> Good luck forming a union coz then the company will go poof too

The answer to this is to form a bigger union so that only the bigger contracting companies can survive, and then have high-paid union executives who can negotiate large industry-wide contracts between employer and labor provider that provide some minimal level of protections but largely protect the status quo.

Then, those in the employer camp can donate to conservative causes complaining about unions and regulation, and those in the labor provider camp can donate to progressive causes complaining about evil corporations and lack of worker rights.

From here, the leaders in the two factions will variously ping pong and vacillate and make various and sundry unfruitful negotiations while taking the advice from various lobbyists about how they might improve the state of affairs and generally enrich themselves through back channel dealings with their benefactors from either camp.

That’s partially true. The contract company can’t fully go poof every time there is a minor lawsuit and the company needs to still pay the state all the fees for unemployment and insurance that all companies have to pay. In the end the employees get workman’s comp, min wage and unemployment insurance but the state gets to collect a bunch of fees that they are owed.

Was Uber beholden to any of that before this? Did they get benefits or perks? Could they form a union? What was their odds of suing Uber?