# UBER DRIVERS OF AUSTRALIA THIS APPLIES TO YOU ALL READ IT AS IT IS COMING TO YOU!!!!



## HotSniper (Mar 31, 2016)

Uber
*Uber is treating its drivers as sweated labour, says report*
Earnings are often less than minimum wage and 'barely sufficient to sustain existence', according to MP Frank Field


Uber classifies its drivers as self-employed, meaning they are not covered by minimum wage legislation.

Uber treats its drivers as Victorian-style "sweated labour", with some taking home less than the minimum wage, according to a report into its working conditions based on the testimony of dozens of drivers.

Drivers at the taxi-hailing app company reported feeling forced to work extremely long hours, sometimes more than 70 a week, just to make a basic living, said Frank Field, the Labour MP and chair of the work and pensions committee.

Field received testimony from 83 drivers who said they often took home significantly less than the "national living wage" after paying their running costs. The report says they described conditions that matched the Victorian definition of sweated labour: "when earnings were barely sufficient to sustain existence, hours of labour were such as to make lives of workers periods of ceaseless toil; and conditions were injurious to the health of workers and dangerous to the public".

Although Uber classifies its drivers as self-employed, which puts them outside minimum wage legislation, Field said that in reality they had almost no independence - Uber dictates their working patterns once they have logged on, has raised its commission while cutting the rates they can charge, and imposes lockouts from its system if drivers turn down too many jobs. This, combined with the cost of the vehicles needed to meet Uber's requirements, is creating "chronically low pay" and insecurity, the report says.

Field said he had produced the report, Sweated Labour, Uber and the "Gig" Economy, because he was concerned that the bottom was falling out of the labour market. It follows his highly critical examination of working practices at the courier company Hermes.

He said ordinary taxpayers were suffering because companies in the gig economy, where people do predominantly short-term, casual work, were failing to carry a fair share of the risks of business. "This is what has blown a hole in the government's projections for tax revenue. The more workers are pushed into low-paid, insecure self-employment, the less will be the tax take for the rest of the country. The Uber report shows that this form of self-employment is not confined to Hermes, but is a driving force in the wider gig economy."

Uber said it did not believe the cases in Field's report were representative. It said recent polling had shown that nine in 10 of its drivers were satisfied with the money they made and enjoyed being able to balance work and family life.

"We're proud of the economic opportunities we have created for people who can choose to drive when and where they want. Drivers using our app made average payments of more than £16 an hour after Uber's service fee this September," the company said in a statement.

It said most of its drivers worked less than 40 hours a week on its platform, with only about 25% logged in for more than that. It urged any driver who was making "below average payments to get in touch so that it could advise on better car and insurance deals and best times and places to drive".

The report, written with Field's parliamentary researcher Andrew Forsey, says Uber has flooded the market with new drivers, increasing competition for passengers so drivers are forced to work longer and longer just to maintain their low earnings.

Those who have taken on debt to finance their vehicles feel trapped and have little choice but to work unsafe hours to service their loans and feed their families, it says. The number of private hire drivers licensed by Transport for London (TfL) has almost doubled in six years, from 59,000 in 2010 to more than 116,000 by December this year. Uber says around 40,000 drivers work for its platform in the UK, with about 30,000 of those in the capital.

One driver told Field: "Yesterday my hourly net income fell to £2 an hour. I made £40 cash, then had to put in £30 in petrol." Another described his work as being so low paid he received working tax credits from the state despite working very long hours. "The fares are too low and the commission too high. Drivers work six and a half days and 16 hours a day - dangerous for the driver, passenger and the public. Often you will earn less than the minimum wage, so you work more hours."
Field is calling for TfL and the Department for Transport to require Uber to banish "sweated labour" from its working practices before renewing its licence to operate when it ends in 2017. He also wants the government to reform employment law so that companies in the gig economy are required to give workers basic protections, including the national living wage.
Uber was founded in 2009 in San Francisco and has expanded rapidly across the world since. Consumers love its low fares and convenience but it has attracted controversy in many of the cities where it operates, being banned in some, and provoking protests and legal challenges in others.
In London, a group of 19 Uber drivers took the company to an employment tribunal earlier this year with the help of the GMB union, arguing that they were not genuinely self-employed and were entitled to workers' rights, including the national living wage. The court ruled in favour of the drivers in October but Uber said it would appeal against the decision. Employment law currently requires individual workers to bring their own cases rather than the ruling being automatically applied to other drivers.
Yaseen Aslam, the founder of United Private Hire Drivers, said the report's findings echoed members' experiences with Uber. "Minicab drivers throughout the UK have been exploited by operators for years but Uber's entry to the market has accelerated a race to the bottom."
TfL has argued for a cap on driver licensing under both the mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, and his predecessor, Boris Johnson, but says it would require the government to legislate, which it has not been willing to do.
A government spokesman said: "Taxis and private hire vehicles provide a vital service for many people and businesses across the country. We are committed to supporting the industry, with safety a priority.
"We are keen to ensure our employment rules keep up to date to reflect new ways of working, and that's why we have asked the Royal Society for the Arts chief executive, Matthew Taylor, to conduct an independent review into modern working practices."


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## MyRedUber (Dec 28, 2015)

HotSniper said:


> Uber said it did not believe the cases in Field's report were representative. It said recent polling had shown that nine in 10 of its drivers were satisfied with the money they made and enjoyed being able to balance work and family life.


I never answer any of Uber's polls, because they're tagged, not anonymous.


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## Thing (Oct 7, 2016)

MyRedUber said:


> I never answer any of Uber's polls, because they're tagged, not anonymous.


I do, I always give responses of how crap they treat drivers, low rates etc etc & nothing happens.. the conditions never change & I never have any feedback positive or negative from them.... (I am aware you are identified)

I'm not scared of standing up for myself, if they want answers to how I feel or think - they get it .....


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## GPH (Dec 1, 2016)

Let the chips fall where they may. If Uber in Australia looses their ability to pay drivers as self employed, and/ or if a cap is placed on the commission they can earn is applied, then a number of outcomes will be likely.
1. Uber won't stay in oz if there is a change to employment conditions , it isn't viable for them to do so
2. If a cap on their commission is enforced, then to increase revenue, they will need to increase fares, this will mean they need to be careful how they do it, and keep a close eye on competition. The upside is more income for drivers, the downside is that too many drivers will mean that incomes are unlikely to increase regardless of fares being increased.
There are probably other potential outcomes, but I suspect speculation is probably premature.


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## JaySonic (Aug 25, 2016)

MyRedUber said:


> I never answer any of Uber's polls, because they're tagged, not anonymous.


So what? Im on Uber's case every time their dumbarse service robots give me a copy/paste reply and I am constantlt writing to them that they are useless basterds. Don't fear the corporations.


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## Waingro (Aug 29, 2016)

Guys I have some suggestions... 

Labouring ( Can get Hot but plenty of work)
Chicken Processing ( pays good hourly rate and you get free chicken check major processors)
Fruit Picking ( check Oz Harvest run all over Australia, Easy Mangoes and Avos but you will get sunburnt and sleep with some creepy people and insects...
Sheep Shearing... ( Ok but your back will pop in 1 year...) 
Taxi Driving ( good but you know this one ....) 
Normal Clerical Job ( a little hard to find and you could be too old and take orders from a school leaver but free coffee and bickies if lucky)


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## yogi bear (Dec 25, 2015)

so driving a cab you get 55% of $1.60-$2.00 a km depending on tariff (melbourne rates) or 88- 110 Cents per km clear of any fuel or maintenance costs

driving uber (without a surge) you get 75% of $1.00 a km, so 75cents, minus fuel, about 10% =67.5 cents per km, minus maintenance and upkeep/depreciation/ect , about 10% so, that leaves about 60 cents per km clear..

lets just do the maths here for a moment..

now the surge has largely dissipated I know where my breads buttered..


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