Andrew Yang Takes Aim At WWE's "Independent Contractors" Classification Again
"Been a long time coming but this storyline is real," says Andrew Yang on WWE.
American politician Andrew Yang is once again taking aim at WWE's classification of its wrestlers as "independent contractors," having used social media to reach out to talents on Thursday afternoon.
The former New York City mayoral candidate tweeted the following, asking anyone unhappy with their classification to contact lawyer Lucas Middlebrook:-
Had a call with the Department of Labor. If you are a current or former @WWE performer who feels you were misclassified as an independent contractor contact @lkmiddleb and let’s get you what Vince owes you. Been a long time coming but this storyline is real.
Advertisement— Andrew Yang???? (@AndrewYang) September 16, 2021
Middlebrook is a labour lawyer who has previously represented former UFC fighter Leslie Smith, who fought the leading mixed martial arts promotion after alleging her 2018 release was a retaliatory move for her role in Project Spearhead - a group pushing for fighters to unionise.
Yang, meanwhile, is returning to the topic after making considerable headlines in 2020. The Democrat spoke out in the wake of WWE's restrictive third-party platform policy coming into effect last year, claiming that if Joe Biden was elected President of the United States, he would be in a position to address the "independent contractors" issue. This came at a time when WWE personnel like Paige and Zelina Vega (who was released for failing to adhere to the aforementioned policy) had spoken publically on the subject of unionisation.
The issue disappeared from public conversation soon after Yang stopped talking about it. That lack of follow-up has bred an understandable level of cynicism for this latest effort, though we'll keep you posted on this story as it develops.