“Sharing economy” cos. like Uber shift risk from corporations to workers, weaken labor protections
https://www.jacobinmag.com/2014/09/against-sharing/
Kazi drives a Toyota Prius for Uber in Los Angeles. He hates it. He barely makes minimum wage, and his back hurts after long shifts. But every time a passenger asks what its like working for Uber, he lies: Its like owning my own business; I love it.
Kazi lies because his job depends on it. After passengers finish a ride, Uber asks them to rate their driver on a scale from one to five stars. Drivers with an average below 4.7 can be deactivated tech-speak for fired.
Gabriele Lopez, an LA Uber driver, also lies. We just sit there and smile, and tell everyone that the jobs awesome, because thats what they want to hear, said Lopez, whos been driving for UberX, the companys low-end car service, since it launched last summer.
In fact, if you ask Uber drivers off the clock what they think of the company, it often gets ugly fast. Ubers like an exploiting pimp, said Arman, an Uber driver in LA who asked me to withhold his last name out of fear of retribution. Uber takes 20 percent of my earnings, and they treat me like shit they cut prices whenever they want. They can deactivate me whenever they feel like it, and if I complain, they tell me to fuck off.