Uber is facing an uprising from drivers in Europe who want both increased stability and greater freedom and are demanding stronger employment rights and access to their data.
On the employment-rights front, two Uber drivers continue to fight for basic guarantees in the UK's Supreme Court. Uber drivers are classified as independent contractors, which means they are not entitled to sick pay or the minimum wage.
But in 2016, British drivers James Farrar and Yaseen Aslam successfully argued that Uber should give drivers "worker status," which grants them rights like paid holidays and the national minimum wage. Uber has continually appealed that decision and now taken its fight to the UK Supreme Court, where a ruling is expected in October.
It could be a landmark decision for gig-economy workers and a costly outcome for Uber.
Uber's argument is that its platform only connects passengers with drivers, who are given the flexibility to log into the app when they please and turn down rides they don't want to take.
Farrar is a former Uber driver who is involved in both legal cases. He's now the founder of Worker Info Exchange, an organization that hopes to help gig-economy workers in Europe obtain their data.
Worker Info Exchange is one of the founding members of the International Alliance of App-Based Transport Workers, a union fighting for the rights of gig-economy workers. It was formed in January and already has delegates across 23 countries and multiple platforms, including Lyft, Ola, and Bolt, as well as Uber.
In an interview with Business Insider, Farrar countered Uber's depiction of the platform and painted a darker picture of long hours and poor pay. He said he was forced to take all the rides he was offered to chase a 4.4-star average to avoid seeing his account deactivated.
"Uber gives me work, but also I'm obliged to do that work for Uber," Farrar said. "Uber will say you can cancel the job if you like, but you can't do that without incurring some kind of a penalty. If I was truly self-employed, I could cancel all the work I wanted to. It wouldn't make any difference; it's my choice."
He added: "It strikes me as Uber trying to justify a fairly complicated shell game, which ultimately cheats workers. If you're at the lowest rung, and you're vulnerable to terrible exploitation like you can be in the gig economy, then you need the protection of a minimum wage."
Uber says it has changed its model since the 2016 tribunal. For example, it introduced free insurance for its drivers.
Farrar is also part of a second high-profile lawsuit filed on July 20 against Uber in Amsterdam, where the company is headquartered for all of its non-US operations.
This lawsuit seeks to force Uber to release the personal data of drivers, which it claims is hidden in profiles tagged with information about late arrivals, cancellations, and complaints about attitude and inappropriate behavior from customers.
Uber drivers say they believe that the algorithm uses the tags to manage their performance.
"The app decides millions of times a day who's going to get which ride and who gets the nice rides, who gets the short rides," Anton Ekker, the lawyer representing the Uber drivers in the lawsuit, said.
"It's all about the distribution of power. So Uber is exerting control through data and automated decision-making, and it's blocking the access to that," he said, adding that this is a problem throughout the gig economy. "If Uber is forced by the courts to provide more data, this will contribute to workers' rights, to balancing this power relation."
Uber said it had responded to all requests for data.
"Drivers, and anyone else using our app, can request access to the data that we can legally provide," an Uber spokesperson said. "We will give explanations when we cannot provide certain data, such as when it doesn't exist or disclosing it would infringe on the rights of another person under GDPR."
The data-privacy lawsuit is directly connected to the UK Supreme Court case: Farrar said he became aware of what he characterized as hidden driver profiles from the internal communications Uber submitted for its defense case.
The release of such data could be a blow to Uber's argument that its drivers are independent contractors, as it could show that the app does more than just connect self-employed drivers with paying customers.
The lawsuits against Uber are part of a perceived power imbalance in the gig economy, where workers feel they answer to black-box algorithms rather than human managers.
Uber says that using location information to match passengers with drivers leads to more business for drivers, but Farrar said he believed the increasing reliance on algorithms could work against drivers' interest and result in unfair outcomes.
"Uber has a rule that if you reach 4.4 in your ratings, you're deactivated. So basically Uber has outsourced management to the discriminatory view of their customer," Farrar said. "The question then becomes who reaches 4.4 faster? If I'm a white European man from Ireland, am I going to reach 4.4 faster than a migrant worker from West Africa?"
Uber doesn't publicly disclose which rating results in drivers being booted off its platform, but prior reporting from Business Insider put the number at 4.6.
Understanding the data and how it is used by the algorithms is the first step in addressing the asymmetric power between gig-economy workers and tech giants like Uber, according to Farrar.
"The long, hard road that we are on now is how do we organize the dispersed digital workforce? And what is the currency for our organizing? The gateway in the future to worker rights is through digital rights," he said.
A win against Uber could open the floodgates for data-privacy challenges against other apps.
The need to assert the rights of gig-economy workers is now more important than ever, Farrar said, with delivery apps expected to be some of the biggest winners in the post-pandemic economy.
Global customer volume in the digital gig economy is projected to grow to $455 billion in 2023, from $204 billion in 2018, according to Mastercard.
See the original post here:
Uber drivers fight for employment rights and access to their data - Business Insider
- S. Korea to launch $825mn fund to compete with Netflix, YouTube - Business Insider India - June 22nd, 2020 [June 22nd, 2020]
- Boomerangs and Frisbees: The effect of COVID-19 on HR trends - Thomsons Online Benefits - June 22nd, 2020 [June 22nd, 2020]
- Five key questions about Google and Apple's contact tracing system - The Telegraph - June 22nd, 2020 [June 22nd, 2020]
- The Consequences Of Shifting To A Hybrid Work Model - ABCN's Officing Today - June 22nd, 2020 [June 22nd, 2020]
- Big Tech Zeros In on the Virus-Testing Market - The New York Times - June 22nd, 2020 [June 22nd, 2020]
- From now on, we will divide history into before and after this pandemic - The Guardian - June 22nd, 2020 [June 22nd, 2020]
- Patagonia becomes latest company to pull ads from Facebook | TheHill - The Hill - June 22nd, 2020 [June 22nd, 2020]
- Andrew Yang wants people to get paid for data collected by tech giants - The Daily Dot - June 22nd, 2020 [June 22nd, 2020]
- DoF faces uphill battle in taxing tech giants The Manila Times - The Manila Times - June 22nd, 2020 [June 22nd, 2020]
- Juneteenth across the tech world - POLITICO - Politico - June 22nd, 2020 [June 22nd, 2020]
- TikTok joins the EUs Code of Practice on disinformation - TechCrunch - June 22nd, 2020 [June 22nd, 2020]
- For Health Tech Startups, Data Is Their Lifeline Now More Than Ever - Crunchbase News - June 22nd, 2020 [June 22nd, 2020]
- Apples iOS 14 will give users the option to decline app ad tracking - TechCrunch - June 22nd, 2020 [June 22nd, 2020]
- You want diversity, inclusion in tech? Embrace remote work - ZDNet - June 22nd, 2020 [June 22nd, 2020]
- Trump kept these tech giants apart now ones a buy and the other should be avoided - MarketWatch - June 22nd, 2020 [June 22nd, 2020]
- US pulls out of talks to tax tech giants in a blow to Europe's plans - CNBC - June 22nd, 2020 [June 22nd, 2020]
- European Union Seeks to Restrict Tech Giants From Grinding Smaller Competitors WIth Updated Tax and Content Ru - Tech Times - July 11th, 2020 [July 11th, 2020]
- Sequoia Capital Opens Its First Tech Incubation Center in Shanghai - Caixin Global - July 12th, 2020 [July 12th, 2020]
- Indian Govt Wants Tech Giants Google, Amazon And Facebook To Provide Source Code And Algorithms - IndianWeb2.com - July 12th, 2020 [July 12th, 2020]
- Invest NI's Bill Montgomery who helped bring top US tech giants to Northern Ireland steps down - Belfast Telegraph - July 12th, 2020 [July 12th, 2020]
- The Future of Remote Work, According to Startups - Visual Capitalist - July 12th, 2020 [July 12th, 2020]
- 10 big things: TikTok, on the clock - PitchBook News & Analysis - July 12th, 2020 [July 12th, 2020]
- Tiktok and finding the real digital imperialists - The New Indian Express - July 12th, 2020 [July 12th, 2020]
- US slaps French goods with 25% added duties, but delays effective date - Financial World - July 12th, 2020 [July 12th, 2020]
- U.S. targets $1.3-billion in French imports in retaliation for tax on tech giants - The Globe and Mail - July 12th, 2020 [July 12th, 2020]
- Kudos to TikTok, tech brethren; Starbucks & Luckin have us soured on coffee cos. - Compliance Week - July 12th, 2020 [July 12th, 2020]
- Silicon Valley giants have thousands of US military contracts - E&T Magazine - July 12th, 2020 [July 12th, 2020]
- Tech giants: From the basement to world domination - KnowTechie - July 12th, 2020 [July 12th, 2020]
- This Week's Awesome Tech Stories From Around the Web (Through July 11) - Singularity Hub - July 12th, 2020 [July 12th, 2020]
- US tech giants halt Hong Kong police help TechCrunch - July 12th, 2020 [July 12th, 2020]
- Infographic: How the Tech Giants Make Their Billions - July 12th, 2020 [July 12th, 2020]
- facebook: US tech giants face hard choices under Hong Kong ... - July 12th, 2020 [July 12th, 2020]
- FYI: You do all know that America's tech giants, even ... - July 12th, 2020 [July 12th, 2020]
- TikTok ban: Facebook, tech companies benefit from US ... - July 12th, 2020 [July 12th, 2020]
- U.S. Tech Giants Pause Responses To Hong Kong Requests ... - July 12th, 2020 [July 12th, 2020]
- IBM Q2 earnings preview: can the tech giants cloud revenue keep growing? - IG Bank - July 16th, 2020 [July 16th, 2020]
- Buying tech stocks is the most crowded trade in history. - The New York Times - July 16th, 2020 [July 16th, 2020]
- Dow Jones Slumps as Johnson & Johnson Boosts Outlook, Apple and Cisco Stocks Head Lower - Motley Fool - July 16th, 2020 [July 16th, 2020]
- IBM, Verizon team up for 5G effort aiming to accelerate business solutions - WRAL Tech Wire - July 16th, 2020 [July 16th, 2020]
- BREAKING: American Tech Giants Google-Apple Remove Palestine From World Maps, Replace With Israel - India.com - July 16th, 2020 [July 16th, 2020]
- VMware Invests With Other Tech Giants In Digital Assets Series C Round - Forbes - July 16th, 2020 [July 16th, 2020]
- U.S. tariff threat isn't swaying France on taxing tech giants - Accounting Today - July 16th, 2020 [July 16th, 2020]
- Trio of Tech Giants the Latest on Receiving End of BIPA Lawsuits - findBIOMETRICS - July 18th, 2020 [July 18th, 2020]
- G Suite's new unified interface poses an existential threat to Zoom and Slack - Business Insider - July 19th, 2020 [July 19th, 2020]
- India's Jio creates 5G tech in-house, teams with Google on affordable smartphone - FierceWireless - July 19th, 2020 [July 19th, 2020]
- The Twitter Hacks Have to Stop - The Atlantic - July 19th, 2020 [July 19th, 2020]
- Tech giants this country needs YOU! Do your moral duty and stop avoiding tax to help save our economy - The Sun - July 19th, 2020 [July 19th, 2020]
- Apple expands coding partnership with Black schools as tech firms grapple with lack of diversity - USA TODAY - July 19th, 2020 [July 19th, 2020]
- How Huawei landed at the center of global tech tussle - Chicago Daily Herald - July 19th, 2020 [July 19th, 2020]
- Kamala Harris blamed for EVERYTHING as Internet mocks news report 'exposing' her ties to tech giants - MEAWW - July 19th, 2020 [July 19th, 2020]
- Wall Street delivered the 'kind of pullback I've been waiting for,' Jim Cramer says - CNBC - July 19th, 2020 [July 19th, 2020]
- American tech giants Google-Apple remove Palestine from world maps, replace with Israel - Daily Times - July 19th, 2020 [July 19th, 2020]
- Chinese tech giants have tens of billions at stake in India - TechNode - July 19th, 2020 [July 19th, 2020]
- The Streaming Wars Could Become a Battle of Tech Giants. Heres Why. - Barron's - July 19th, 2020 [July 19th, 2020]
- Advertising giants agree to evaluate mutual definition of hate speech - Axios - July 21st, 2020 [July 21st, 2020]
- MPs say tech giants have 'failed to tackle' Covid-19 infodemic and Government must regulate them now - Press Gazette - July 21st, 2020 [July 21st, 2020]
- US Tech Giants trying to survive the Chinese Market - Market Capitalize - July 21st, 2020 [July 21st, 2020]
- China's aggression is undermining its tech giants' global ambitions - Nikkei Asian Review - July 21st, 2020 [July 21st, 2020]
- With Just $130K In Funding, Indias Nimo Planet Is Looking To Challenge Tech Giants With Its Smart Glasses - Inc42 Media - July 21st, 2020 [July 21st, 2020]
- Coronavirus scams (back) in the spotlight - POLITICO - Politico - July 21st, 2020 [July 21st, 2020]
- The background to EU citizens' court win over US tech giants - The Guardian - July 21st, 2020 [July 21st, 2020]
- Heres why BlackRocks bond chief says hes bullish on highflying tech stocks - MarketWatch - July 23rd, 2020 [July 23rd, 2020]
- How buyouts by big tech stifle innovation - Livemint - July 23rd, 2020 [July 23rd, 2020]
- Apple digs in over its App Store fees - BBC News - July 23rd, 2020 [July 23rd, 2020]
- How Spotify and TikTok Beat Their Copycats - Harvard Business Review - July 23rd, 2020 [July 23rd, 2020]
- What does the pandemic mean for the smart city revolution? - TechHQ - July 23rd, 2020 [July 23rd, 2020]
- Cramer says moves in tech stocks are 'truly insane' as Amazon and Tesla climb - CNBC - July 23rd, 2020 [July 23rd, 2020]
- Google has a plan to lure shoppers away from Amazon - CNET - July 23rd, 2020 [July 23rd, 2020]
- Could the pandemic affect our perspective on smart cities? - Tech Wire Asia - July 23rd, 2020 [July 23rd, 2020]
- 11 China-based Suppliers of US Tech Giants Sanctioned Over Alleged Human Rights Abuses vs the Uighur - Tech Times - July 23rd, 2020 [July 23rd, 2020]
- Apple, Google and Sony will be critical to MLB season shortened by coronavirus - CNBC - July 23rd, 2020 [July 23rd, 2020]
- Meet Gaia X Europe's answer to the power of U.S. and Chinese cloud giants - CNBC - July 23rd, 2020 [July 23rd, 2020]
- 5G takes the Senate stage - Politico - July 23rd, 2020 [July 23rd, 2020]
- Typewise taps $1M to build an offline next word prediction engine - TechCrunch - July 23rd, 2020 [July 23rd, 2020]
- Stocks fall to session low, with Dow the dropping 250 points as tech falters - CNBC - July 23rd, 2020 [July 23rd, 2020]
- These 5 tech giants could buy VMware if Dell chooses to sell the software giant, according to analysts: 'VMware would be a valuable property to any... - July 23rd, 2020 [July 23rd, 2020]
- US Congress to question heads of tech giants on Wednesday - Yahoo News - July 25th, 2020 [July 25th, 2020]
- China's newest technology stock exchange is thriving despite the pandemic - The Economist - July 26th, 2020 [July 26th, 2020]
- Tech CEO hearing will probably be postponed, sources say - CNBC - July 26th, 2020 [July 26th, 2020]
- Zuckerberg, Bezos, other tech CEOs to testify on competition - WBIR.com - July 26th, 2020 [July 26th, 2020]