111–120 of 288 posts
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"We should just let corporations do whatever they want"
I wonder how many people have this opinion just to stick it to "the man" -- seems like most of the anti-Uber HN crowd does not actually drive for Uber, but nonetheless express a passionate hatred for their business model.
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Source? At EWR a few weeks ago while waiting for luggage, I wandered over to the taxi stand. The quoted fare (there was no line, by the way) was twice that of either Uber or Lyft to the same destination.
LAX to downtown: Uber and Lyft are cheaper in the middle of the day between lunch and the evening rush hour, and again after 9 or 10p M-Th. Early morning through rush hour, and evening rush hour: 2-5x more expensive than a cab, depending on surge pricing. Holidays: 3-20x more expensive than a cab, depending on surge. I have seen multiple Uber and Lyft fares that would have cost more than the plane ticket did.
I am really curious how they arrived at any of the numbers in this article. Seriously, what other large employers make it to hundred plus million per year? Are they just up and deciding that anyone who did one trip is now an employee? Is there a source that shows how much each company pays per year in this state? who else is equivalent? this isn't about protecting the drivers, this is about protecting the taxi indust…
This must mostly be penalties for not paying any taxes for 4 years. Unemployment in New Jersey is taxed at 0.3825% of the first 34,400$ of income so it cap’s at 132$/employee per year. The other tax is uncapped but at ~1/9th the rate. Nationwide Walmart has 2,300,000 US employees. If they are paying an average of 150$ each nation wide on similar taxes that’s 345 million per year. However, I doubt even 20 million of t…
I am really curious how they arrived at any of the numbers in this article. Seriously, what other large employers make it to hundred plus million per year? Are they just up and deciding that anyone who did one trip is now an employee? Is there a source that shows how much each company pays per year in this state? who else is equivalent? this isn't about protecting the drivers, this is about protecting the taxi indust…
Also the acid test is whether the drivers are qualified for unemployment benefits.
And if that's the case, this statement from TFA makes no sense:
> The money that they’re not paying into the unemployment and disability systems is being picked up by the states and the taxpayers.
Because there's nothing to be "picked up" if those workers don't qualify for unemployment and job-related disability.
I get the argument about having more freedom when you're not an employee. But these people are generally getting screwed, I think.
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In the context of Uber vs NJ, the drivers are already remitting taxes as contractors. The $650M demand from the state isn't a driver initiative with them demanding "Uber needs to pay more taxes.." it's the state saying "What we've collected from drivers isn't enough and we want more from Uber.."
>"What we've collected from drivers isn't enough and we want more from Uber.." Or its fundamentally correct under the law and Uber has misclassified its drivers as independent contracts whereas they should properly be classified as employees. After all Uber did disclose this was significant risk in their S-1, and further that such a reclassification could be an existential threat to the business. It sounds conspirato…
The "sharing economy" is a scam of epic proportions.
If the state wins, I wouldn't be surprised if Lyft and Uber pulled out, or at least increased their fares by a substantial amount.
Please don't quote with code blocks. It breaks formatting by forcing horizontal scrolling, and is especially bad on mobile. Requoted: > Employee and employer state Unemployment Insurance tax rates will apply to the first $34,400 of an employee’s earnings in 2019 (up from $33,700 in 2018). For 2019, employees are subject to a 0.0425% (.000425) Workforce Development Partnership Fund tax rate. The employee Unemployment…
Or it could be about protecting employee rights against exploitative corporations who flout the law for profit. Edit: and society for that matter. See Al Capone, a murderer, being finally arrested for tax evasion as an example.
Nah it's ok. Everyone here lives in a privileged position where they will never end up working less than minimum wage for uber so the only thing that matters is a slightly lower cost no matter what the cost to others is. Also uber is a hip and trendy startup so they can do no wrong!
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Before the smartphone era, the only possible way to ensure availability of personal transportation was to have a functioning taxi & livery industry. The use of medallions was actually to protect the public, ensuring all drivers were at least accountable and traceable and thus somewhat safe, just like today's Uber riders expect the company to perform background checks on drivers. Yes it benefitted embedded interests,…
If "protecting the public" was truly the goal, why not make taxi driving as simple as getting a commercial endorsement on your license? Driving 50 people in a public bus only requires X hours in a classroom and an extra exam (or two, depending). Interestingly, the medallions were affixed the the vehicle (thus allowing anybody to use it), the total number of medallions were artificially limited and the choice parts of…
If you want to argue with the phrase "protect the public," that's fine. The point is that, pre-smartphones, the medallion system ensures a functioning system, a modicum of safety, no fare surprises. It was not intended to produce the _lowest possible fares_ for riders.