xpost from GD: Uber Drivers Plan Boycott After Fare Cuts Slash Their Earnings to Below Minimum Wage

[FrodosPet]

http://observer.com/2016/01/uber-drivers-plan-boycott-after-fare-cuts-slash-their-earnings-to-below-minimum-wage/

Drivers are rallying, pursuing lawsuits, turning off their app and even switching to Lyft

By Sage Lazzaro • 01/19/16 11:55am

When Uber cut fares in Washington D.C. last February, the Observer spoke to several drivers and learned the price reduction had left many scrambling to make ends meet. The move was a tactic by the multi-billion dollar company to gain ground in the taxi app war, but this customer perk came at a heavy cost to the company’s workforce. Now, following the recent fare cuts in more than 100 cities, Uber’s employees are being exploited nationwide, and to an even greater extent. Fares have been cut by as much as 45 percent in some cities, and while Uber is guaranteeing this will actually lead to larger earnings for drivers, the opposite has already proven to be true—drivers are reporting they’re making as little as $2.89 per hour.

“Yes, the rate cuts have affected my earnings. I am less motivated to go out and drive. Instead, I’m focusing more on my other business, which is already making me more money per week than I earned through Uber on New Years week,” one New Jersey Uber driver, who asked to remain anonymous, told the Observer via Facebook messenger. He added that the fare cuts have also reduced the level of customer service he provides. “I now do not wait over five minutes for a passenger to show up when I arrive, because I get $5 for a cancel fee rather than driving them three miles to get the same $5. I stopped offering bottled water to my passengers. If the passenger did not put in the correct pickup address I won’t drive unpaid miles to the correct address if they call me, I’ll just collect the cancellation fee” he said.

In Facebook groups for Uber drivers, many others have also reported not picking up passengers because their rides won’t turn a profit. “I generally accept all rides, and then cancel on the ones I am not willing to take. Before I cancel though, I send this text: ‘Due to Uber’s latest pay cuts in the Hampton Roads area, it is not financially possible to complete your ride request. Learn more here: tiny.cc/hr-uber,'” wrote one Virginia driver on Facebook.

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As outrage begins to grow, drivers have began protesting and circulating a boycott flyer online. At a protest rally in Philadelphia, Uber Black drivers announced a plan to sue the company over their status as independent contractors, which they say leads to unfair wages, according to Buzzfeed. Others plan to begin driving for Lyft instead, according to Mike Dean of Rideshare Report, who spoke to several protesting Uber drivers at a recent rally in San Francisco. There have also been large protest rallies in Houston and Tampa, among other cities.



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[CBGLuthier]

1. Uber is Amway for the 21st century

Not quite the pyramid scheme that Amway was accused of being but still a shiny carrot on a long stick that is rotten on the inside.

[guillaumeb]

2. Travis Kalannick becomes a billionaire and the drivers who make the money

get less than the minimum wage? Sounds like a real plan for a sustainable economy to me. We do not need unions! We just need more of the so-called "sharing economy" to create more billionaires.