Economy

Uber Drivers to Protest at Super Bowl

Douglas A. McIntyre

Published: February 5, 2016 3:39 pm

Last Updated: January 13, 2020 1:33 pm

Uber drivers are sick of being kicked around, at least as they see it. While the company’s management gets rich on their shares (which the current valuation collapse of unicorns may have made useless), compensation for drivers in many cities continues to fall. New York is the latest of these, a point with which Uber would take issue.

So, off to the Super Bowl for what might be a huge amount of free publicity based on the press coverage around the event.

Rebecca Smith, a deputy director at the National Employment Law Project, said:

“For too long, Uber has taken advantage of its drivers by labeling them ‘independent contractors,’ which divests the company of its legal responsibilities as an employer. That means workers have no access to basic legal rights such minimum wage, unemployment insurance, overtime pay, employer-provided benefits , workers’ compensation, or collective bargaining. Sunday’s protests show that this business model is unsustainable; it doesn’t work for Uber drivers, and it won’t work for other employees at the growing number of companies that provide ‘on-demand’ services. It’s time Uber rightly label their drivers as what they are: ‘employees.’

Or, are they just freelance employees who can work or not as they please, an argument which could be made convincingly.

And that question about freelance is at the heart of the issue. Uber cannot count on drivers to work for set hours everyday. It takes the risk of being short drivers, although demand for the jobs may have swamped the market with Uber cars.

Uber drivers have a contest which they may not be able to win.