Uber drivers are workers, UK supreme court rules

[Tamas]

It seems complicated & no easy solutions comes to mind, I agree, mainly because we are so brainwashed by Uber's marketing bullshit about driver flexibility.

How should they do it? How do regular taxi do it? Do that. Uber is a taxi company, respect those rules.

How would I do it?

I would do it by outlawing Uber & all app-based "ride sharing" company unless the cars are owned by the company.

Tell me why don't the Uber drivers seek employment with the taxi companies?


Also, what about other self-employed people who enter into contracts with businesses that favour the business and fail to give the contractor the same protections as employees? Why nobody has been up in arms about them since, IDK ever?

Or is it that you just bought the taxi companies' bullshit about workers right and passenger safety?


IDK maybe this is once again my East European reflexes, but back in my old country, taxi drivers are the scum of the Earth, and due to the Uber app, Uber drivers were far more reliable, AND cheaper, than those bastards. Until the taxi drivers strong-armed the government into effectively banning Uber, that is.

[HVC]

the medallion system (or whatever the term might be in your country) makes the barrier for entry into the taxi business stupidly expensive. Get rid of that, and make it that every vehicle used in public transit is insured and have background checks and it's all good.

[Josquius]

the medallion system (or whatever the term might be in your country) makes the barrier for entry into the taxi business stupidly expensive. Get rid of that, and make it that every vehicle used in public transit is insured and have background checks and it's all good.

Trouble is all those people with money locked up in the medallion system at the moment.
Not just big companies owning hundreds but normal guys who bet it all on what seemed a sure way to a comfortable income.
Get rid of the medallion system is a viable long term plan but it can't be done over night.

[Grey Fox]

It seems complicated & no easy solutions comes to mind, I agree, mainly because we are so brainwashed by Uber's marketing bullshit about driver flexibility.

How should they do it? How do regular taxi do it? Do that. Uber is a taxi company, respect those rules.

How would I do it?

I would do it by outlawing Uber & all app-based "ride sharing" company unless the cars are owned by the company.

Tell me why don't the Uber drivers seek employment with the taxi companies?

The rules for Taxi drivers are different & very local. Uber started in San Francisco where aspiring actors used it as a replacement for working in the Restaurant industry. In New York it's because taxi tokens were too expensive. I don't know about Montreal or London.

But that's actually the issue. Uber existed to make some people side money transporting others while they wait for their big break and Uber's company growth brought it to have employees who are not waiting for a big break, taxing is the big break. These drivers are now realizing that Uber is not a Taxi company, it is a app-based employee exploitation scam.


Taxi drivers are scum everywhere in the world. Some competition from Uber made them change their worse behaviour but that doesn't make Uber OK!

[Josquius]

In India they actively advertised for drivers on the basis that it was a full time job and the route to riches.
Apparently some gullible poor people bought cars having been promised the earn up to x billboards as a regular sum of x.

[crazy canuck]

Tell me why don't the Uber drivers seek employment with the taxi companies?

The answer to that is pretty simple and explains why Uber can exist currently.  The tax industry is heavily regulated and owning a licence to operate a taxi is valuable because there is a limited supply which, with the exception of outlier areas, is less than demand (of both drivers and customers).

Also, what about other self-employed people who enter into contracts with businesses that favour the business and fail to give the contractor the same protections as employees? Why nobody has been up in arms about them since, IDK ever?

That answer to that is that the public is generally not affected by a private contractor dispute.  But Uber is attempting to replace tax service which is heavily regulated because the public interest is engaged.

[Tamas]

Yes the public interest is engaged: public interest is to remove medieval guild practices from the taxi industry.

[Grey Fox]

That's fine. But it doesn't make Uber's action ok.

[Admiral Yi]

Uber will have to institute minimum number of trips per hour conditions on its new employees.

[crazy canuck]

Yes the public interest is engaged: public interest is to remove medieval guild practices from the taxi industry.

Ok, so you have answered your own question as to why people care.

[Tamas]

I have bumped into the picture that I wanted to post here earlier, so I do it now.

The leader of taxi drivers' union/organisation, when he held a press conference during their anti-Uber protests (which did win and the government chased Uber out):



Bunch of defenders of the downtrodden, clearly 

[Tamas]

Oh and the reason the pic resurfaced was that now, about a year after re-establishing the monopoly of the Taxi Guild, he now demands a 10% tariff rise from the city council, from 280 forints per km to 320.
I guess that's what a 10% increase in the fee is, when a taxi driver calculates it.

[crazy canuck]

I wonder how they measure their kilometers 

[Tamas]

I wonder how they measure their kilometers 

Depends largely on the passenger speaking Hungarian or not.

[garbon]

I don't understand what we are supposed to see in that photo - apart from a fat guy in shades with two other dudes.