ZCZC
BFF-07
BRITAIN-TRANSPORT-UBER
Uber grants UK drivers worker status in world first
LONDON, March 17, 2021 (BSS/AFP) – Uber on Tuesday said it is granting its
UK drivers worker status, with benefits including a minimum wage — a world
first for the US ride-hailing giant.
Weeks after a top court ruling that could shake up Britain’s wider “gig
economy” of 5.5 million people, Uber said its drivers would also get holiday
pay and a pension.
It is a massive change in the business model of a company that had argued
before Britain’s Supreme Court that its drivers were self-employed.
From Wednesday, “more than 70,000 drivers in the UK will be treated as
workers, earning at least the national living wage when driving with Uber,”
the taxi app said in a statement.
“This is a floor and not a ceiling, with drivers able to earn more.”
The court ruled last month that Uber’s drivers are entitled to worker’s
rights.
The decision capped a protracted legal battle between UK drivers and the
Silicon Valley taxi and delivery company.
– ‘Flexibility remains’ –
Uber said its action over workers’ rights “means drivers will earn with
greater security, helping them to plan for their futures while maintaining
the flexibility that is integral to the private-hire industry.”
The higher costs for Uber come as it faces sliding driver bookings owing to
the Covid-19 pandemic, despite strong demand for the Uber Eats food delivery
service during national lockdowns. Uber did not expect the change in driver
compensation to affect its net income this year, the company said in a US
regulatory filing.
“We’ve come to recognise that platforms like ours will work differently in
different countries,” Uber chief executive Dara Khosrowshahi said in an
editorial published in the Evening Standard.
“The future of work is too big of an issue for a one-size-fits-all
solution, and that’s OK,” said Khosrowshahi — who has previously argued for
a “third way” to classify gig workers, rather than as employees or
independent contractors. – Gig workers –
The Services Employees International Union, which has been working to
secure labour protections for Uber drivers in the United States, welcomed the
UK development.
“This debunks nearly a decade of scare tactics from rideshare companies
like Uber and makes clear that Uber can choose at any time to properly
classify their drivers and pay them a living wage with good benefits,” SEIU
president Mary Kay Henry said in response to an AFP inquiry.
The British ruling comes after California’s top court last month upheld a
referendum that let “gig workers” like Uber be treated as contractors.
Drivers for ride-share and meal delivery apps had filed suit attempting to
nullify the legislation known as Proposition 22.
Proposition 22 — passed in November and heavily backed by Uber, Lyft and
other app-based, on-demand delivery services — effectively overturned a
state law requiring them to reclassify their drivers and provide employee
benefits.
The vote followed a contentious campaign with labour groups claiming the
initiative would erode worker rights and benefits, and with backers arguing
for a new, flexible economic model. Under the proposition, drivers remain
independent contractors but Uber and Lyft are to pay them a number of
benefits including a minimum wage, a contribution to healthcare and other
forms of insurance. Critics of the measure said it failed to take into
account the full costs borne by drivers.
In a first for the European Union, Spain’s government earlier this month
announced a deal that will recognise riders working for food delivery firms
such as Deliveroo and Uber Eats as salaried staff following complaints about
their working conditions.
In Italy, prosecutors have told Uber Eats and other food delivery platforms
their couriers were employees and not independent workers, fining them 733
million euros for breach of labour safety rules.
BSS/AFP/FI/ 0902 hrs