Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

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

bloomberg.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

21–30 of 119 posts

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

#21

Post by tremon »

elmerfud wrote: post #8
jkaplowitz wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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…

I'm not saying it shouldn't change. What I'm saying is this is more commonplace than what people believe. Hair stylists, auto mechanics, construction workers in many places, they all work under these conditions and have for many years. There's many more professions that offer flexibility that also work under these conditions. Often times these same people because they're individuals do not have any collective bargain…

Hair stylists, auto mechanics, construction workers [..] all work under these conditions

Please specify under what conditions you mean here, because I know of no hair stylists nor construction workers that work by only doing the jobs that are allocated to them by a single company yet have no employment contract with that company. Either they own the hair salon/garage, or they get paid whenever they are available for work at said hair salon/garage by said owner.

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

#22

Post by ecjhdnc2025 »

qeternity wrote: post #11
nilamo wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Maybe all of these issues would be solved of they were salaried employees, who could drive when they wanted...

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 economy.

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

#23

Post by ziddoap »

elmerfud wrote: post #8
jkaplowitz wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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…

I'm not saying it shouldn't change. What I'm saying is this is more commonplace than what people believe. Hair stylists, auto mechanics, construction workers in many places, they all work under these conditions and have for many years. There's many more professions that offer flexibility that also work under these conditions. Often times these same people because they're individuals do not have any collective bargain…

>Contractors show up they need five guys to roof a house. When they get to the job site maybe they realize that nothing is ready so they all go home with a pittance if anything at all.

I worked in construction for about a decade, including with companies that supplemented crews with day labour when required, and we were always required to pay at least 4 hours (even if we sent them home after 5 minutes).

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

#24

Post by curtis3389 »

> 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 try to protect their profit margins. These are fundamentally unprofitable businesses built on exploiting vulnerable workers.

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

#25

Post by brigadier132 »

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…

Seems like they are following the letter of the law.

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

#27

Post by testfoobar »

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…

If this were true, how would you explain that both drivers and riders enter into the relationship voluntarily. Most of my uber drivers have been intelligent and knowledgeable about their options - quite the opposite of exploited and vulnerable.

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

#28

Post by subsubzero »

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 they wish. Or use Lyft. Nobody gets paid for not producing which is what these drivers seem to want.

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

#29

Post by kevmo314 »

pavel_lishin wrote: post #17
avree wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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

Yeah, which is why it's confusing that my mom had two drivers reject her the last time she needed to get to the airport when I wasn't able to give her a ride to JFK.

Wow, we've gone full circle. I remember when being able to reliably get an Uber to JFK was a selling point over taxis.
Post reply on HN