Uber Recruiting 20,000 New Drivers Will Lead To More Industry Poverty

Uber’s 20,000 post COVID-19 recruitment drive will end in increased taxi driver poverty and increased city congestion, that is according to the App Driver & Courier Union (ADCU).

Uber yesterday announced they it will further recruit 20,000 drivers by the end of 2021, however, according to the ADCU, the taxi app firm is manipulating an  advantage of a weak post pandemic worker market and  weakened competition to further squeeze its monopoly in the private hire taxi industry“.

The union stated that Uber has already abused the cover of the COVID-19 pandemic to bring a lot more risk and reduced marginal income for its drivers by changing its pricing policy from fares that were calculated and  based on real time and distance to a rigid pricing model.

Therefore, the taxi drivers will earn the same amount, no matter the route or traffic conditions in which the ADCU believes will push already stretched drivers to cut corners and rush As normal traffic levels returns to the cities post- pandemic, driver earnings per ride will obviously decline, state the union.

A spokesperson for the ADCU also said: “Uber is clearly taking advantage of the expected increase in post pandemic unemployment to entice more people into playing the gig economy and into precarity while UBER will continue to profit.

“This big recruitment initiative can only be made possible by Uber’s sheer refusal to abide  by the Supreme Court’s ruling and pay drivers fairly for all of their working time, from logging on to logging off. Instead, Uber only plans to commit to driver worker rights for the time from taxi dispatch to taxi drop off, resulting in the waiting time being unpaid, which, at present, makes up to around 40-50% of drivers working time.“

Yaseen Aslam, App Drivers & Couriers Union President, stated: “Uber’s post pandemic recruitment drive will unquestionably lead to increased driver poverty and a rise in urban congestion. They can quite easily afford to recruit an additional 20,000 people, simply UBER continues to abuse an illegal and exploitation employment model, allowing them to further bolster their industry monopoly, whilst pushing more workers into worse poverty.

“We very urgently require capacity control and the enforcement of employment law, but the government appears to have abdicated its most basic responsibilities. Our union will strive to continue to resist Uber’s wicked exploitation of communities and people.”

However, not all unions who represent drivers working for Uber agree with the recruitment drive as being a bad thing.

Mr. Mick Rix, GMB Union National Officer, who represents a number of workers across the this gig economy, stated: “Uber is trying to recognise that the awful collapse of the private hire taxi sector that was brought on by the pandemic is now coming to an end.

”Signing up an additional 20,000 drivers to add to the 70,000 already using the app is a very positive thing.

”Now Uber has confirmed its commitment to treating their workers fairly, granting them legal rights as to which they are now entitled, this can only ever be good for the battered private hire sector.”