[ad_1]
It's a regular company in the limelight, but the biggest day in Uber's history is yet to come: the richest and most anticipated IPO of the year is fast approaching .
But a group of drivers unhappy with the pay cut, the lack of benefits, the lack of transparency and the lack of voice within the company hope to turn this singular moment of the IPO into a reality. by organizing a strike in seven cities across the country, including at Uber headquarters. for 8 hours on May 8, in anticipation of the IPO of Uber.
The strike is being staged by drivers from various online groups and supported by advocacy groups such as Gig Workers Rising in California and Chicago Rideshare Advocates. Drivers in San Francisco, San Diego, Los Angeles, Chicago, Minneapolis, Philadelphia and Washington, DC, are expected to join the 12-hour shutdown next month.
"We want a living wage," said Gizmodo, the pilot and organizer of Uber, Mostafa Maklad. "Most drivers in San Francisco are forced to work at least 70 to 80 hours a week to survive in the city. Living expenses are rising, gas prices are rising, food costs are rising, everything is becoming more expensive to live in San Francisco. We have to drive more and more, deal with health and stress problems, but Uber does not care. Uber is cutting the wages of drivers. "
Drivers have four basic requirements: increased pay, basic benefits, more transparent decision-making, and greater voice for drivers. Uber has not responded to a request for comment and, unlike its competitor Lyft, has never met any of the organizing drivers.
In the last few months, as Lyft made its initial public offering and Uber was preparing to hold its own much larger event, drivers stepped up their organizing efforts as pay rates went down. in all the countries.
Various studies have shown that the median hourly wage of Uber drivers ranged from $ 14 to $ 9.21 at the time.
Not so long ago, Uber touted that drivers working at least 40 hours a week could earn more than $ 90,000 a year in New York. Now, the company, which suddenly claims that only part-time employees should drive despite previous posts, offered up to recently an hourly rate of just over $ 20 in New York time. . That's more than 75 hours of work a week, the equivalent of two jobs, without health care or benefits, to reach the number announced.
In the past, everyone thought that stage workers and carpool drivers, in particular, were impossible to organize. They are isolated by design, there is no office or factory where they intersect, and traditional work organization strategies are much less effective in this 21st century work.
However, more and more, the drivers and advocacy groups are developing some basic but effective solutions. The most important Facebook groups for drivers are the most common way of exchanging information, tips and getting help from other drivers. There are also WhatsApp groups, made up of hundreds of drivers, who exchange information from city to city. It's not all online, though.
"When I'm at the airport, most drivers get out of the car and stretch when the weather is nice," said Uber pilot and organizer Rebecca Stack Martinez. "They gather and talk about the frustrations of the fairies and the lack of help from Uber. For me, it's an opportunity to intervene and say, I hear what you're talking about, here are organizations trying to give the floor to the drivers. "
Even though the organization has accelerated – Gig Workers Rising, a group in Northern California, has 4,000 drivers and similar groups exist across the country – nothing has been demonstrated in most US cities yet. United. Last year, when drivers petitioned Lyft and Uber to protest the company's opacity for driver deactivation, a Uber security officer criticized the driver in front of the company's headquarters . Lyft granted a meeting but did not change anything.
"The victories are yet to come, nothing has been accomplished," said Stack Martinez. "But you never expect a single action to bring all the changes you're looking for. Any organizational story will show you that it takes time to get what you are looking for. "
New York City, which has adopted the first pay floor for carpooling carpool drivers at the end of last year, is a major exception.
The IPO of Uber is one of the largest in history, with a valuation that could exceed $ 120 billion. Do not let this give you a misconception: the company is absolutely not profitable, losing $ 891 million in a single quarter last year.
Drivers are by far the most important cost of the company. Thus, while many drivers tell how dramatically their own earnings are dropping, most expect their wages to continue to fall unless something changes dramatically. For Uber, this change consists of completely eliminating human drivers and replacing them with autonomous vehicles.
Last month, after a long silence and several highly visible actions on the part of the drivers, an anonymous employee of Uber issued a letter of support to the organizers, corroborating the injustices that the drivers themselves hope to repair.
"The strikes on Monday by Rideshare Drivers United (RDU) in Southern California and Gig Workers Rising in San Francisco reflect the deep frustration felt by carpool drivers, writes the author. "Carpool executives continue to receive huge benefits, and internal employees are eagerly awaiting the spin-offs of an IPO at Uber and Lyft. […] drivers are in a hurry to consolidate initial offers to investors. "
Uber and Lyft employees willing to talk should reach out. Email: [email protected], Signal: +16504887247 or via our Secure Drop server.
[ad_2]
Source link