On Wednesday, convoys of big rig trucks caused delays on Los Angeles freeways. It doesn’t take much to screw up traffic in this town, so this particular form of protest was part of the point.

As RedState has reported extensively, California’s ill-advised law AB5 has wreaked havoc not only on thousands of independent professionals, but on the California economy. Now, 70,000 truckers are on the chopping block, so the intent of this protest is for Governor Gavin Newsom to suspend the law.

We’ll see how well that goes.

According to the California Highway Patrol, lanes are open, but traffic is moving slowly. The convoy has caused delays on the Vincent Thomas Bridge between Long Beach and San Pedro, and the 110 and 710 freeways. Meanwhile, some drivers stayed behind to picket the entrance to the port complex.

The work stoppage is expected to last 24 hours.

The truckers are protesting AB 5, which is also known as the gig worker law, which took effect on Jan. 1, 2020. The law, which applies only to workers in California regardless of where the employer is based, assumes all workers as employees unless they satisfy three conditions: they are free from the control of the hiring company, do work outside the hiring company’s usual business, and have an independent business themselves.

According to the Sourcing Journal, Drivers in Oakland are planning their own protest on Monday.

Lorena Gonzalez, former California Assemblywoman and incoming Executive Secretary-Treasurer of the California Labor Federation, wrought this nightmare upon four million independent contractors in the state, all for the benefit of the unions that heavily funded her campaigns and the majority of the California legislature. In their heavy-handed revenge legislation geared toward punishing their personal and political enemies, the legislature ruined over 600 professions, upended lives, and contributed to the California Adios that has occurred over the past two years.

California's #AB5 is going to screw over 75,000 truckers, increase inflation, and inadvertently help tank the Democrats in the midterms. They are reaping what they sowed with this idiotic pro-union BS. https://t.co/EM9DrHJjwW pic.twitter.com/YDfrHnmAgz

— ¡El Sooopèrr! ن c137 🦬 (@SooperMexican) July 14, 2022

The Supreme Court has declined to review the truckers’ appeal, which means that trucking owner-operators will now be subject to the law.

The California Trucking Association had won an injunction when it challenged AB5 in court, but the Supreme Court on June 30 refused to hear the case, allowing the law to go into effect for big rig drivers. Harbor Trucking Association CEO Matt Schrap told the FreightWaves trucking news site that the ruling will have far-reaching impacts that will upend the industry, and predicted tens of thousands of truck drivers will be driven out of established business relationships within the week.

Matt Schrap, CEO of Harbor Trucking Association, posted the response by California Trucker’s Association to the Supreme Court’s decision to toss the case back to the U.S. District Court.

“Gasoline has been poured on the fire that is our ongoing supply chain crisis.”

“In addition to the direct impact on California’s 70,000 owner-operators who have seven days to cease long-standing independent businesses, the impact of taking tens of thousands of truck drivers off the road will have devastating repercussions on an already fragile supply chain, increasing costs and worsening runaway inflation.

“We are disappointed the Court does not recognize the irrevocable damage eliminating independent truckers will have on interstate commerce and communities across the state. The Legislature and Newsom Administration must immediately take action to avoid worsening the supply chain crisis and inflation.”

The law of unintended consequences meets the nightmare that is AB5. Nobody is willing to quantify the damage, including the law’s supposed author.

As the anointed head of one of California’s largest labor unions, Lorena Gonzalez Fletcher is still shoving the “benefits” of her legislation down people’s throats and pretending to care about truckers who chose the profession for the independence—not to have to kowtow to Labor concerns:

Truck owners: don’t believe the lie. You can be employees, get good wages & benefits & keep your trucks. A truck is like any other equipment you use at work: an employer can provide it, or can reimburse you for using your own. Companies saying otherwise do not care about you.

— Lorena Gonzalez Fletcher (@LorenaSGonzalez) July 13, 2022

YOU are the liar. Your ridiculous law is going to put thousands of truck owners out of work by forcing something on them that they DO NOT WANT.
This is the essence of “progressive” reform: blowing up existing systems that work fine for some pie-in-the-sky Utopia. 🙄

— Archimusik (@Archimusik) July 13, 2022

The  U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California, which in 2020 granted the original preliminary injunction, is scheduled to hear the case again on August 22.