Uber has emphasized that a union isn’t necessarily the right fit for its drivers
No Uber, you do not get to decide that!
If the drivers are joining a union then they have clearly decided that a union is the right fit for them.
Hey, a million corporations couldn’t all be wrong, could they?
Here’s a question: If they’re not employees, would it technically be a union? Independent contractors can form a “professional society” any time they want, and if Uber says a word, then I guess we’re employees after all. Now hand over one-half my Social Security for the last five years.
A libertarian-leaning Silicon valley company, run by famously libertarian Travis Kalanick, that is well known for nickle-and-diming their drivers, is pushing an anti-union message.
Well, knock me down with a feather, I could not be more surprised.
I’ve wondered about that myself. I have also always wondered why these same small business owners getting together to decide minimum prices for their services is not considered illegal price fixing. I got a note once from my local’s president saying that working as an independent contractor we were not allowed to work for less than scale+20%. Definitely raised my eyebrow.
Uber drivers are great, so I hope they work out a fair deal for them. I’m done with “taxis” now that I have experienced the Uber way. Uber should license its intellectual property so that other companies (that might treat their drivers better) can compete with Uber. Make the Uber software an industry standard that any transportation company large or small (like one driver working independently) can license for a fair license fee like they did with player piano rolls.
If they aren’t employees then maybe a guild would be more appropriate than a union. Either way, it seems odd that established guilds have been opposed to things like uber yet now uber drivers seek to organize a service monopoly themselves.
It makes sense. 7.3% is just you paying your boss’ share of your FICA. The other 12.7 might be lost benefits or something. A dollar earned on a 1099 is not equal to a dollar on a W2.
Exactly. Uber should be like other companies and hire lobby legislators to pass anti-union measures.
As an aside I wonder if any company has ever done a study to determine whether letting employees unionize is actually more cost-effective than lobbying. Probably not. It might make the shareholders skittish.
If a union isn’t an option then I recommend starting a revolutionary guild instead.
Actually, how does starting a competitor to Uber sound, a workers co-operative where every driver has a vote on how to run the company? @thirdworldtaxi, you might have a better idea on how this could be made to work than I do.
Ever notice how Libertarians never seem to support actual civil liberties?
They prefer the freedom of corporations to actual people. At this point anyone who identifies as one and isn’t fantastically wealthy I peg as a self-destructive moron. Use of the word “statist” from one is not a 60-70 year old political science professor, is usually the first sign that I am reading the posts of idiots.
Libertarian-socialists do, but I know that is an alien concept in the US. I’m working on it.
But yes, Libertarian-Capitalists do tend to forget about civil liberties if profits may be negatively affected.
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