions. They may move in and out of traditional W-2 employment because 1099 work gives them the flexibility they need.
Another thing I like about this IWF series is that it explains how independent-contractor truckers help the U.S. military, keep the supply chains running and make other vital contributions to the country. One of the truckers the series highlights explained that she no longer does business in California because of Assembly Bill 5.
I couldn’t help but think about whether that law might make it harder for the trucking industry to help people and communities that are enduring historically tragic wildfires right now in that state. Have you heard any discussion about that as we are all watching the horrific damage from the fires on the news?
Nothing specific to the wildfires, but anything that disrupts our supply chain delays recovery and rebuilding efforts, and drives up prices for regular Americans.
The IWF series is critical of the Biden-Harris administration’s independent-contractor rule, which is facing several federal lawsuits, including this one where I’m among the plaintiffs. President Trump, during his first administration, implemented a rule that was considered far better for independent contractors, but the Biden-Harris team rescinded and replaced it. Republicans in the divided Congress then tried to reverse the Biden-Harris rule, but they failed.
What are your expectations for the second Trump administration and the new Republican-controlled Congress with regard to independent-contractor policy?
We are hopeful. As you acknowledged, the Trump 1.0 administration protected independent contractors and delivered a clearer, simpler standard. The president is a champion of enterprise and entrepreneurship. He is prioritizing the elimination of business-strangling regulations, especially those that hamper mom-and-pop shops or small businesses.
Congress should put an end to the ping-pong game of who qualifies to be an independent contractor. Liberals want the standard to be narrowed to the eye of a needle, whereas conservatives would make the pathways for independence wide and accessible. These are conflicting views: Conservatives want workers to have the freedom to choose what works best for them; the left wants to force as many people as possible into traditional and unionizable jobs.
Executive orders or agency regulations are a great step. However, they can be undone by a new administration. Congress should consider enshrining the Trump-era definition for independent contractors, and/or consider ways to get ahead of the opposition to flexible work. The Employee Rights Act was a federal bill that, among many pro-worker provisions, sought to protect independent contractors as a counter to a national ABC Test in the now-defunct Protecting the Right to Organize Act.
Portable benefits also provide a pathway for companies to provide independent contractors with workplace benefits without triggering a reclassification. The federal government has a role to play in removing the legal and tax hurdles to create portable benefits. I anticipate that the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee under the new Chairman Bill Cassidy may seek some solutions on portable benefits this Congress.
Indeed, just this week, Senator Cassidy had me cheering because he said at a hearing on Capitol Hill that “the anti-worker agenda is over.” He has long been a champion for independent contractors in the U.S. Senate, and I was thrilled to see that his position has not changed.
Related to that, what are your expectations for the incoming U.S. Labor Department, especially with the nomination of former Congresswoman Lori Chavez-DeRemer for U.S. Labor Secretary? She supported the anti-independent contractor PRO Act that has language similar to California’s Assembly Bill 5, a fact that has left a lot of us concerned about our livelihoods continuing to be threatened.
The Labor Secretary serves the agenda of President Trump. Former Congresswoman DeRemer is no longer beholden to the constituents of one district or that may have had heavy partisan leanings. She has to represent the interest of all U.S. workers, employers and businesses. That may give her a broader perspective that many interests need to be considered.
Her past support for the PRO Act raises questions, but that bill is dead. Now, she has an opportunity to demonstrate her commitment to self-employed Americans and President Trump’s commitment to the economic engine of this country by working to undo the damage of Biden-era policies. She has assured us at IWF that her door is open to everyone. She's listening.
What else can we all expect from IWF on the independent-contractor issue in the future?
Expect more stories, more amplification of this issue in the media, and with policymakers. We will never stop fighting for freedom and flexibility.