Seems like crux of this disagreement is that there is a large group of drivers that do it full time as their primary source of income, and they want protection

Seems like crux of this disagreement is that there is a large group of drivers that do it full time as their primary source of income, and they want protection from all the part time gig workers that flood the market and depress their earnings. Changing to employee model will result in fewer drivers (better protected), but lose out on the gig workers or even those doing multiple jobs just to make ends meet.