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Uber pilots demonstrated Wednesday around the world. It was a lively, though largely unquantifiable, protest against what they saw as outrageously low salaries, poor job security, and an unacceptable lack of social benefits.
But first and foremost, it was a rallying cry against the growing gap between their lives and those of those who will become unfathomable wealth when Uber debuts on Friday.
"I do not fear anything for the company that makes money," said Eddie Wheeler, Uber driver for nearly three years.
"What I have a problem with is the way they did it, they made my money invaluable, as well as that of every driver."
People like Mr. Wheeler have little collective power. They can not unionize, although some emerging groups are trying to represent the needs of "commuter workers" but have no real place at the bargaining table. The effectiveness of this type of action is also hampered by the very problem they are fighting against: many drivers just can not afford to take the time to participate.
Nevertheless, drivers do what they can to be heard. In addition to those who demonstrated in person on Wednesday, many others said they intended to contribute by turning off their apps for a while – in some cases up to 24 hours – in an attempt to limit the number of drivers absent. the road and complicates the task of the customers.
But a source at Uber said the impact was minimal. In New York, less than 1% of drivers driving on Wednesdays were off – and we have no way of knowing if this was even part of the protest. More generally, in all participating cities, Uber has not seen any significant effect on its service – there has been no noticeable increase in waiting times and delays. 39, examples of tariff bidding (where tariffs increase because there are fewer drivers available).
A waste of time, then? It may be difficult for drivers to be enthusiastic about their chances of getting better terms from Uber, but on Friday, a whole new group of enthusiastic shareholders will push the company to face its challenges. huge losses.
Annette Rivero said that she drove 12 to 14 hours a day: "This is not livable"
No one from Uber spoke at the demonstrations in San Francisco or anywhere else in the world. In a statement, the company – and its main competitor, Lyft – said it was still looking for ways to improve its relations with its workers.
At the protest, the drivers said they had reached the breaking point and felt that Uber should ignore their concerns at their own peril.
"It's not liveable," said Annette Rivero, a pilot for two years. She said that she was driving 12-14 hours a day.
"The time we put in is dangerous, it's too many hours to be on the road."
These concerns could find for these drivers a different audience that could help: the government. During the presidential campaign, most Democratic candidates supported the extension of the US Labor Relations Act, first adopted in 1935, to include additional protections for workers in the US economy. market.
Changes in the law could have a dramatic, even fatal effect on companies like Uber. The obligation to pay workers more, or to offer benefits, would certainly call into question the company's estimated value of $ 90 billion.
When I questioned driver Jeff Perry about it, he vomited. If society can not afford to pay its workers, he said, it should not be worth anything at all.
"It's absolutely crazy," he says.
"How is that possible? It's an idiotic calculation of Silicon Valley."
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