# Uber drivers are sideswiped by the ruthless gig economy



## KevinH (Jul 13, 2014)

http://www.latimes.com/opinion/topoftheticket/la-na-tt-uber-economy-20160516-story.html









David Horsey

When I go to the airport, I drive and pay to park my car for a few days, or I ride public transit if I have the time, or I call a taxi. So far, I have never usedUber or Lyft in order to save a few bucks. It would make me feel morally compromised.

Sure, I've had the same complaints that many others have about the traditional cab companies - scarce or tardy taxis, shabby cars, high fares - but, at least for me, the bad experience is a rare exception. I know I could save money riding with Uber, but I dislike the business model: a model that exemplifies an emerging new economy in which a few people get very rich and everyone else is a freelancer struggling to patch together a living wage.

Uber's owners were smart enough to create an app that would link people seeking rides with Uber drivers. For their cleverness, they are now billionaires with a business that has spread across the world amid protests and controversy. The drivers on whom this entire commercial empire is built generally make less than traditional cabbies and receive zero benefits from the company. That is because Uber classifies them as independent contractors.

In an opinion article in Sunday's Los Angeles Times, freelance writer Sandra Vahtel detailed her experience working as an Uber driver. She quickly learned that boasts about drivers earning as much as $6,000 a month either were overblown or were not indicative of the norm. "On my third day behind the wheel, I sat in the car for 11 hours, drove for seven of them, and grossed $118 before deducting the cost of gas, wear and tear, rideshare insurance and income tax," Vahtel said.


Amazon's brutal workplace is an indicator of an inhumane economy
Meanwhile, in Silicon Valley and Seattle and Austin and other centers of the tech world, there is a steady influx of college-educated millennials looking for a slot in a rising enterprise - young people who quickly learn it is unwise to make waves or to expect loyalty from their employer. And in many older companies, long-time employees suddenly find their status changed from permanent to provisional and their hours and income reduced - that is, if they are not replaced altogether by lower-paid "temps."

Back in the day, employers would have had a tougher time getting away with this stuff. Labor unions leveled the playing field, protected workers' rights and won good wages and benefits in many industries. Still, I'm not an uncritical fan of the old system. The great flaw in the adversarial model of employees versus management was that it relied on intimidation, brinksmanship and actions that could be destructive to everyone's interests.

In the best of worlds, we would all be in this together - owners and workers with a common stake in success and a shared voice in how the work and rewards would be divided. Unions used to wrest a fair share of benefits from the bosses through struggle. Now, with unions severely diminished and pretty much absent in new industries, the only struggle left is the struggle of millions of people trying to hang on to a middle-class life while a few wise guys at the top amass extreme wealth from their workers' labor.

Is it any wonder the presidential campaign of 2016 has been dominated by alienated, angry Americans "feeling the Bern" or rolling the dice with Trump?


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## tohunt4me (Nov 23, 2015)




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## tohunt4me (Nov 23, 2015)




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## tohunt4me (Nov 23, 2015)

"UNSUSTAINABLE"


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