the same thing has happened in Turkey.
Uber CEO says its service will probably shut down temporarily in California
411–420 of 887 posts
Re: Uber CEO says its service will probably shut down temporarily in California
#412Earlier quoted context omitted.
There obviously needs to be a new class of workers. I've seen the phrase "Dependent Contractor" tossed around here on HN and I think it'd do quite well. If you work for an employer who sets your hours, pay, etc., you'd still be designated as an employee. If you sell your labor to multiple entities, and/or you set your own pay rate, you're an independent contractor. If you do not set your pay rate, you'd be a "depende…
A "dependent contractor" is literally what an employee is, except that in your scenario it would just be an employee without the decades of hard-fought labor protections like bathroom breaks.
No, a "dependent contractor" is completely different from a regular employee. As an employee you are generally required to work certain hours, or at the very least do a certain amount of work in a week, and are paid either hourly or salaried. A dependent contractor, in this example, can set their own hours, start or stop working whenever they want, and gets paid per job rather than per hour or month.
Re: Uber CEO says its service will probably shut down temporarily in California
#413Well this just sucks. As a frequent SF visitor, Uber/Lyft used to be my primary way of moving around. I don't drive. I also don't see who benefits from this. You had a well functioning service for the users that will be disrupted. You had a flexible way to earn for drivers that will be disrupted. I chat with drivers a lot (to practise my English) and lots of drivers really like chatting too ( A lot of them were recen…
Society didn't fail if it turns out that the externalities caused by cheap rides go above the tally of what you're paying for said ride.
Re: Uber CEO says its service will probably shut down temporarily in California
#414Earlier quoted context omitted.
> The drivers are outside of Uber's business. Uber is a software and technology company, not a taxi service. That is some serious mental gymnastic.
No, it's not. Is Apple in the business of producing records because it runs iTunes? No, it's in the business of software (and hardware), and some of that software is used to sell music. Trying to claim that a software service to run a marketplace to sell X is the same thing as actually running a business of building or doing X takes some mental gymnastics.
It takes some seriously bizarre mental gymnastics to call Uber/Lyft "marketplaces" when they don't provide any of the hallmarks of a marketplace, such as the option to select between multiple "stores" (aka drivers) or let drivers compete by offering their own prices.
Even more importantly, with an actual marketplace, you don't transact with the marketplace--you transact with the stores.
And with respect to your Apple analogy: Apple doesn't claim to be in the business of making music, just selling it. Uber/Lyft do claim to be in the transportation/food delivery businesses, and it's literally all over their legally binding SEC filings that the provide to investors every few weeks.
If it quacks like a duck, and it walks like a duck, and it swims like a duck, you can call it a digital platform all you like but it's still a duck.
Re: Uber CEO says its service will probably shut down temporarily in California
#415Well this just sucks. As a frequent SF visitor, Uber/Lyft used to be my primary way of moving around. I don't drive. I also don't see who benefits from this. You had a well functioning service for the users that will be disrupted. You had a flexible way to earn for drivers that will be disrupted. I chat with drivers a lot (to practise my English) and lots of drivers really like chatting too ( A lot of them were recen…
> also don't see who benefits from this.
Long term society by establishing that Uber doesn't get to write the law and dodge their responsibility as an employer. It's about time they get knocked down a notch after their campaign against DeBlasio.
Re: Uber CEO says its service will probably shut down temporarily in California
#416Earlier quoted context omitted.
Ridiculous that it takes a legal battle for Uber to offer these customer and driver friendly features
I used to work at Uber. I'll focus on one particular point: allowing drivers to see where riders are going before they accept the trip. Uber, at least when I worked there, was heavily against this functionality as it allows drivers to discriminate against riders who are going to poor neighborhoods or from cities to suburbs where they may have difficulty in getting another rider. That feature is bad for the overall ec…
I used to work at Lyft. It is disgusting how Lyft and Uber treat drivers with their A/B testing etc. Those PMs have no sympathy for drivers. A driver can end up in an experiment group that totally screws his income.
WRT to drivers not going to neighborhood I have a solution for you: let passengers offer higher pricers. This is not a new idea BTW
Re: Uber CEO says its service will probably shut down temporarily in California
#417We’re legally unequipped to deal well with gig workers. They’re arguably neither contractors nor employees, and shoe horning them into either category will inevitably lead to some absurdities.
I think it's more like "gig workers" were created to try to do an end run around hard won protection for workers. The idea that someone driving (or waiting for pickups) 40+ hours a week is somehow different is different than somehow different than someone (e.g.) doing tech support for 40+ hours a week is absurd.
It is entirely different, since you can start or stop your work at any time, can choose to only work when the pay is good enough, and are not committed to a single company. I don't think a job where you can start working by just installing and app, and get paid by the job, should be treated as the same as one where you are required to work some amount each week and get paid the same every week.
Re: Uber CEO says its service will probably shut down temporarily in California
#418I work at Uber outside of the rides/eats business and observed many feature releases to adjust the business after AB5. What I saw released: - Enabling drivers to see where a rider is going before accepting the trip [0] [2] - Removed a main penalty for declining rides, “No More 85% Acceptance Rate Requirement For Uber Pro” [2] - Drivers get set their own fare with a multiplier [1] (the article details screenshots and…
Why can’t uber just position itself as a lead generation service for drivers?
Re: Uber CEO says its service will probably shut down temporarily in California
#419Earlier quoted context omitted.
Ridiculous that it takes a legal battle for Uber to offer these customer and driver friendly features
I used to work at Uber. I'll focus on one particular point: allowing drivers to see where riders are going before they accept the trip. Uber, at least when I worked there, was heavily against this functionality as it allows drivers to discriminate against riders who are going to poor neighborhoods or from cities to suburbs where they may have difficulty in getting another rider. That feature is bad for the overall ec…
> as it allows drivers to discriminate against riders who are going to poor neighborhoods or from cities to suburbs where they may have difficulty in getting another rider.
This is exactly what being a contractor is though. Accepting contract work you'd like, and turning down work you don't. Otherwise you are an employee.
Re: Uber CEO says its service will probably shut down temporarily in California
#420COVID-19 situation has clearly showcased the vulnerability of the drivers regardless of the platforms, there's no merit for the drivers to be treated as contractors as they are algorithmically made to work beyond office hours to be eligible for the incentives. I hope other states and countries follow the suit if California forces Uber to treat the drivers as employees.
What do you mean by “algorithmically made to work beyond office hours”?
You know the drivers set their own hours right? There are some who prefer to drive exclusively at night.