https://themilitant.com/2018/08/18/15000-uber-drivers-strike-over-pay-cuts-in-australia/
15,000 Uber drivers strike over pay cuts in Australia
By Linda Harris
Vol. 82/No. 32
August 27, 2018
SYDNEY — Uber drivers across Australia stopped work Aug. 6 to protest
the decline in their take-home pay caused by two new programs the
company has imposed on them.
The action was called by Ride Share Drivers United, which reported that
15,000 drivers logged off the Uber app and refused to pick up passengers
between 7 a.m. and 9.30 a.m. in Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane, Perth and
Hobart. This is the fifth work stoppage the group has held since
February 2017.
The explosion of Uber, Lyft and other app-based ride services around the
world has put a spotlight on the exploitative wages and working
conditions imposed on drivers. The bosses of “traditional” taxi
companies and their app-based competitors profit by pitting the drivers
against each other.
In face of growing competition from Taxify, Didi, Ola and other
companies, Uber introduced two policies here, upfront pricing and UberPool.
Unlike a traditional taxi meter, Uber with upfront pricing calculates
the fare and gives it to the passenger before the start of the trip. It
does not take into account unexpected traffic delays, or if passengers
ask to stop or take detours during the trip.
Drivers in Australia say Uber‘s new programs push down wages. Upfront
pricing, where Uber tells customers fare in advance based on estimate,
shortchanges drivers. Above, drivers’ organization posts on internet
example of how this works.
Courtesy Ride Share Drivers United
Drivers in Australia say Uber‘s new programs push down wages. Upfront
pricing, where Uber tells customers fare in advance based on estimate,
shortchanges drivers. Above, drivers’ organization posts on internet
example of how this works.
When drivers complain to Uber that they’ve been shortchanged, they’re
told that any detour or delay is inconsequential and “we appreciate your
understanding in this concern.”
“If it’s so upfront, how come the driver knows the price at the end of
the trip only?” Max B., spokesman for Ride Share Drivers United, told
the Epoch Times. He asked that his last name not be used, for fear of
being expunged from Uber. Max said that the shift to upfront fares saw
drivers’ pay rates drop 10 to 30 percent, while drivers were losing up
to 40 percent on UberPool trips.
With UberPool, launched in Melbourne and Sydney, passengers traveling in
the same direction can share a ride for a discounted rate. If drivers
try to opt out they risk being “deactivated.”
The new measures are “two extra layers of exploitation,” Max told
Australian Associated Press.
“They say you are a contractor,” Max added, noting Uber’s claim that the
drivers are not their employees, “but they don’t even treat you as a
contractor.”
“You can’t make a living driving for Uber,” Sailou Kaba told the
Militant. Kaba, originally from West Africa, works in a meatpacking
plant here. He started driving for Uber as a second job last year, but
hasn’t signed up for the last three months. “It’s just not worth it,” he
said. “Uber takes too much in commission. You only get a fraction of
what the fare is.”
“It’s good that all the drivers are getting together,” Kaba said. Ride
Share Drivers United encourages drivers with other ride-sharing
companies, like Ola and Didi, to work together with them. Some drivers
are signed up with more than one company.
Ride Share Drivers United was formed in June 2016 to “unite fellow
drivers.” They want Uber to “treat drivers in a fair, lawful and
dignified manner.”
The drivers are demanding that Uber end upfront pricing and “revert back
to a transparent system where drivers are paid by the actual time and
distance traveled,” the group says. Drivers should be allowed to opt out
of UberPool and base rates should be increased by at least 15 percent.
Uber should bear the brunt of increased pay to drivers by reducing the
commission it gets for each ride, Max said.
If the company does not meet its demands Drivers United is planning
further stop-work actions.
In This Issue
Front Page Articles •Gov’t immigration raid sparks Nebraska protests
•Socialist Workers Party: ‘Amnesty for immigrants!’
•15,000 Uber drivers strike over pay cuts in Australia
•SWP: Fight for independent working-class political action
•Join fight against censorship in Illinois, Florida prisons!
•Primaries expose ongoing crisis wracking both capitalist parties
Feature Articles •Venezuela: Workers, farmers face effects of capitalist
crisis
Also In This Issue •Protests hit Quebec festival move to shut musical revue
•Parties like the SWP are ‘tribunes of the people’
•Argentine supporters of right to abortion say ‘we will win’
•TSA ‘Quiet Skies’ spy program targets passengers
•US, EU rulers clash over trade, spending for NATO
•Support grows for fight to jail cop who killed Antwon Rose
Books of the Month •'A revolution is occurring among the women of our
country!'
25, 50 and 75 years ago
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