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Uber Is Locking Out NYC Drivers Mid-Shift to Lower Minimum Pay

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Re: Uber Is Locking Out NYC Drivers Mid-Shift to Lower Minimum Pay

#41

Post by goostavos »

quantified wrote: post #4
elmerfud wrote: post #3

"...making it difficult for drivers to plan work shifts and treat Uber as a full-time job." So which is it they want flexible gig work that they can do at their own schedule in their own pace, or do they want planned work shifts in a full-time job. It seems what drivers are really asking for his money without any work. Because taking flexible gig work means you have the flexibility to work when you want without plann…

There isn't an "Uber driver" in that sense any more than there is a "person". Early on it was part-time and more gig labor. When you're being leased the vehicle via Uber themselves [ https://www.uber.com/us/en/drive/vehicle-solutions/ ] it's definitely pushing towards real job. I wonder how many of those locked-out drivers are paying for those cars on the lease program, or if they get preference. Take a taxi, people!

I begrudgingly take a taxi whenever I leave the Seattle airport (it's significantly faster than Uber/Lyft because they're already queued). I'm continuously blown away by how it's still a dice roll to see if we're going to do the "credit card machine no work" game at the end. Pair that with the general disgusting state of the cars and, yeah, I ain't takin' no taxi unless it's the only option.

Re: Uber Is Locking Out NYC Drivers Mid-Shift to Lower Minimum Pay

#42

Post by FrustratedMonky »

Like it or not, in the current US Capitalist's Environment (as opposed to some mythical earlier time when corporations were supposed to have some social responsibility), in this current environment, Humans are a Commodity.

If there is a human surplus, the cost(pay) goes down.

If there is a human shortage, the price(pay) goes up.

When there are fewer desperate humans needing Uber to eat, and Uber can't find drivers, then suddenly Uber will start paying and treating people better.

This is only newsworthy because Uber by its nature of having all independent contractors with a very obvious 'market' linking drivers to passengers. Makes this clear.

It becomes very starkly clear the value of the driver and how much a human is worth. And that Uber can tweak their algorithms to minimize how much drivers are paid, thus providing a 'market' price for humans.

Uber isn't special, it is just this human value is starkly on display.

Re: Uber Is Locking Out NYC Drivers Mid-Shift to Lower Minimum Pay

#43

Post by evanb »

subsubzero wrote: post #28

Uber owns the thing that the taxi companies don't have, a complex, real time transactional application that pairs drivers with riders. They can pick and choose who they want using it(sans discriminatory, see - illegal checks). And they are well within their means to say when a driver can and can't work on their own platform. If drivers want to be rid of this menace - Uber, then they are free to become cab drivers if…

T+LC cabs use Curb, which can call taxis and be used only as a payment method.

https://www.gocurb.com/

Re: Uber Is Locking Out NYC Drivers Mid-Shift to Lower Minimum Pay

#44

Post by blendergeek »

avree wrote: post #16
ziml77 wrote: post #9

I learned within the past year that Uber sucks for drivers around NYC. The T&LC rules mean that someone who's not registered can't take pickups in NYC. They can still drop you off though, so Uber considers it valid to assign a non-T&LC vehicle to drive into NYC. Of course when that happens, the driver has an empty car going back the other way. It's awful for their pay and a big waste of energy and road space. Some dr…

Uber drivers have been able to see the approximate destination before accepting the ride for over a year now in all markets.

> in all markets.

I am an Uber driver. I do not see the approximate destination prior to pickup. I don't know what percentage of Uber markets actually have that feature.

Re: Uber Is Locking Out NYC Drivers Mid-Shift to Lower Minimum Pay

#45

Post by Aurornis »

jkaplowitz wrote: post #5
elmerfud wrote: post #3

"...making it difficult for drivers to plan work shifts and treat Uber as a full-time job." So which is it they want flexible gig work that they can do at their own schedule in their own pace, or do they want planned work shifts in a full-time job. It seems what drivers are really asking for his money without any work. Because taking flexible gig work means you have the flexibility to work when you want without plann…

To me this just means the workers need to be able to negotiate for either a standard or driver-selected minimum shift duration for billing purposes, just like most independent contractors can achieve by negotiating the terms of their contracts when finding clients. Every time I hire a moving company the hourly rate bills a contractual minimum number of hours per job regardless of actual time needed. Nothing about thi…

> Nothing about this concept is incompatible with flexible gig work.

Your example (movers) assumes the workers are already paired up with a customer.

They don’t get paid if there isn’t a customer.

The analogy doesn’t hold. The only way to support minimum shift durations would be to average out fares collected and distribute them to everyone who was technically working a shift, even if they weren’t driving. So the people actually driving would receive less payment in order to subsidize the people not driving.

Once you open the door to paying people for not driving, the game becomes to find a way to park somewhere that allows you to participate in a shift while minimizing the number of customers assigned. Immediately, you’d get drivers strategically parking in far away locations to reduce their chances of picking anyone up, because if you’re getting paid for the time on shift you’d rather sit and do nothing than actually drive.

So actually, the concept is completely incompatible with gig work.

Re: Uber Is Locking Out NYC Drivers Mid-Shift to Lower Minimum Pay

#46

Post by HDThoreaun »

s17n wrote: post #7
elmerfud wrote: post #3

"...making it difficult for drivers to plan work shifts and treat Uber as a full-time job." So which is it they want flexible gig work that they can do at their own schedule in their own pace, or do they want planned work shifts in a full-time job. It seems what drivers are really asking for his money without any work. Because taking flexible gig work means you have the flexibility to work when you want without plann…

Obviously, what people want is full time jobs. That's what the whole political battle over these platforms is about.

Some people do, some certainly do not

Re: Uber Is Locking Out NYC Drivers Mid-Shift to Lower Minimum Pay

#47

Post by bpodgursky »

ecjhdnc2025 wrote: post #22
qeternity wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What?!? Would you employee people full-time and let them work whenever they felt like it?

Salaried !== full-time. Millions of people in the UK are legally salaried workers on "zero-hours" contracts, where they aren't even guaranteed a minimum number of hours. Paid through PAYE (payroll), have workers rights, just not a guaranteed number of hours. Most can choose when they work, many have more than one of these jobs. It's not a good way to live but it's at least possibly a better way to live than the gig e…

Yes but the UK has the NHS, it's not possible in the US where employees have to healthcare benefits by federal mandate.

You can't have an employee on the payroll costing $1,500 a month in benefits who can choose to work 0 hours in a month.

Re: Uber Is Locking Out NYC Drivers Mid-Shift to Lower Minimum Pay

#48

Post by HDThoreaun »

ecjhdnc2025 wrote: post #22
qeternity wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What?!? Would you employee people full-time and let them work whenever they felt like it?

Salaried !== full-time. Millions of people in the UK are legally salaried workers on "zero-hours" contracts, where they aren't even guaranteed a minimum number of hours. Paid through PAYE (payroll), have workers rights, just not a guaranteed number of hours. Most can choose when they work, many have more than one of these jobs. It's not a good way to live but it's at least possibly a better way to live than the gig e…

I think you just misunderstand what salary means? If you do not have guaranteed hours you are not a salary employee, salary means you get paid the same amount on a certain schedule. You are describing hourly employees

Re: Uber Is Locking Out NYC Drivers Mid-Shift to Lower Minimum Pay

#49

Post by freeone3000 »

elmerfud wrote: post #3

"...making it difficult for drivers to plan work shifts and treat Uber as a full-time job." So which is it they want flexible gig work that they can do at their own schedule in their own pace, or do they want planned work shifts in a full-time job. It seems what drivers are really asking for his money without any work. Because taking flexible gig work means you have the flexibility to work when you want without plann…

Dude, nobody wants the instability of a gig job. It’s just all there is at the bottom. Uber will actually pay you something, unlike other taxi or driver jobs which have dried up. It’s folks fighting over crumbs: I bet you Uber drivers would love a stable taxi job, there just isn’t one.

Re: Uber Is Locking Out NYC Drivers Mid-Shift to Lower Minimum Pay

#50

Post by HDThoreaun »

curtis3389 wrote: post #24

> At the heart of the move, say the two companies, is a six-year-old pay rule in New York that, among other things, requires firms like Uber and Lyft to pay drivers for the idle time they rack up between rides. Remember, Uber and Lyft were created to get around labor laws, and here we see the companies continuing to try to skirt labor laws. It is a standard move of capitalists to fight regulations tooth and nail to t…

Uber was created because taxis blew due to corruption. It should not cost 100k to become a taxi driver, that was absolutely insane.
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