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| Uber’s practices are morally unacceptable – but a boycott won’t help | Uber’s practices are morally unacceptable – but a boycott won’t help |
| (7 months later) | |
| Thu 13 Jul 2017 13.33 BST | |
| Last modified on Thu 13 Jul 2017 16.29 BST | |
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| Labour’s business secretary, Rebecca Long-Bailey, finds Uber’s business practices morally unacceptable and refuses to use the company. I agree with her, but boycotting the app isn’t the best way to take on Uber. | Labour’s business secretary, Rebecca Long-Bailey, finds Uber’s business practices morally unacceptable and refuses to use the company. I agree with her, but boycotting the app isn’t the best way to take on Uber. |
| Uber is the taxi app that has taken big cities by storm. Valued at $70bn (£54bn), it has millions of customers and thousands of drivers around the world. It has also courted controversy in most of the places it operates in– avoiding taxes and local laws and eroding workers’ rights. | Uber is the taxi app that has taken big cities by storm. Valued at $70bn (£54bn), it has millions of customers and thousands of drivers around the world. It has also courted controversy in most of the places it operates in– avoiding taxes and local laws and eroding workers’ rights. |
| For years, Uber managed to conceal its bad behaviour with expensive marketing campaigns and by offering the “we just make the technology” shrug that tech corporations are increasingly known for. But that plan is unravelling fast, because of the combined power of whistleblowing, protest and organising. | For years, Uber managed to conceal its bad behaviour with expensive marketing campaigns and by offering the “we just make the technology” shrug that tech corporations are increasingly known for. But that plan is unravelling fast, because of the combined power of whistleblowing, protest and organising. |
| There’s no denying that Uber is convenient. The combination of cashless transactions and location technology make for a great service. But no amount of convenience can cover up the toxic culture that has taken hold at Uber, whether at the company’s headquarters or in the treatment of its huge driver workforce. Reports of bullying, sexism and sexual harassment within the corporation surface with alarming regularity. | There’s no denying that Uber is convenient. The combination of cashless transactions and location technology make for a great service. But no amount of convenience can cover up the toxic culture that has taken hold at Uber, whether at the company’s headquarters or in the treatment of its huge driver workforce. Reports of bullying, sexism and sexual harassment within the corporation surface with alarming regularity. |
| Earlier this year, one former Uber employee, Susan Fowler, published a blog in which she described Uber’s inadequate response to the sexual harassment she experienced as an engineer at the firm. She detailed a spectacularly absurd situation in which female Uber staff were denied the “perk” of a free leather jacket that was received by all male employees. Months of employee and customer pressure forced Uber’s chief executive, Travis Kalanick, to resign a few weeks ago, proving that the company really takes action only when its brand and reputation are at stake. | Earlier this year, one former Uber employee, Susan Fowler, published a blog in which she described Uber’s inadequate response to the sexual harassment she experienced as an engineer at the firm. She detailed a spectacularly absurd situation in which female Uber staff were denied the “perk” of a free leather jacket that was received by all male employees. Months of employee and customer pressure forced Uber’s chief executive, Travis Kalanick, to resign a few weeks ago, proving that the company really takes action only when its brand and reputation are at stake. |
| For years Uber managed to conceal its bad behaviour with the ‘we just make the tech' shrug that tech firms are known for | For years Uber managed to conceal its bad behaviour with the ‘we just make the tech' shrug that tech firms are known for |
| Uber’s wrongdoing doesn’t stop at the door of its corporate headquarters. Just as pernicious is the corporation’s extremely profitable model of “employment”. In fact Uber offers no such thing to the people delivering its service, consistently finding ways to pass the risk of growing its business down to its drivers. In the vast majority of cases, Uber drivers are offered low pay, no sick pay, no redundancy and no holiday. In return, they are promised “flexibility”, or the freedom to work whatever hours suit them. In practice, many Uber drivers are working long, long shifts for poor pay in order to try to make ends meet as Uber “scales” upwards without facing any financial penalty to itself for growing too fast. | Uber’s wrongdoing doesn’t stop at the door of its corporate headquarters. Just as pernicious is the corporation’s extremely profitable model of “employment”. In fact Uber offers no such thing to the people delivering its service, consistently finding ways to pass the risk of growing its business down to its drivers. In the vast majority of cases, Uber drivers are offered low pay, no sick pay, no redundancy and no holiday. In return, they are promised “flexibility”, or the freedom to work whatever hours suit them. In practice, many Uber drivers are working long, long shifts for poor pay in order to try to make ends meet as Uber “scales” upwards without facing any financial penalty to itself for growing too fast. |
| Uber is not the only corporation effectively forcing the world back into a paid “piecework” model of labour that harks back to the industrial revolution (not a period renowned for its progressive employment practices). But it is the one that has resources to drive forward the lawsuits and the lobbying breakfasts to ensure it can further its agenda. Set against the disturbing backdrop of its own bullying, sexist headquarters, it becomes even more alarming. | Uber is not the only corporation effectively forcing the world back into a paid “piecework” model of labour that harks back to the industrial revolution (not a period renowned for its progressive employment practices). But it is the one that has resources to drive forward the lawsuits and the lobbying breakfasts to ensure it can further its agenda. Set against the disturbing backdrop of its own bullying, sexist headquarters, it becomes even more alarming. |
| SumOfUs members have made it their business to ensure that Uber’s power does not go unchecked, however. Our calls for Kalanick’s resignation were just the last in a long list of actions our members have taken to demand more from Uber. | SumOfUs members have made it their business to ensure that Uber’s power does not go unchecked, however. Our calls for Kalanick’s resignation were just the last in a long list of actions our members have taken to demand more from Uber. |
| In April, we launched a website called Why Everyone Hates Uber, documenting Uber’s global pattern of driver mistreatment, corporate bullying and legal transgressions. After pressure from SumOfUs members and Progress Alberta, this week the Canadian city of Edmonton voted against partnering with Uber to replace public transportation with the ride-sharing app. Now we are campaigning with GMB union asking Transport for London not to renew Uber’s licence to operate unless it guarantees safe working practices and basic employment rights. With Uber’s current licence to operate in London expiring in September, this is a crucial window of opportunity to push for change. | In April, we launched a website called Why Everyone Hates Uber, documenting Uber’s global pattern of driver mistreatment, corporate bullying and legal transgressions. After pressure from SumOfUs members and Progress Alberta, this week the Canadian city of Edmonton voted against partnering with Uber to replace public transportation with the ride-sharing app. Now we are campaigning with GMB union asking Transport for London not to renew Uber’s licence to operate unless it guarantees safe working practices and basic employment rights. With Uber’s current licence to operate in London expiring in September, this is a crucial window of opportunity to push for change. |
| Politicians are right to condemn companies such as Uber, but not using the app will not solve the problems posed by the gig economy. Instead we need to use our power as customers, workers and shareholders to force tech giants to change their behaviour and their business models. | Politicians are right to condemn companies such as Uber, but not using the app will not solve the problems posed by the gig economy. Instead we need to use our power as customers, workers and shareholders to force tech giants to change their behaviour and their business models. |
| A new CEO at Uber is a real opportunity to demand real, transparent, and enforceable commitments to its drivers, its customers, and the communities in which it operates. For that reason, SumOfUs members will join the growing mass of people who are committed to securing something better from Uber in its next stage. | A new CEO at Uber is a real opportunity to demand real, transparent, and enforceable commitments to its drivers, its customers, and the communities in which it operates. For that reason, SumOfUs members will join the growing mass of people who are committed to securing something better from Uber in its next stage. |
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