UBER UPDATE INTL
“If the judiciary takes a contrary decision then our patience is sapped. Taxi drivers are ready to do anything for their bread,” he said outside the courthouse. Taxi drivers gathered at the court threw bottles of water at vehicles they suspected of being driven by Uber drivers, the Dogan news agency said. The yellow taxis of Istanbul form the transport backbone of the city, with some 18,000 vehicles helping move commuters and tourists in a megapolis where public transport can be patchy. Some complain Istanbul taxi drivers can be abrasive and prone to ripping off tourists. But most drivers, who usually rent their car from the licence holder, are doing their best to earn a living honestly in a tough city.
DRIVERS PROTEST UBER’S RETURN TO BARCELONA
Spanish taxi drivers marched through the streets of Barcelona on Wednesday, March 21, in protest against Uber’s plans to return to the Catalan capital. Uber plans to relaunch its services in Barcelona three years after it was forced to shut down in the face of taxi driver protests. According to Reuters, the California-based company will be making inroads again into the Barcelona transport market by introducing UberX, a fully licensed ride-hailing service, that meets local transportation laws. The new service will operate with hundreds of professional, licensed drivers in contrast to the UberPop service it ran until late 2014, using non-professional drivers to pick up and drop off pas- sengers, Uber said on Tuesday, March 13. Uber General Manager for Southwest Europe, Carles Lloret, said that the company wants to turn a new page and is looking to make a clean break with business practices that sparked regulatory bat- tles, driver and consumer scandals and court cases. “We made mistakes along the way,” Lloret said in a company blog post. “We are changing the way we do business, putting integrity at the core of every decision we make and working hard to earn the trust of the cities in which we operate. Barcelona is no excep- tion to this.” Chief Executive Dara Khosrowshahi said in January he was focused on “responsible growth” as he seeks to put an end to the take-no-prisoners culture he inherited upon joining the pioneer of ride-hailing services last year. Two years ago, Uber re-introduced UberX using professional drivers in Madrid. This after in December 2014, a judge ordered all Uber services to be shut down in Spain’s capital city. But taxi drivers are pushing back against Uber’s intention to return. They see the company as unfair competition to their liveli- hoods, and have mounted a series of 24-hour strikes in Madrid, Barcelona, and other Spanish cities over the past year. But Uber believes its services can co-exist in harmony with other modes of transport. “We are fully committed to working with the entire sector – including taxis – to improve mobility in Barcelona together,” said Lloret.
Taxi drivers protest in Barcelona APRIL 2018
San Francisco-based Uber pre-emptively closed its services in Barcelona in December 2014 as local officials geared up to pass legislation against the UberPop service, which city authorities legally barred the following year.
UBER’S UNDERPAYMENT OF DRIVERS KEEPING IT AFLOAT, REPORT FINDS
Uber’s fares are made possible because the company is significantly underpaying its drivers, a new report argues. UberX drivers earn well below minimum wage once all hidden costs are taken into account, according to analysis by the Centre for Future Work at the Australia Institute think tank. Australians earn $14.62 per hour on average driving for the ridesharing company’s most popular and low-cost service, UberX, the report estimated. This rose to more than $18 for those driving in Sydney and Canberra and dropped to under $11 for those in Perth. The earnings are below the basic statutory minimum wage of $18.29 per hour, and well below the award pay for waged workers in the sector, which is around $30 when weighted for penalties. The analysis was conducted by taking typical urban fares in six cities and deducting driver fees, taxes and vehicle costs. They found the driver was left with only one-third of the takings. The report’s author, economist Jim Stanford, says Uber’s business model would collapse without the poorly paid labour. “The low incomes of their drivers are essential to the escalation of Uber’s market value that has made some people fabulously rich,” he said. “The company dresses this up as flexibility but the money is so bad and uncertain that it’s only in an environment that people are desperate that this model can work.” The cost of regular taxis are on average about 40 per cent higher than UberX fares. Stanford, who is the Centre for Future Work’s director, said in addition to the low hourly pay, drivers miss out on other protections and entitlements such as superannuation, work- ers’ compensation and leave entitlements. Around 80,000 Australians are driving for Uber, which is not yet turning a profit. The Fair Work Commission recently ruled that Uber drivers are not employees but rather independent contractors. A report in the US recently found some drivers end up losing money after insurance, maintenance and other costs. Guardian Australia has contacted Uber for comment. David Rohrsheim, the general manager of Uber in Australia, told the ABC’s 7.30 programme “earnings change depending on what time people chose to log on”. “Drivers know this and the smart ones log on at the right times, in the right areas, and earn the big bucks.” Stanford said it is unreasonable to expect drivers to rely on surges as they have no control over them or advanced knowledge of when they will occur. Luke McMahon sold his car last week after driving UberX in Sydney for three years because it had become increasingly unprofitable. “When I started driving it was considerably more lucrative because there were a lot less drivers on the road,” he said. “But there was a noticeable shift over the years as more drivers joined up and the periods of surge became far less frequent.”After 1,688 trips, the 30- year-old has turned his back on Uber in favour of a more reliable job in retail. “I stopped because driving those long hours was having a toll on my body and relationships, and my motivation was waning as the potential earnings were dropping.” He said most people who seek his advice regarding Uber were unaware of the costs involved. “There are on-road costs, registra- tion, petrol, insurance, tax and GST, and the depreciation on your vehicle is so extreme,” he said.
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