tag:theconversation.com,2011:/global/topics/uber-13621/articlesUber – The Conversation2024-03-26T10:06:52Ztag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2265052024-03-26T10:06:52Z2024-03-26T10:06:52ZUber has settled a class action lawsuit for $270 million – what was it accused of?<p>Who’d want to go back to the days before Uber? The days in which you could never be certain you could get a taxi, the days of long wait times trying to order one on the phone, and the days in which you would never know for sure how your driver would treat you.</p>
<p>So much has Uber improved the experience of getting a ride (young people rely on it in a way their parents were never able to rely on taxis) that it might seem incomprehensible Uber has just agreed to pay almost <a href="https://www.mauriceblackburn.com.au/media-centre/media-statements/2024/uber-class-action-settlement-agreed-subject-to-approval/">A$272 million</a> to stop a class action against it going to court.</p>
<p>The $271.8 million settlement is the fifth-largest in Australia, eclipsed only by two for Victoria’s 2009 Black Saturday bushfires, one for Queeensland’s 2011 floods and one for Johnson & Johnson for defective pelvic mesh implants.</p>
<p>So what exactly did Uber do wrong – or at least be so unwilling to defend it was prepared to pay a quarter of a billion dollars not to have <a href="https://www.supremecourt.vic.gov.au/areas/group-proceedings/andrianakis-v-uber">aired in court</a>?</p>
<p>The <a href="https://www.supremecourt.vic.gov.au/sites/default/files/2022-08/Second%20Further%20Amended%20Statement%20of%20Claim%20%2824%20June%202022%29.pdf">statement of claim</a> presented on behalf of 8,000 taxi drivers and licence holders to the Supreme Court of Victoria paints a picture of an organisation prepared to break the law in order to build a large base of customers it could use to lobby to change the law to make what it had been doing legal.</p>
<h2>‘Greyballing’ and ghost cars</h2>
<p>The statement of claim points to internal Uber documents that indicate Uber knew in advance of its 2014 launch that its so-called UberX drivers were not licensed to operate commercial passenger vehicles, and that the fines were small.</p>
<p>Its aim was to quickly get to 2,000 trips per week in both Melbourne and Sydney, to ensure it had “as many people as possible to support UberX leading up to what will <a href="https://www.mauriceblackburn.com.au/content/dam/mbl/en/class-actions/current/uber/andrianakis_v_uber_technologies_inc_ors_taxi_apps_pty_ltd_v_uber_technologies_inc_ors_2022_vsc_196_redacted.pdf.coredownload.pdf">inevitably be a regulatory fight in both cities</a>”.</p>
<p>Uber told drivers it would pay their fines, and in Victoria paid <a href="https://www.smh.com.au/technology/uber-pledges-to-pay-1700-ridesharing-driver-fines-in-victoria-20140523-zrlnh.html">$1,732</a> at a time.</p>
<p>The class action said where inspectors tried to collect evidence, Uber engaged in a practice known as “<a href="https://www.mauriceblackburn.com.au/content/dam/mbl/en/class-actions/current/uber/andrianakis_v_uber_technologies_inc_ors_taxi_apps_pty_ltd_v_uber_technologies_inc_ors_2022_vsc_196_redacted.pdf.coredownload.pdf">greyballing</a>” in which the apps of selected users get shown a <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/resources/idt-f2971465-73d2-4932-a889-5c63778e273d">fake view</a> of ghost cars that won’t stop for them.</p>
<p>The claim said Uber also used “<a href="https://www.mauriceblackburn.com.au/content/dam/mbl/en/class-actions/current/uber/andrianakis_v_uber_technologies_inc_ors_taxi_apps_pty_ltd_v_uber_technologies_inc_ors_2022_vsc_196_redacted.pdf.coredownload.pdf">blackout geofences</a>” that made it impossible to hire Ubers near the buildings used by enforcement officers and regulators.</p>
<h2>Case settled at the last moment</h2>
<p>By settling <a href="https://www.mauriceblackburn.com.au/media-centre/media-statements/2024/uber-class-action-settlement-agreed-subject-to-approval/">just before</a> the case went to court, Uber managed to avoid these claims being tested, and also managed to avoid the court airing the <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2022/uber-files-investigation/?itid=lk_inline_manual_8">trove of documents</a> leaked two years ago in which one international Uber executive joked he and his colleagues had become “<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/news/2022/jul/10/uber-files-leak-reveals-global-lobbying-campaign">pirates</a>” and another conceded: “we’re just f***ing illegal.”</p>
<p>Uber succeeded in getting each state’s laws changed, at a cost of devaluing to near zero taxi licences reported to have been worth as much as <a href="https://www.smh.com.au/technology/uber-s-ugly-truths-laid-bare-with-300-million-capitulation-20240320-p5fduj.html">$500,000</a> each.</p>
<p>But in its defence (and I may as well defend Uber because it decided not to in court) most taxi drivers never paid anything like $500,000.</p>
<p>And taxis provided a pretty poor service. That’s because the number in each state was limited, which helped ensure drivers had work, but worked against customers in two ways – it ensured there weren’t enough taxis available at busy times, and by pushing up the price of licences it pushed up the price of fares.</p>
<h2>Taxis served cities poorly</h2>
<p>In a landmark 2012 report, <a href="https://apo.org.au/sites/default/files/resource-files/2012-09/apo-nid32345_0.PDF">Customers First</a>, two years before the arrival of Uber, former competition chief Allan Fels recommended Victoria issue licences without limit, charging a simple fee of about $20,000 per year for anyone who wanted one.</p>
<p>It’s this recommendation, adopted by Victoria and publicised in other Australian states, that began devaluing licences before the arrival of Uber.</p>
<p>And the Fels report found most of the owners of licences weren’t drivers. </p>
<p>Most were <a href="https://apo.org.au/sites/default/files/resource-files/2012-09/apo-nid32345_0.PDF">passive investors</a>, some of whom had done well by punting that the value of their licences would rise, and all of whom should have taken into account the possibility the value could fall.</p>
<h2>Uber has gone mainstream</h2>
<p>Now that Uber has won the right to do what was illegal (and settled a class action that would have exposed how it did it), it has lifted its prices to <a href="https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/are-taxis-or-ubers-more-expensive-for-trips-across-sydney-20240319-p5fdna.html">something closer</a> to taxi fares and allowed customers to <a href="https://www.smh.com.au/technology/uber-s-ugly-truths-laid-bare-with-300-million-capitulation-20240320-p5fduj.html">book taxis from its platform</a>.</p>
<p>It has become mainstream in other ways. In Australia, it has entered into an agreement with the Transport Workers’ Union on employment, and in the US it wants to work with transport authorities to replace <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-01-26/what-to-make-of-uber-s-bid-to-help-public-transit">lightly used bus services</a>.</p>
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<p>The path Uber has forged – becoming an outlaw, building public support for a change in the law, then becoming entrenched – has become something of a model for new firms in all sorts of other industries, from <a href="https://iclg.com/practice-areas/gambling-laws-and-regulations/australia">online gambling</a>, to <a href="https://www.afr.com/technology/bill-to-regulate-crypto-sector-introduced-to-australian-parliament-20230329-p5cwbo">cryptocurrency trading</a> to <a href="https://www.9news.com.au/national/electric-scooter-rules-in-australia-state-by-state-explainer/293a31b0-648e-4b5f-97c3-e5ac22c59a8c">footpath scooters</a>.</p>
<p>Uber has shown it works. In this case, the class action has shown that ultimately there can be a cost, but it took a long time and it wasn’t at all certain until the last moment that Uber would buckle.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/226505/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Peter Martin is Economics Editor of The Conversation. </span></em></p>The just-settled lawsuit accused Uber of knowing that its drivers were breaking the law, paying their fines and “greyballing” investigators.Peter Martin, Visiting Fellow, Crawford School of Public Policy, Australian National UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2264622024-03-25T18:30:37Z2024-03-25T18:30:37ZA B.C. class action may prompt Uber and Lyft to ensure accessible services for wheelchair users<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/583952/original/file-20240325-28-b5vorr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=22%2C0%2C3728%2C2502&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Ride hailing apps can be convenient for some, and inaccessible for others.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>For wheelchair users, travelling by using ride-hailing apps, like Uber and Lyft, can be complicated. On March 20, a class action was announced <a href="https://bc.ctvnews.ca/systemic-issue-class-action-filed-against-uber-lyft-alleges-lack-of-accessibility-in-b-c-1.6817672">against Uber and Lyft</a> in British Columbia for allegedly not providing service to a wheelchair user. One of the goals of the class action is to bring about systemic change to the companies’ practices. </p>
<p>In the United States — where my research into ride hailing apps took place — lawsuits by wheelchair users or disability organizations against the companies are all too familiar. Sometimes, the outcomes of the suits resulted in <a href="https://www.cnet.com/tech/mobile/lyft-pays-40000-fine-over-claims-it-denied-disabled-passengers-rides/">payments to riders who were not provided service</a> due to their use of wheelchair. </p>
<p>Other times, the <a href="https://www.politico.com/states/new-york/city-hall/story/2018/06/13/new-york-city-and-uber-reach-settlement-on-wheelchair-accessibility-466459">rulings attempted to bring systemic changes</a>. In a case that involved wheelchair users in Jackson, Miss. and New Orleans, La., <a href="https://www.pbs.org/newshour/economy/california-federal-judge-says-uber-doesnt-have-to-offer-wheelchair-accessible-vehicles">the ruling was in favour of the companies</a>.</p>
<p>The class action in B.C. draws attention to issues of accessibility in the transportation service hailed via Uber and Lyft for people with disabilities, in particular wheelchair users. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/583951/original/file-20240325-18-m69vwh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C3834%2C2155&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="a man in a wheelchair outdoors looks at his phone" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/583951/original/file-20240325-18-m69vwh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C3834%2C2155&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/583951/original/file-20240325-18-m69vwh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/583951/original/file-20240325-18-m69vwh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/583951/original/file-20240325-18-m69vwh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/583951/original/file-20240325-18-m69vwh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/583951/original/file-20240325-18-m69vwh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/583951/original/file-20240325-18-m69vwh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">Despite some of the advantages, wheelchair users can experience challenges when hailing transportation services with apps.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span>
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<h2>Usable transportation</h2>
<p>Accessibility issues related to wheelchair use are not about whether the apps are usable. They are also not about whether the apps provide information on accessible routes. Rather, they are about whether the actual transportation service hailed through them is usable.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/transportation-apps-can-help-people-with-disabilities-navigate-public-transit-but-accessibility-lags-behind-208011">Transportation apps can help people with disabilities navigate public transit but accessibility lags behind</a>
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<p>Between 2020 and 2021, I conducted a U.S.-wide survey, where I found that <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/03611981221140369">some wheelchair users were satisfied</a> with the service, while others were not. Those who were satisfied cited the ability to see the cost of the ride up front, the door-to-door service and convenience. Others reported experiencing various challenges, including the lack of wheelchair-accessible vehicles (WAVs), being declined service by drivers and long wait times. </p>
<p>My study revealed that several factors were associated with the ability to use Uber and Lyft successfully. </p>
<h2>Wheelchairs and vehicles</h2>
<p>The type of wheelchair a rider uses affects access. Riders with foldable wheelchairs have better odds of using these services successfully because the wheelchair can be folded and stowed in most vehicles. </p>
<p>The majority of the survey respondents who reported they were not Uber and Lyft customers used fixed-frame wheelchairs. </p>
<p>Riders who need to remain seated in a wheelchair during travel or use fixed-frame wheelchairs have lower odds of success using the services. They can only travel in WAVs, which are not as commonly available on the apps as four-door sedans used for basic level service. For riders who need WAVs, this can mean long wait times – on average twice more than the wait time for basic service, as I found in my study. It can also mean no service at all. </p>
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<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/pLfPul-UKjw?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">Passengers using wheelchairs experience long wait times for accessible vehicles.</span></figcaption>
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<p>While travellers who use foldable wheelchairs have better odds of obtaining a vehicle that can fit their wheelchair through basic service options, they experience a different kind of challenge. Some of the respondents who used a manual wheelchair reported experiencing withdrawn services — when the driver declines to take the ride. <a href="https://doi.org/doi:10.17610/T6DK5J">Other studies</a> report similar experiences.</p>
<p>The class action in B.C. is based on the complainant’s experience related to shortage or unavailability of WAVs for those with fixed-frame wheelchairs or who need to remain seated during travel. </p>
<h2>Unavailabilities and shortages</h2>
<p>Previously, the companies’ responses to allegations of discrimination against wheelchair users in the U.S. have been that <a href="https://www.cityandstateny.com/policy/2019/05/disabled-riders-face-scarcity-of-accessible-vehicles/177380/">they are technology companies</a> — rather than transportation companies — that connect riders and drivers. </p>
<p>Uber used the same argument in a recent case that was brought to the <a href="https://bc.ctvnews.ca/uber-ordered-to-pay-35k-in-damages-provide-wheelchair-accessible-rides-in-b-c-s-lower-mainland-1.6803133">B.C. Human Rights Tribunal</a>.</p>
<p>This configuration means that they do not own a fleet of vehicles but rely on cars that drivers bring. As such, they are not obligated to provide WAVs. In Washington, D.C., for instance, taxi companies that own at least 20 vehicles are required that a percentage of their fleet consist of WAVs. There is no equivalent requirement for Uber and Lyft. </p>
<p>The companies have provided WAV ride options on their apps in select cities primarily by forming partnerships with third-party transportation companies. <a href="https://www.uber.com/us/en/about/accessibility/">UberWAV</a> began in 2018 and <a href="https://help.lyft.com/hc/en-us/all/articles/115013081668#regions">Lyft Access</a> in 2019 in Toronto, Washington, D.C., the San Francisco Bay Area and other larger markets.</p>
<p>These services are not available in many other cities, and wheelchair users seeking WAV rides are <a href="https://help.lyft.com/hc/en-us/all/articles/115013081668#local">directed to either local taxis or paratransit services offered by transit agencies or municipal governments</a>. </p>
<p>However, <a href="https://www.sfmta.com/sites/default/files/reports-and-documents/2019/05/tnc_and_disable_access_whit_paper-rev11_2.pdf">directing wheelchair users to other services by providing a list of accessible options is not considered equivalent</a> to the service the companies offer to non-disabled travellers. </p>
<h2>Supply and regulations</h2>
<p>The companies say that in the cities where they do not operate WAV services, there is <a href="https://www.fox5ny.com/news/disabled-advocates-fight-lyfts-discrimination-with-federal-lawsuit">not enough supply of WAVs</a>. <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/disability-rights-groups-battle-lyft-wheelchair-accessible-vehicles-rcna43999">Disability advocates disagree</a>, saying that the lack of WAV services has to do with the lack of disability regulations in those areas.</p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/583953/original/file-20240325-24-244jlr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="a wheelchair is being lifted through the rear doors of a van" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/583953/original/file-20240325-24-244jlr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/583953/original/file-20240325-24-244jlr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/583953/original/file-20240325-24-244jlr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/583953/original/file-20240325-24-244jlr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/583953/original/file-20240325-24-244jlr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/583953/original/file-20240325-24-244jlr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/583953/original/file-20240325-24-244jlr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">Wheelchair accessible vehicles are often adapted to the specific needs of their users.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span>
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<p>In markets where Uber and Lyft have WAV service options on their apps, there is a shortage of WAVs. For drivers, there is little financial incentive in purchasing these vehicles to work on the Uber and Lyft apps. The vehicles are <a href="https://ggwash.org/view/68138/without-accommodations-uber-and-lyft-are-leaving-customers-with-disabilities-at-the-curb">more expensive to purchase, insure, run and maintain</a> than cars used for basic service level.</p>
<p>Individuals who have access to WAVs for personal or family use may not sign up to drive on the apps. Accessibility modifications to WAVs are <a href="https://www.sfmta.com/sites/default/files/reports-and-documents/2019/05/tnc_and_disable_access_whit_paper-rev11_2.pdf">unique to the user</a> and may not be suitable for all. </p>
<p>People with disabilities travel in personal cars as passengers. As I found in my study, many wheelchair users do not drive or own a driver’s licence due to their disability. Someone who is responsible for transporting a family member with disability may not have the availability to drive for a ride hailing service.</p>
<p>Wheelchair users who drive WAVs may not be able to assist a passenger in a wheelchair during vehicle entry and exit and securing wheelchair restraint inside the vehicle.</p>
<p>At the root of the WAV service wars is the companies’ platform business model as technology companies connecting service seekers and providers. This three-party configuration — composed of users, providers and platforms — <a href="https://btlj.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/1067-1126_Katz_Final-111915.pdf">has been an obstacle to regulate these companies in general</a>. Any systemic improvement will need to address that. </p>
<h2>Providing accessible services</h2>
<p>While an overhaul of the existing configuration may not be possible in the short term, changes to the companies’ business model or current disability accommodation practices or lack thereof maybe inevitable. </p>
<p>The lawsuits in the U.S. and Canada demonstrate that people with disabilities will continue to ask for services that meet their needs. My research shows that even wheelchair users who are currently unable to use Uber and Lyft see promise in a convenient, on-demand transportation service hailed through the apps. </p>
<p>The companies can meet them halfway. Or the courts might bring them there — eventually.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/226462/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Mahtot Gebresselassie does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>A class action lawsuit filed against Uber and Lyft in British Columbia draws attention to the experiences of wheelchair users.Mahtot Gebresselassie, Assistant Professor, Environmental and Urban Change, York University, CanadaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2190392023-12-04T16:46:07Z2023-12-04T16:46:07ZUber’s U-turn over listing black cabs isn’t difficult to understand when you look at its finances<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/562971/original/file-20231201-17-tgrcf1.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Fare enough?</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/london-uk-march-23rd-2017-photograph-610479299">Ink Drop</a></span></figcaption></figure><p><a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-67555092">Uber is courting</a> its arch enemy, London black cabs, <a href="https://www.uber.com/en-GB/newsroom/uber-to-partner-with-iconic-black-cabs-in-london/#:%7E:text=Uber%20opens%20up%20to%20world,cab%20drivers%20have%20signed%20up.">inviting them</a> to add their services to its app for the first time. Licensed taxis in 33 countries, including France and the US, have already received similar invitations. <a href="https://www.theverge.com/2023/11/28/23979409/uber-london-black-cab-app-referrals-taxi-ltda">According to Uber</a> this has brought significant new trade to traditional taxis. </p>
<p>It is not clear that black cabs accepting this offer will see much benefit, however – and sure enough their trade association <a href="https://www.taxi-point.co.uk/post/london-taxi-trade-unanimously-reject-uber-s-black-cab-offering">has put out</a> a statement to say that most will not be participating. Black cabs’ main advantages over apps like Uber are kerb hailing and taxi ranks, which are probably their biggest sources of income. They also have their own <a href="https://www.gett.com/uk/cities/london/">ride-hailing app</a> and already feature on Uber rivals <a href="https://bolt.eu/en-gb/">Bolt</a> and <a href="https://www.free-now.com/uk/">FreeNow</a>. </p>
<p>Indeed, appearing on Uber is only likely to emphasise the difference between their prices and those of other taxis on the app, as well as the fact that hackneys have more uncertain fares due to metering. There are also far more Uber cars in London, believed to be in the order <a href="https://www.standard.co.uk/news/london/uber-jobs-hiring-drivers-tfl-grants-licence-transport-for-london-b991117.html#:%7E:text=The%20ride%20hailing%20app%20has,year%20to%20meet%20surging%20demand.">of 45,000</a> compared with <a href="https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2021/07/09/black-cabs-slump-lowest-level-since-1983-quarter-drivers-quit/.">around 15,000</a> black cabs. And with so few hackneys likely to sign up, there will probably be very poor response times on the app from any that do. </p>
<p>Since Uber arrived in London in 2012, the number of black cabs has fallen <a href="https://bdaily.co.uk/articles/2023/11/16/industry-first-measures-announced-to-save-londons-iconic-black-cab-industry">by about 6,000</a>. Uber’s early cavalier approach to rules around insurance and driver ID led to Transport for London withdrawing its licence to operate <a href="https://www.theverge.com/2022/3/26/22997671/uber-granted-30-month-license-operate-london-uk">in 2017</a> and then <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2019/nov/25/uber-loses-licence-london-tfl">again in 2019</a>. Uber <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-60885937">won a new licence</a> on appeal in 2022 after agreeing to overhaul its processes to ensure better driver compliance and passenger safety. </p>
<p><strong>Black cabs and the Uber effect</strong></p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/563335/original/file-20231204-17-pyyuxa.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Chart showing the change in black cabs over time" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/563335/original/file-20231204-17-pyyuxa.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/563335/original/file-20231204-17-pyyuxa.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=431&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/563335/original/file-20231204-17-pyyuxa.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=431&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/563335/original/file-20231204-17-pyyuxa.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=431&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/563335/original/file-20231204-17-pyyuxa.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=542&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/563335/original/file-20231204-17-pyyuxa.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=542&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/563335/original/file-20231204-17-pyyuxa.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=542&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption"></span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/taxi-and-private-hire-vehicle-statistics-england-2022/taxi-and-private-hire-vehicle-statistics-england-2022">Department for Transport</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>The other side of the coin</h2>
<p>The real benefit to listing hackneys probably resides with Uber, which will gain more “traffic” through its app. This might also boost demand for the Uber Eats takeaway delivery service and expose more people to adverts on the company’s apps. (In the US, <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/uber-growing-advertising-business-1-billion-revenue-2023-2?r=US&IR=T">advertising has become</a> a major source of revenue for Uber.)</p>
<p>Does Uber make money at present? In its 14-year history, profitability has tended to <a href="https://www.macrotrends.net/stocks/charts/UBER/uber-technologies/net-income#:%7E:text=Uber%20Technologies%20net%20income%20for%20the%20twelve%20months%20ending%20September,a%2092.67%25%20decline%20from%202020.">seem distant</a> at best. There are no accounts available for the UK operation, but US parent company Uber Technologies lost US$9.1 billion (£7.2 billion) <a href="https://investor.uber.com/news-events/news/press-release-details/2023/Uber-Announces-Results-for-Fourth-Quarter-and-Full-Year-2022/default.aspx">in 2022</a> after writing down the value of various things on its books, primarily investments. </p>
<p>The ride-hailing business did make an underlying pre-tax profit of US$1.1 billion for the year, and has also been doing well in 2023, though the most recent <a href="https://investor.uber.com/news-events/news/press-release-details/2023/Uber-Announces-Results-for-Third-Quarter-2023/default.aspx">third-quarter results</a> show that this is still more than offset by the continuing losses at Uber Eats. </p>
<p>It is difficult finding anyone in the takeaway delivery business who makes money. In the US, <a href="https://www.doordash.com/">DoorDash</a> dominates with around <a href="https://www.statista.com/statistics/1235724/market-share-us-food-delivery-companies/">65% market share</a> (compared to Uber’s 23%). It is <a href="https://www.macrotrends.net/stocks/charts/DASH/doordash/revenue">growing rapidly</a>, and yet <a href="https://www.macrotrends.net/stocks/charts/DASH/doordash/net-income-loss#:%7E:text=DoorDash%20net%20income%2Floss%20for%20the%20twelve%20months%20ending%20September,a%201.52%25%20increase%20from%202020.">still making losses</a>. Meanwhile, in the UK, Deliveroo is showing <a href="https://www.statista.com/statistics/760546/deliveroo-income-loss/#:%7E:text=In%202022%2C%20the%20British%20food,a%20loss%20of%20290.1%20million.">substantial losses</a> whilst growth has slowed to <a href="https://corporate.deliveroo.co.uk/investors/">a crawl</a>. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/562973/original/file-20231201-21-m00fvc.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Woman holding a phone that says DoorDash" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/562973/original/file-20231201-21-m00fvc.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/562973/original/file-20231201-21-m00fvc.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/562973/original/file-20231201-21-m00fvc.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/562973/original/file-20231201-21-m00fvc.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/562973/original/file-20231201-21-m00fvc.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/562973/original/file-20231201-21-m00fvc.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/562973/original/file-20231201-21-m00fvc.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Even US market leader DoorDash has a torrid time in the takeaway business.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/new-delhi-india-february-07-2020-1657002223">Fun Stock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>It’s very tough in takeaway delivery because of the fierce competition and the fact that the restaurants are <a href="https://www.eposnow.com/uk/resources/fast-food-profit-margins/">low-margin already</a>. The scope is limited by what customers will pay for often lukewarm fare. Restaurants can also handle their own deliveries to avoid the apps’ heavy charges. Even among those who use the apps, it’s not uncommon for them to offer marginally better deals to customers who order through their website or call in.</p>
<p>As for ride-hailing, the economics are challenging, to say the least. Drivers’ costs are <a href="https://www.standard.co.uk/news/london/black-taxi-cab-fares-how-much-london-proposed-rise-tfl-b1121409.html#:%7E:text=The%20minimum%20fare%20would%20remain,The%20consultation%20closes%20today%2FMonday.">rapidly increasing</a> in everything from insurance to vehicles, particularly electric ones, which all have to be passed on to customers. <a href="https://www.statista.com/statistics/280483/national-minimum-wage-in-the-uk/">Rapidly increasing</a> minimum wage levels are driving up prices too. </p>
<p>In London, Uber increased its fares <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2021/nov/10/uber-raise-prices-drivers-london-ride-hailing-app-lockdown#:%7E:text=Uber%20is%20to%20increase%20its,struggle%20to%20meet%20booming%20demand.">in 2021</a> and <a href="https://www.standard.co.uk/news/london/london-uber-fare-price-increase-cost-living-drivers-b1018680.html#:%7E:text=Uber%20is%20to%20put%20up,the%20end%20of%20the%20pandemic.">2022</a>, then introduced “<a href="https://www.computerweekly.com/news/365531767/Uber-introduces-dynamic-pricing-algorithm-in-London#:%7E:text=Ride%2Dhailing%20app%20Uber%20has,people's%20data%20will%20be%20used.">dynamic prices</a>” in 2023 which will likely result in more increases. Coming at a time when consumers are being squeezed by higher interest rates and inflation, this may not be great for demand. </p>
<p>We’ve already seen <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/taxi-and-private-hire-vehicle-statistics-england-2023/taxi-and-private-hire-vehicle-statistics-england-2023">taxi demand</a> diminishing significantly in England in recent years, albeit it’s hard to separate the effect of price rises from increased working from home since the pandemic. </p>
<p><strong>Taxi rides per person per year, England</strong></p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/563299/original/file-20231204-29-urlwyq.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Chart showing taxi trips per person over time" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/563299/original/file-20231204-29-urlwyq.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/563299/original/file-20231204-29-urlwyq.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=468&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/563299/original/file-20231204-29-urlwyq.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=468&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/563299/original/file-20231204-29-urlwyq.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=468&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/563299/original/file-20231204-29-urlwyq.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=588&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/563299/original/file-20231204-29-urlwyq.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=588&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/563299/original/file-20231204-29-urlwyq.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=588&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Data includes trips in taxis and plug-in hybrids.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/taxi-and-private-hire-vehicle-statistics-england-2023/taxi-and-private-hire-vehicle-statistics-england-2023">Department for Transport</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>In big cities, customers’ sensitivity to higher fares is liable to be heightened by the availability of good public transport. On the flip side, the Department for Transport has pointed out that the rise in driver numbers in London from 95,000 to 105,000 between 2022 and 2023 may be an indication that customer demand has been rising in recent months. </p>
<p>Overall, however, it’s difficult to see ride-hailing apps making much money while costs keep rising. And even if this sector did become particularly profitable in future, competition would soon increase. The technology is widely available and drivers have shown they will accept business from anyone offering good rates. All you need to do is persuade customers to download your app.</p>
<h2>Uber and society</h2>
<p>The number of cabs in London <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/taxi-and-private-hire-vehicle-statistics-england-2023/taxi-and-private-hire-vehicle-statistics-england-2023">has now doubled</a> since the arrival of Uber over a decade ago. This suggests that many passengers have in effect been lured from public transport and healthy options such as walking and cycling. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.uber.com/gb/en/u/ride-journey-to-electric/#:%7E:text=More%20than%203.6m%20Londoners,in%20hybrid%20or%20electric%20vehicles">About half</a> of Uber’s London taxis still seem to be conventional combustion engines, so their popularity will also have increased pollution and carbon emissions. That has to be balanced against the fact that some 50,000 drivers may not otherwise have been employed and that it has made taxis a bit cheaper. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/562974/original/file-20231201-21-4gsxci.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Uber driver looking at his phone" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/562974/original/file-20231201-21-4gsxci.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/562974/original/file-20231201-21-4gsxci.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=468&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/562974/original/file-20231201-21-4gsxci.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=468&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/562974/original/file-20231201-21-4gsxci.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=468&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/562974/original/file-20231201-21-4gsxci.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=588&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/562974/original/file-20231201-21-4gsxci.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=588&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/562974/original/file-20231201-21-4gsxci.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=588&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Good for jobs, bad for carbon emissions.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/new-delhi-india-february-07-2020-1657002223">PlatinumArt</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>With takeaway delivery apps, the environmental impact is less because <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/15568318.2022.2066583">many deliveries</a> are on bikes or electric bikes. However, the ready convenience of fast food cannot be good for a nation battling an <a href="https://commonslibrary.parliament.uk/research-briefings/sn03336/#:%7E:text=The%20Health%20Survey%20for%20England,is%20classified%20as%20'overweight'.">obesity epidemic</a>. </p>
<p>So there you have it. A business that will probably always struggle to make money and isn’t doing the world much good. As Uber turns for support to an industry it has squeezed so much, it will be hard to feel much sympathy if it doesn’t succeed.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/219039/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>John Colley does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>After a decade of brutal competition, hackney drivers are being invited in from the cold.John Colley, Professor of Practice, Associate Dean, Warwick Business School, University of WarwickLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2021782023-11-05T18:15:02Z2023-11-05T18:15:02ZTwo faces of dignity: a Kantian perspective on Uber drivers’ fight for decent working conditions<p>On November 3, 2016, Emmanuel Macron, who had recently launched a presidential bid, mentioned what he felt was Uber’s positive role in providing work opportunities to low-income or unemployed youth (our translation and emphasis):</p>
<blockquote>
<p>“You go to Stains [a low-income town outside of Paris] to tell young people who are Uber drivers that it is better to loiter or deal […]. Our collective failure is that the neighbourhoods where Uber hires these young people are neighbourhoods where we haven’t managed to offer them anything else. Yes, they sometimes work 60 to 70 hours to get the minimum wage, but they return with dignity, they find a job, they put on a suit and a tie.”</p>
</blockquote>
<p>A year later, the perspective of many Uber drivers in Paris was quite different, as witnessed by a handout distributed by an activist group in November 2017:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>“You’ve been used by Uber, regain your dignity!” (“UberUsé, regagne ta dignité!”)</p>
</blockquote>
<h2>Dignity as work</h2>
<p>These two quotes refer to quite distinct concepts of dignity. On the one hand, French president Emmanuel Macron tells unemployed youth from low-income towns they ought to consider themselves lucky when Uber offers them the opportunity to don a suit and a tie and get behind the wheel. On the other, Uber drivers see themselves as being exploited by management and are ready to put up a fight to regain their dignity. So does Uber restore or take away workers’ dignity?</p>
<p>The French president’s notion of dignity is what some philosophers refer to as <em>social standing dignity</em>, the traditional conception (Sensen 2011). Rooted in an individual’s rank or office, it centres on the world of behavioural rules, rights and duties that surround these positions.</p>
<p>Hierarchical societies are structured through higher and lower social positions and with each one comes different ranks and different degrees of dignity. Thus, Macron contends that young people from poor areas are better off by taking on work from Uber, even if this means long hours and low wages. Here, employment is presented as the fundamental condition to social dignity.</p>
<h2>Migrant roots</h2>
<p>It is important to note that most people who take on an Uber job hail from a migrant background, sometimes stretching back to several generations. In France, these are mainly from North and Sub-Saharan Africa. As the <a href="https://www.puf.com/content/UberUs%C3%A9s">sociological research from Sophie Bernard shows</a>, most were not unemployed before. Instead, they took on unskilled, low-paying, painful, and precarious jobs – quite a different situation to trafficking drugs or loitering. They became Uber drivers to improve their condition by gaining freedom and higher wages.</p>
<p>But they soon realised they were subjected to a new form of algorithmic management and forced to work more and more to earn less and less. This form of control is exercised remotely and indirectly by algorithms that enable the quasi-automatic supervision of many workers. Drivers are rated by customers for every journey they make. All it takes is one complaint from a customer for their account to be deactivated. Uber drivers are no longer subject to hierarchical control, but rather to customer demands. Nor are they totally free to organise their working hours as they see fit. To entice drivers to work for Uber, the company first offered them bonuses and high remuneration. Once the platform has enough drivers, <a href="https://www.puf.com/content/UberUs%C3%A9s">it removes the bonuses, lowers the fares and increases the commission</a>.</p>
<p>While they thought they were improving their conditions, they found themselves once again in another job as exploited migrants. As if Macron were telling them: “We have this opportunity for you to gain your social dignity with a job that other people in our society don’t want and don’t need, but it’s good enough for you.”</p>
<h2>Kant’s concept of equal moral worth</h2>
<p>The second notion of dignity is that of human dignity, the idea that was implemented into the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights and into many constitutions after the Second World War. It is expressed in Kant’s idea of equal moral worth of all human beings. In his famous <a href="https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/persons-means/"><em>Formula of Humanity</em></a> of the Categorical Imperative, Kant states:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>“So act that you use humanity, whether in your own person or in the person of any other, always at the same time as an end, never merely as a means.”</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Is that the notion Uber drivers can refer to? As we will see it is, but it needs some clarification, and Kantian philosophy has its blind spots when it comes to dignity violations. What does it mean to use someone merely as a means? Kantians think that you are used as a mere means if you cannot (reasonably) consent to the treatment of others. This is especially so if your will is manipulated by deception or coercion. According to Kant, this is addressed by the criteria of deception and coercion that manipulate or enforce consent. Now one could wonder what the problem is from a Kantian perspective, since Uber drivers took on the job willingly, as Macron emphasises.</p>
<p>And indeed, Kant did not think in categories like <em>exploitation</em>. We think that exploitation can also be understood in terms of instrumentalisation. The accusation that Uber drivers formulate: “UberUsé” refers directly to this: not to be used merely as a means to another’s purposes; not to be exploited, in the sense that platform capitalism puts you in a position where long working hours don’t give you the minimum wage, where you take all the risks for a platform that reaps all the benefits, where there’s no reasonable alternative for you and where there’s reasonable alternatives to pay you a decent wage for Uber, since their profit would allow for it. Let’s remember that while Uber defines drivers as self-employed workers who provide the platform with labour and part of the production tools, it is the platform that sets the prices and takes a commission on each trip by passing on all the risks.</p>
<p>Moreover, there is another problem, and this one cannot be captured by the Kantian prohibition of instrumentalisation. It is the unequal social positions in a hierarchical and racist society that lead to an inequality of opportunity. This goes against the Kantian requirement to treat others as ends in themselves: as persons with equal moral standing. Degradation of migrants in the form: “this job is good enough for you” contradicts that requirement. So what Uber drivers could see violated on Kantian terms is their human dignity, their equal moral standing, that would recommend to provide them with equal opportunities in the French society and not just with opportunities that are “good enough for them” because “their” social standing is already at the bottom.</p>
<p>What is striking about how Uber drivers’ striving for social dignity can be abused when it comes to exploitation of their work force. As they fight Uber’s working conditions, they are more faithful to Western Kant-induced values than Macron. The president, by contrast, offers them a glimpse of social dignity in a kind of job that keeps them in an exploitative and precarious situation. One could say in the spirit of Kant that Uber drivers show self-esteem by their protest which aims at (re)gaining their dignity. Kant states in the Doctrine of Virtue: “Do not let others tread with impunity on your rights.”</p>
<p>As <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10677-022-10288-7">Mieth and Williams argue</a>, there are wrongs beyond instrumentalisation when it comes to migration, which concern exclusion and inequality. Under the circumstances Uber drivers find themselves in, they put on a fight to express their human dignity, not their social dignity in Macron’s terms. But this human dignity implies social dignity in another sense: to be acknowledged as an equal member of society which implies equality of opportunity. So we think that Uber drivers’ fight to regain dignity is in line with Kant’s notion of human dignity. Their protest is even giving the notion of equal human dignity reality.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/202178/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Corinna Mieth a reçu des financements de Fondation Maison de science de l'homme (FMSH) et du Kant-Zentrum NRW. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Sophie Bernard a reçu des financements de l'Institut Universitaire de France. </span></em></p>With an eye to Kant’s work, a philosopher and a sociologist argue that the Uber project robs drivers of their dignity.Corinna Mieth, Legal and political philosopher, Fondation Maison des Sciences de l'Homme (FMSH)Sophie Bernard, Sociologue, professeure des universités, Université Paris Dauphine – PSLLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2140512023-10-01T15:12:15Z2023-10-01T15:12:15ZSafety on the line: Drivers who juggle multiple jobs are more likely to take risks on the road<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/550774/original/file-20230927-15-dqt564.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C250%2C4581%2C2840&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Drivers that juggle driving with another job were more likely to run red lights and carry weapons, such as knives, for safety reasons. These behaviours pose risks not only to drivers, but also to the public.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Paul Hanaoka/Unsplash)</span></span></figcaption></figure><iframe style="width: 100%; height: 100px; border: none; position: relative; z-index: 1;" allowtransparency="" allow="clipboard-read; clipboard-write" src="https://narrations.ad-auris.com/widget/the-conversation-canada/safety-on-the-line-drivers-who-juggle-multiple-jobs-are-more-likely-to-take-risks-on-the-road" width="100%" height="400"></iframe>
<p>The <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/04/06/business/uber-lyft-driver-deaths.html">driving profession is unsafe</a>. Taxi drivers and ride-hail drivers, who drive for apps like Uber and Lyft, face many safety risks on the road, from <a href="https://www.ilo.org/global/research/global-reports/weso/2021/WCMS_771749/lang--en/index.htm">accidents and injuries</a> to <a href="https://www.benefitnews.com/news/why-two-thirds-of-uber-lyft-drivers-didnt-feel-safe-at-work-last-year">harassment</a> and <a href="https://globalnews.ca/news/9048681/fatal-shooting-surrey-tuesday/">violence</a>. </p>
<p>In fact, <a href="https://www.ilo.org/global/research/global-reports/weso/2021/WCMS_771749/lang--en/index.htm">83 per cent of ride-hail drivers from around the world</a> feel their work is unsafe. As a result, <a href="https://therideshareguy.com/uber-driver-survey/#uber-surveys-drivers">22 per cent of American drivers carry weapons</a> in their vehicles to protect themselves.</p>
<p><a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/09500170231185212">Our recent research study aimed to examine</a> whether low income, lack of rest and few breaks lead to unsafe behaviour in drivers. We compared the driving behaviours of multi-job professional drivers — those who drive for taxi companies or ride-hail apps and also have another job — with those whose only job is driving. </p>
<p>We found that multi-job professional drivers took the most risks. These drivers were more likely to run red lights and carry weapons, such as knives, for safety reasons. These behaviours pose risks not only to drivers, but also to the public.</p>
<h2>Multiple job holders</h2>
<p>More than <a href="https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/pub/14-28-0001/2020001/article/00011-eng.htm">five per cent of Canadians had several jobs at the same time in 2021</a> — nearly two and a half times higher than in 1976. Most Canadians hold multiple jobs because they <a href="https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/pub/71-222-x/71-222-x2019003-eng.htm">don’t make enough money to cover their expenses</a> with one job alone.</p>
<p>To <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/01/12/nyregion/cab-uber-lyft-drivers.html">increase their income</a>, many drivers <a href="https://www.ridester.com/drive-for-uber-and-lyft-at-the-same-time/">work on several driving platforms at once</a> or drive for both taxi and ride-hail companies. Some drivers even work for taxi and ride-hail companies while holding another job. Our research suggests these multi-job professional drivers may face the greatest safety risks. </p>
<p>Multi-job holders deal with <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/markcperna/2023/01/17/working-multiple-jobs-here-are-some-reminders-to-save-your-sanity/?sh=17a6249e7cbc">sleep deprivation, stress and reduced performance</a>. Multi-job professional drivers may also be at greater risk of <a href="https://doi.org/10.5664/jcsm.7072">drowsy driving accidents</a> and may be more likely to deal with <a href="https://doi.org/10.1145/3359319">intoxicated passengers while driving late at night</a>. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A man rubs his eyes while sitting behind the steering wheel of a vehicle" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/550771/original/file-20230927-29-fkubx7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/550771/original/file-20230927-29-fkubx7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/550771/original/file-20230927-29-fkubx7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/550771/original/file-20230927-29-fkubx7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/550771/original/file-20230927-29-fkubx7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/550771/original/file-20230927-29-fkubx7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/550771/original/file-20230927-29-fkubx7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Multi-job professional drivers are at greater risk of drowsy driving accidents because they often end up driving at night or after working long hours at another job.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Why do these drivers take more risks?</h2>
<p>Multi-job professional drivers face a number of challenges that can lead them to take more risks while on the road. First, <a href="https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=4071315">they often have unsteady income due to working multiple low-paying jobs</a> without the safety nets provided by traditional employment. As a result, these drivers are more likely to take risks to complete fares quickly and earn more money.</p>
<p>Drivers <a href="https://www.jobbank.gc.ca/marketreport/wages-occupation/10557/ca">often make at</a> or <a href="https://www.theglobeandmail.com/business/article-uber-drivers-pay-toronto/">below minimum wage</a> and are paid per fare completed, rather than per hour. This means drivers feel pressured to get to destinations quickly, so they are more likely to make <a href="https://www.cantaxi.ca/wp-content/uploads/Toronto-Taxi-Review-Final-Report.pdf">illegal U-turns</a>, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jth.2019.02.007">speed</a> or <a href="https://doi.org/10.1287/orsc.2021.1557">run yellow lights</a>.</p>
<p>Second, multi-job professional drivers are more likely to <a href="https://doi.org/10.2105%2FAJPH.2013.301431">work evening shifts and at odd hours</a> due to their complicated schedules. Drivers believe this increases their chances of <a href="https://www.uberpeople.net/threads/driving-night.152420/#post-2274634">picking up unpredictable, intoxicated or dangerous passengers</a>. As a result, multi-job professional drivers are more likely to carry weapons to protect themselves.</p>
<p>Lastly, <a href="https://doi.org/10.3109%2F07420528.2016.1167717">multi-job holders sleep less than single job holders</a> because they work longer hours and at times when they would otherwise be resting. Their lack of sleep often results in <a href="https://doi.org/10.1055%2Fs-0029-1237117">decreased attention and awareness</a>, <a href="https://doi.org/10.5664/jcsm.7072">makes them more prone to accidents</a>, and as our findings suggest, leads to road safety violations.</p>
<h2>Reducing risk to drivers and the public</h2>
<p>Addressing the challenges faced by drivers and mitigating safety risks for both drivers and the public involves several key considerations. </p>
<p><strong>1. Better wages.</strong> <a href="https://theconversation.com/uber-drivers-report-80-plus-hour-workweeks-and-a-lot-of-waiting-115782">Drivers have reported</a> that they waste half of their shifts waiting for fares; this is time spent not making any money. Government enforcement of <a href="https://www.ola.org/en/legislative-business/bills/parliament-42/session-2/bill-88#Sched13">hourly minimum wages</a> may be an effective solution to increase driver pay, as long as wages <a href="https://www.epi.org/press/uber-drivers-should-be-paid-for-time-spent-waiting-for-fares-facts-of-being-an-uber-driver-reveal-no-need-to-create-a-third-category-of-worker/">take waiting times into account</a>. </p>
<p>Better wages may discourage drivers from running red lights or taking other risks to get to destinations quickly. It may also give drivers the ability to refuse ride requests that they feel are unsafe.</p>
<p><strong>2. Mandatory paid breaks.</strong> Some drivers <a href="https://doi.org/10.1093/heapro/dax082">don’t take breaks during or between shifts</a> because they fear missing out on any potential fares or being <a href="https://www.toronto.ca/services-payments/permits-licences-bylaws/vehicle-for-hire-set-fines/">fined by bylaw officers for leaving their vehicles unattended</a>. In addition to better wages, policymakers should consider the negative impact of these bylaws on the well-being of drivers. Mandatory paid breaks, which signal the importance of rest, may be a start.</p>
<p><strong>3. Greater safety protections.</strong> Many multiple job holders choose to work as ride-hail drivers because these jobs are the ones that are available to them, and they are drawn to the supposed <a href="https://fortune.com/2022/08/17/full-time-lyft-driver-flexibility-choice-act-underpaid-gig-work-pay-workers-rideshare-mike-robinson/">flexibility and choice</a> this work offers. The reality is that drivers are managed by algorithms <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/science/pringle-uber-doordash-gig-economy-1.5238726">instead of human managers</a> who would normally control things like driver pay and performance, and address safety concerns.</p>
<p>Drivers have reported that they get <a href="https://doi.org/10.18297/etd/2635">automated email responses</a> when reporting safety incidents. In cases when passengers have assaulted drivers, drivers are often only told <a href="https://www.ucpress.edu/book/9780520324800/uberland">they will not be matched up with that passenger again</a>. </p>
<p>While <a href="https://www.uber.com/ca/en/drive/driver-app/phone-support/">Uber</a> and <a href="https://www.lyft.com/safety/driver#help-from-real-humans">Lyft</a> now offer drivers access to phone support, drivers have reported that <a href="https://www.uberpeople.net/threads/customer-support-vs-bots.470266/#post-7526680">support representatives rely on the same automated responses</a>. Drivers should have access to more individualized support <a href="https://hbr.org/2019/08/what-people-hate-about-being-managed-by-algorithms-according-to-a-study-of-uber-drivers">so they feel less like they are talking to machines</a>.</p>
<h2>More support needed</h2>
<p>While ride-hail apps have put some safety measures into effect to support drivers, more help is needed. <a href="https://help.lyft.com/hc/en-ca/all/articles/115012926787-Taking-breaks-and-time-limits-in-driver-mode">Lyft has implemented a mandatory break rule</a>, whereby after using the app for 12 hours, drivers are not able to go online for six hours. This is a start to ensure drivers take breaks. However, drivers may just log into another ride-hail app and keep driving.</p>
<p>The Uber app also <a href="https://www.uber.com/ca/en/drive/safety/?uclick_id=2885d49f-8ef1-4ab6-a5b0-901b52af1d71">reminds drivers to stay within the posted speed limit and to take breaks</a>. However, a recent survey from the non-profit Insurance Institute for Highway Safety found that ride-hail drivers are <a href="https://www.iihs.org/news/detail/smartphone-apps-drive-gig-workers-parents-to-distraction">four times more likely to drive distractedly</a> compared to other drivers, increasing the risk of an accident. Receiving alerts from Uber while driving likely distracts drivers even more.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/uber-drivers-working-conditions-1.6824946">Driver safety must become a greater priority</a> for ride-hail companies. Companies like Uber and Lyft have a long way to go in improving worker safety to ensure both drivers and passengers feel safe on the road.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/214051/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Catherine E. Connelly receives funding from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council and the Canada Research Chair program. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Alexandra D. Lefcoe does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Companies like Uber and Lyft have a long way to go in improving worker safety to ensure both drivers and passengers feel safe on the road.Alexandra D. Lefcoe, PhD Candidate, Management of Organizational Behaviour and Human Resources, McMaster UniversityCatherine E. Connelly, Canada Research Chair and Professor of Organizational Behaviour, McMaster UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2055522023-07-11T12:28:34Z2023-07-11T12:28:34ZLiberal CEOs were more likely to exit Russia following its invasion of Ukraine than more conservative corporate leaders<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/534665/original/file-20230628-21915-rn71zb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=94%2C49%2C2901%2C1944&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Burberry was one of the first Western companies to announce it was suspending sales in Russia after the invasion. </span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/the-tower-of-kremlin-reflexing-in-a-window-of-closed-news-photo/1239055957">Oleg Nikishin/Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p><em>The <a href="https://theconversation.com/us/topics/research-brief-83231">Research Brief</a> is a short take about interesting academic work.</em> </p>
<h2>The big idea</h2>
<p>Companies led by liberal-leaning CEOs were more likely to leave Russia following its invasion of Ukraine in 2022 than those helmed by conservatives, according to <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jwb.2023.101475">our new study</a>. We measured their political leanings based on how much they donated to the two main U.S. political parties over five recent federal election cycles. </p>
<p>In the aftermath of Russia’s invasion on Feb. 24, 2022, <a href="https://som.yale.edu/story/2022/over-1000-companies-have-curtailed-operations-russia-some-remain">over 1,000 companies said they would divest</a>, abandon or pause their operations in the country. Some, however, chose to stay. We wanted to understand what drove that decision, and we felt that their executives’ political leanings might be a driver, <a href="https://hbr.org/2022/03/in-light-of-russia-sanctions-consider-your-conditions-for-doing-business-in-other-countries">given the frequent references to ethics</a> and ideology in the corporate statements of businesses exiting Russia.</p>
<p>So we took a list of 189 U.S.-based public companies that <a href="https://som.yale.edu/story/2022/over-1000-companies-have-curtailed-operations-russia-some-remain">had business in Russia prior to the invasion</a> from a website run by a team at Yale University that has been tracking the corporate response since Feb. 28, 2022. To determine political leanings, we examined the donations of their CEOs during every federal election from 2012 through 2020 and gave them a score depending on how much they gave to Democrats versus Republicans.</p>
<p>We then looked at how the companies responded during the war’s first 40 days, relying on the Yale database, with a focus on whether they chose to abandon Russia or not. </p>
<p>A tad over 30% of companies in our sample chose to leave Russia at the onset of the conflict, while 39% suspended their operations at least temporarily and another 8% scaled back their investments. On the other hand, 14% put new projects on hold but carried on existing operations, and 8% carried on business as normal. </p>
<p>Overall, we found that companies with more liberal CEOs – including ride-hailing app Uber, vacation rental company Airbnb and computer maker Apple – were more likely to either leave or suspend their operations. Conservative-led businesses, such as hotel chain Hilton and consumer goods company <a href="https://us.pg.com/blogs/pg-european-operations-update/">Procter & Gamble</a>, tended to be the ones that maintained business as usual or did little more than pause new investments. </p>
<p>We didn’t track corporate actions after the first 40 days, but we do know that some of these companies continue to do business in Russia – <a href="https://www.reuters.com/business/oreo-maker-mondelez-faces-nordic-backlash-over-russia-business-2023-06-12/">despite pressure to cease operations</a>.</p>
<p>We also considered 18 other variables that may have had some impact on a company’s decision to stay or go, such as their industry, size and board composition. We found that although CEO ideology had one of the strongest impacts on the decision, some other factors mattered more, such as industry. </p>
<h2>Why it matters</h2>
<p>Companies have traditionally <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/1970/09/13/archives/a-friedman-doctrine-the-social-responsibility-of-business-is-to.html">made most business decisions</a> – including whether or not to abandon an entire market – by gauging economic or financial factors. And they’ve tended to stay out of politics to avoid alienating their customers.</p>
<p>In recent years, corporate CEOs <a href="https://doi.org/10.5465/amr.2018.0084">have become more willing to disclose</a> their ideological position on controversial social issues. And increasingly, political ideology of the CEO has become another key factor driving business decisions, as our own research confirms. </p>
<p>Because the U.S. <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/0149206320909419">appears increasingly polarized</a> along a conservative-liberal axis, it’s important to be aware of how corporate leaders’ personal politics are affecting their decisions. And that creates the possibility that such decisions are informed by ideological biases rather than purely objective economic data.</p>
<p>The costs of these choices are high, as some companies said they <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2022/05/03/bp-profit-russia/">lost billions of dollars</a> in revenue because of their decision to leave the Russian market.</p>
<h2>What still isn’t known</h2>
<p>A big question remains over what this means for the role of corporations in society. </p>
<p>On the one hand, corporations have long been expected to <a href="https://corpgov.law.harvard.edu/2020/09/17/the-friedman-essay-and-the-true-purpose-of-the-business-corporation/">put the interests of shareholders</a> – and their profits – above pretty much everything else. On the other, there’s growing evidence that companies are taking a much broader perspective on the purpose of the corporation, notably <a href="https://www.businessroundtable.org/business-roundtable-redefines-the-purpose-of-a-corporation-to-promote-an-economy-that-serves-all-americans">expressed in a 2019 pledge</a> by 131 companies to “promote an economy that serves all Americans.”</p>
<p>Liberal CEOS <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/0001839213486984">are more likely to take</a> on that broader perspective than conservative executives, who still tend to put a greater emphasis on shareholder wealth.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/205552/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>A new study found that a CEO’s political ideology was correlated with the decision of whether to leave or suspend operations in Russia following the 2022 invasion.Yannick Thams, Associate Professor of Strategy and International Business, Florida Atlantic UniversityLuis Alfonso Dau, Associate Professor of International Business and Strategy, Northeastern UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2075342023-06-12T14:31:11Z2023-06-12T14:31:11ZGig economy workers are to get better EU protections – creating an awkward choice for Rishi Sunak<p>Workers for online operators like Deliveroo and Uber are in line for sweeping new rights and protections within the EU after ministers met in Luxembourg to thrash out proposals. The <a href="https://www.consilium.europa.eu/bg/press/press-releases/2023/06/12/rights-for-platform-workers-council-agrees-its-position/">resulting agreement</a> on proposed rights for platform workers has huge implications for the gig economy. It also puts pressure on the UK to follow suit. </p>
<p>Using apps on our phones to purchase goods and services has become second nature for many of us – particularly on the back of the <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/00027642211066027">COVID lockdowns</a>. Working in the gig economy is another story, however. It does offer workers flexibility in terms of when and how much they work, but <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/epub/10.1177/0950017018785616">variations in</a> the amount of work available can make it difficult to earn a steady wage. </p>
<p>It can also be dehumanising having your working day organised and monitored <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/1748-8583.12258?casa_token=C4e4SlFob5wAAAAA:XhGX9sdaFF5jkfl3ErnaRH1hmm6uhhoKr2DR1cTDVFP75zEJuhOJNdHjF__f6A9DuOsD2FJzbhBJlY8">by algorithms</a>. And workers are <a href="https://heinonline.org/HOL/Page?handle=hein.journals/cllpj37&div=34&g_sent=1&casa_token=QJicQOS7Dr0AAAAA:-7XYdZ0QYjK7ePgamA0Hbk66GZ_BKP7yAGPYtDfhyIG40DEiQF53ZZ0HcYIJuiWKTTTy8R-t9A&collection=journals">often categorised</a> by these online platforms as self-employed rather than employees. This has implications for things like sick pay, holiday pay, trade union rights and health and safety protections. </p>
<h2>The proposals</h2>
<p>The EU’s proposed <a href="https://www.project-disco.org/european-union/platform-workers-explain-how-new-eu-rules-would-impact-millions-of-jobs/">platform work directive</a>, which was originally published in 2021, is designed to address these kinds of issues. It will introduce a legal presumption that online platforms will be deemed to be employers, so long as certain criteria are met. </p>
<p>In response to the challenges of being managed by algorithm, the directive aims to give workers more information on why decisions which affect their work are made. They will also receive a new right to challenge such decisions – regardless of whether they are deemed to be an employee or self-employed.</p>
<p>Another important part of the EU plans is to provide greater opportunities for gig workers to communicate with each other to organise, for example through trade unions. One element is that online platforms will be required to consult with workers and their representatives on major decisions. There will also be a duty on platforms to provide key information to authorities in member states in order to help to enforce workers’ rights and protections.</p>
<p>National governments within the bloc had been struggling to reach an agreement. Spain, for example, has championed a tougher approach, <a href="https://english.elpais.com/economy_and_business/2021-05-12/spain-approves-landmark-law-recognizing-food-delivery-riders-as-employees.html">having introduced</a> protections at national level in 2021. </p>
<p>Other countries such as France have been inclined to be more cautious, particularly around treating platform workers as presumed employees. Similarly, a group of leading CEOs recently wrote a letter <a href="https://www.ft.com/content/2588daae-fcd2-46b7-a9db-7cfa81635156">to the Financial Times</a> that gave short shrift to the directive’s explicit desire to retain the benefits of gig work: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>[The] directive focuses almost exclusively on who is an employee and who is not and does little to improve the rights of the self-employed. Ministers should take the time to get this right and not sacrifice the chance to improve the situation for the sake of a quick agreement.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>The ministerial meeting at the European Council, which began on Monday June 12, was on the back of renewed efforts by current EU Council president Sweden to find agreement through a compromise text. Now that an agreement has been reached, the council will begin negotiations with the European parliament that could translate into new legal protections as soon as this year. Exactly what laws may be introduced will depend on the fine details of the agreed compromise text.</p>
<h2>The UK dimension</h2>
<p>The gig economy has also grown considerably <a href="https://www.politybooks.com/bookdetail?book_slug=the-gig-economy-a-critical-introduction--9781509536351">in the UK</a> in recent years, with workers facing <a href="https://www.emerald.com/insight/content/doi/10.1108/IJSSP-08-2020-0400/full/html?casa_token=9PlUcaFStMoAAAAA:3kEnXaqe5xsYNNLWDQlQDBC2pImrsqQrfbY6i6FeH_dJ_-w-5mQCrviSudyJBdE8dwRlXzTzfFY-3XhLv51dDeyGqI3WroBmiHYDOGUXAfr1nl8JJs8F">similar issues</a> to those in the EU. The UK government may not be part of the current discussions taking place between EU leaders, but that doesn’t mean it can sit out the debate on extending protections to platform workers. </p>
<p>The UK has previously made efforts to protect gig workers, for example through the commissioning of the <a href="https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/627671/good-work-taylor-review-modern-working-practices-rg.pdf">Taylor review</a> of modern working practices. But these have <a href="https://academic.oup.com/ilj/article-abstract/47/1/46/4829347?login=false">come under criticism</a> for falling short of what is needed. </p>
<p>Now that EU ministers have reached an agreement, it is likely that governments across the bloc will adopt tougher protections for gig workers in the near future. This could very well mean that a delivery rider in London may soon be questioning why their counterpart in Lisbon has better rights and protections.</p>
<p>There could be a danger of this becoming a classic example of Brexit resulting in poorer outcomes for workers in the UK. Or if the UK government tries to adopt similar protections, it will be accused by free-market Brexiteers of simply following the EU agenda. With a general election barely a year away, it’s the sort of debate that the UK government might prefer to avoid, but doing so will be very difficult.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/207534/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Tom Montgomery has conducted research on the gig economy which has been funded by the Swiss Network for
International Studies.</span></em></p>Now that EU ministers have reached agreement on the platform work directive, the big question is whether the UK will follow suit.Tom Montgomery, Lecturer in Work and Organisations, University of StirlingLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2010882023-03-23T01:45:34Z2023-03-23T01:45:34ZWe were told we’d be riding in self-driving cars by now. What happened to the promised revolution?<p>According to <a href="https://electrek.co/2015/12/21/tesla-ceo-elon-musk-drops-prediction-full-autonomous-driving-from-3-years-to-2/">predictions</a> <a href="https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2016/09/lyfts-president-says-car-ownership-will-all-but-end-by-2025">made</a> nearly a decade ago, we should be riding around in self-driving vehicles today. It’s now clear the autonomous vehicle revolution was overhyped. </p>
<p>Proponents woefully underestimated the technological challenges. It turns out developing a truly driverless vehicle is hard. </p>
<p>The other factor driving the hype was the amount of money being invested in autonomous vehicle startups. By 2021, it was estimated more than <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/outlook/2022/02/04/self-driving-cars-why/">US$100 billion</a> in venture capital had gone into developing the technology. </p>
<p>While advances are being made, it is important to understand there are multiple levels of autonomy. Only one is truly driverless. As established by <a href="https://www.sae.org/blog/sae-j3016-update">SAE International</a>, the levels are: </p>
<ul>
<li><p>level 0 — the driver has to undertake all driving tasks</p></li>
<li><p>level 1, hands on/shared control — vehicle has basic driver-assist features such as cruise control and lane-keeping</p></li>
<li><p>level 2, hands off – vehicle has advanced driver-assist features such as emergency braking, adaptive cruise control, auto park assist and traffic-jam assist</p></li>
<li><p>level 3, eyes off — vehicle drives itself some of the time</p></li>
<li><p>level 4, mind off — vehicle drives itself most of the time</p></li>
<li><p>level 5, steering wheel option — vehicle drives itself all the time.</p></li>
</ul>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/billions-are-pouring-into-mobility-technology-will-the-transport-revolution-live-up-to-the-hype-131154">Billions are pouring into mobility technology – will the transport revolution live up to the hype?</a>
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<h2>Why the slow progress?</h2>
<p>It’s estimated the technology to deliver safe autonomous vehicles is about <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2022/mar/27/how-self-driving-cars-got-stuck-in-the-slow-lane">80% developed</a>. The last 20% is increasingly difficult. It will take a lot more time to perfect.</p>
<p>Challenges yet to be resolved involve unusual and rare events that can happen along any street or highway. They include weather, wildlife crossing the road, and highway construction. </p>
<p>Another set of problems has emerged since <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/simonmainwaring/2022/08/22/cruise-ride-hailing-goes-green-and-driverless/?sh=6a7439376843">Cruise</a> and <a href="https://www.theverge.com/2022/11/19/23467784/waymo-provide-fully-driverless-rides-san-francisco-california">Waymo</a> launched their autonomous ride-hailing services in San Francisco. The US National Highway Traffic and Safety Administration <a href="https://techcrunch.com/2022/12/16/cruises-autonomous-driving-tech-comes-under-scrutiny-from-safety-regulators/">opened an investigation</a> in December 2022, only six months after the <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2022/jun/03/california-driverless-taxi-cars-san-francisco">services were approved</a>. It cited incidents where these vehicles “may have engaged in inappropriately hard braking or became immobilized”. </p>
<p>The San Francisco County Transportation Authority <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/02/01/technology/self-driving-taxi-san-francisco.html">stated</a>:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>[I]n the months since the initial approval of autonomous taxi services in June 2022, Cruise AVs have made unplanned and unexpected stops in travel lanes, where they obstruct traffic and transit service and intrude into active emergency response scenes, including fire suppression scenes, creating additional hazardous conditions.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>In several cases, Cruise technicians had to be called to move the vehicles.</p>
<h2>What’s happening now?</h2>
<p>Active autonomous vehicle initiatives can be grouped into two categories: ride-hailing services (Cruise, Waymo and Uber) and sales to the public (Tesla). </p>
<p>Cruise is a subsidiary of General Motors founded in 2013. As of September 2022, it operated 100 robotaxis in San Francisco and had plans to increase its fleet to 5,000. Critics said this would increase city traffic. </p>
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<p>Cruise also began to offer services in Chandler (a Phoenix suburb), Arizona, and Austin, Texas, in December 2022. </p>
<p>Waymo, formerly the Google Self-Driving Car Project, was founded in January 2009. The company lost <a href="https://www.theverge.com/2022/11/11/23453262/waymo-av-driverless-taxi-phoenix-california-dmv-progress">US$4.8 billion in 2020 and US$5.2 billion in 2021</a>. </p>
<p>Waymo One provides autonomous ride-hailing services in <a href="https://www.theverge.com/2023/2/28/23617278/waymo-self-driving-driverless-crashes-av">Phoenix as well as San Francisco</a>. It plans to expand into <a href="https://www.theverge.com/2022/10/19/23410677/waymo-los-angeles-autonomous-robotaxi-service-launch">Los Angeles</a> this year. </p>
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<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/driverless-cars-what-weve-learned-from-experiments-in-san-francisco-and-phoenix-199319">Driverless cars: what we've learned from experiments in San Francisco and Phoenix</a>
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<p>Uber was a major force in autonomous vehicle development as part of its business plan was to replace human drivers. However, it ran into problems, including a crash in March 2018 when a self-driving Uber killed a woman walking her bicycle across a street in Tempe, Arizona. In 2020, Arizona Uber sold its AV research division to Aurora Innovation. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/when-self-driving-cars-crash-whos-responsible-courts-and-insurers-need-to-know-whats-inside-the-black-box-180334">When self-driving cars crash, who's responsible? Courts and insurers need to know what's inside the 'black box'</a>
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<p>But in October 2022 Uber got back into autonomous vehicles by <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/samabuelsamid/2022/10/06/motional-and-uber-announce-10-year-deal-to-deploy-automated-vehicles-in-multiple-us-markets/?sh=44d83a84273e">signing a deal</a> with Motional, a joint venture between Hyundai and Aptiv. Motional will provide autonomous vehicles for Uber’s ride-hailing and delivery services.</p>
<p>Lyft, the second-largest ride-sharing company after Uber, operates in the US and Canada. Like Uber, Lyft had a self-driving unit and in 2016, Lyft co-founder John Zimmer <a href="https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2016/09/lyfts-president-says-car-ownership-will-all-but-end-by-2025">predicted</a> that by 2021 the majority of rides on its network would be in such vehicles (and private car ownership would “all but end” by 2025). It didn’t happen. By 2021, Lyft had also <a href="https://techcrunch.com/2021/04/26/lyft-sells-self-driving-unit-to-toyotas-woven-planet-for-550m/">sold its self-driving vehicle unit</a>, to Toyota. </p>
<p>In 2022, Zimmer <a href="https://techcrunch.com/2022/10/20/lyft-co-founder-says-autonomous-vehicles-wont-replace-drivers-for-at-least-a-decade/">said</a> the technology would not replace drivers for at least a decade. However, Lyft did partner with Motional in August 2022 to launch <a href="https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/lyft-and-motional-deliver-the-first-rides-in-motionals-new-all-electric-ioniq-5-autonomous-vehicle-301606519.html">robotaxis in Las Vegas</a> and <a href="https://www.reuters.com/business/autos-transportation/lyft-motional-launch-robotaxi-service-los-angeles-2022-11-17/">Los Angeles</a>. </p>
<p>Telsa is the <a href="https://www.ev-volumes.com/">world leader in sales</a> of battery electric vehicles. It also purports to sell vehicles with full automation. However, by the end of 2022, no level 3, 4 or 5 vehicles were for sale in the United States.</p>
<p>What Telsa offers is a full self-driving system as a US$15,000 option. Buyers acknowledge they are buying a beta version and assume all risks. If the system malfunctions, Telsa does not accept any responsibility. </p>
<p>In February 2023, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration <a href="https://amp.theguardian.com/technology/2023/feb/16/tesla-recall-full-self-driving-cars">found</a>:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>[Fully self-driving] beta software that allows a vehicle to exceed speed limits or travel through intersections in an unlawful or unpredictable manner increases the risk of a crash. </p>
</blockquote>
<p>This led to Tesla <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2023/feb/16/tesla-recall-full-self-driving-cars">recalling 362,000 vehicles</a> to update the software. </p>
<p>Another setback for autonomous vehicle sales to the public was the October 2022 announcement that Ford and VW had decided to <a href="https://techcrunch.com/2022/10/26/ford-vw-backed-argo-ai-is-shutting-down/">stop funding autonomous driving technology company Argo AI</a>, resulting in its closure. Both Ford and VW decided to shift their focus from level 4 automation to levels 2 and 3.</p>
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<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/self-driving-cars-are-still-a-long-way-off-here-are-three-reasons-why-159234">'Self-driving' cars are still a long way off. Here are three reasons why</a>
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<h2>So, what can we expect next?</h2>
<p>Autonomous vehicle development will continue, but with less hype. It’s being recognised as more an evolutionary process than a revolutionary one. The increasing cost of capital will also make it harder for autonomous vehicle startups to get development funds. </p>
<p>The areas that appear to be making the best progress are autonomous ride-hailing and heavy vehicles. Self-driving car sales to the public are <a href="https://www.drive.com.au/news/level-4-self-driving-technology-mercedes-benz/">further down the track</a>.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/201088/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Neil G Sipe receives funding from the Australian Research Council Linkage Program. </span></em></p>The autonomous vehicle revolution was, according to its proponents, meant to have transformed daily travel by now. But they underestimated the task of developing a safe, truly driverless vehicle.Neil G Sipe, Honorary Professor of Planning, The University of QueenslandLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1326642023-02-20T19:01:41Z2023-02-20T19:01:41ZRide-share companies are losing billions, so why their interest in unprofitable public transport?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/509375/original/file-20230210-18-9mcpe0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C13%2C4500%2C2977&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Why do Uber, Lyft, Didi, OLA and other ride-sharing companies want to partner with public transport agencies? For Uber and Lyft, the reason is simple: their <a href="https://digital.hbs.edu/platform-rctom/submission/ubers-autonomous-vehicle-transformation/">business plans</a> were based on eventually using driverless vehicles to eliminate their main cost, the labour cost of the driver. But human drivers <a href="https://www.autonews.com/mobility-report/uber-sees-some-time-avs-dominate-road">won’t be replaced for some time</a>. </p>
<p>While many of these companies have raised <a href="https://theconversation.com/billions-are-pouring-into-mobility-technology-will-the-transport-revolution-live-up-to-the-hype-131154">lots of cash</a> from <a href="https://www.investopedia.com/articles/markets/011516/companies-are-funding-uber-and-lyft.asp">venture capitalists</a>, they are burning though it at an alarming rate. Uber made a loss of <a href="https://www.macrotrends.net/stocks/charts/UBER/uber-technologies/net-income">US$8.8 billion</a> in 2022. Lyft, Uber’s main competitor in the United States, lost <a href="https://www.macrotrends.net/stocks/charts/LYFT/lyft/net-income">US$1.28 billion</a>.</p>
<p>These companies, collectively known as transportation network companies (<a href="https://mobilitybehaviour.eu/2017/07/26/what-are-ridesourcingtransportation-network-company-tnc-services/">TNCs</a>), have two options to become profitable. They need to increase how much they charge for their services, or find other revenue streams. So most have ventured into e-bikes and e-scooters, food and freight delivery and public transport. </p>
<p>Uber aims to become the “<a href="https://www.ft.com/content/47516aec-d717-11e8-a854-33d6f82e62f8">Amazon of transportation</a>” by creating a one-stop platform for all transport services — known as <a href="https://theconversation.com/all-your-transport-options-in-one-place-why-mobility-as-a-service-needs-a-proper-platform-157243">mobility as a service</a> (MaaS). Its move into public transport is a natural progression. </p>
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<p>Uber <a href="https://www.protocol.com/bulletins/uber-super-app-transportation">added trains, buses, planes and car rentals to its UK app</a> last April. While it’s not providing these services, the aim is to partner with other transport providers so customers can use the Uber app to buy tickets. If this service succeeds, Uber intends to expand it to other countries.</p>
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<em>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/victorians-wont-miss-myki-but-what-will-best-practice-transport-ticketing-look-like-197620">Victorians won't miss myki, but what will 'best practice' transport ticketing look like?</a>
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<p>There are <a href="https://edition.cnn.com/2019/04/25/tech/uber-public-transportation/index.html">more than 4 trillion passenger miles</a> taken on public transport annually. Given this volume, surprisingly few public transport agencies make money. <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/cities/2019/mar/19/how-public-transport-actually-turns-a-profit-in-hong-kong">One of the few is in Hong Kong</a>, due to the operator developing the large amount of property it owns around its stations. </p>
<p>Public transport is subsidised because it is essential for our cities; they couldn’t function if everyone used a car to get around. </p>
<p>So how do ride-sharing companies think they can make money by getting involved in public transport? Do they know something they’re not revealing? </p>
<h2>How widespread are these partnerships?</h2>
<p>By 2019 <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2019/08/07/technology/uber-train-bus-public-transit.html?referringSource=articleShare">Uber had about 20 such agreements and Lyft about 50</a>. Neither company has disclosed whether the number of agreements has increased or decreased in the post-COVID environment.</p>
<p>Uber’s 2021 report, <a href="https://d1nyezh1ys8wfo.cloudfront.net/static/PDFs/Transit+Horizons+vF.pdf">Towards a New Model of Public Transportation</a>, identifies four main areas of co-operation with public transport agencies. </p>
<p>The most common is the integration of public transport information into the TNC app. Uber has done this on a limited scale, including <a href="https://www.uber.com/en-AU/blog/sydney/sydney-public-transport/">Sydney</a> where its app has provided public transport information since mid-2019.</p>
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<p>The second most common area of co-operation involves providing first mile, last mile transport – transferring a commuter between a public transport stop and their home or destination – or providing transport in areas with low public transport frequency. Dallas, in 2015, was the first city to subsidise short <a href="https://www.uber.com/blog/dallas/dart-pool/">shared Uber rides</a> to and from a train station. Dallas transport officials <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2019/08/07/technology/uber-train-bus-public-transit.html?referringSource=articleShare">said</a> it cost US$15 per rider on one of their buses, but only US$5 per rider with Uber.</p>
<p>The third area is enabling users to buy public transport tickets on their Uber app. The first of just a few operating examples was in <a href="https://www.citylab.com/transportation/2019/05/uber-denver-transit-ticket-bus-train-light-rail-fare-app-rtd/588559/">Denver</a> in 2019, followed by <a href="https://edition.cnn.com/2020/01/06/tech/uber-bus-tickets-ces-las-vegas/index.html">Las Vegas</a> in January 2020. A year later a consortium of 13 small transit agencies in Ohio and northern Kentucky was added to this <a href="https://www.mobility-payments.com/2021/01/01/uber-expands-mobile-ticketing-to-more-u-s-public-transit-agencies/">Uber feature</a>. </p>
<p>The fourth area is as a substitute for public transport. To date there is only one example – in <a href="https://www.citylab.com/transportation/2019/04/innisfil-transit-ride-hailing-bus-public-transportation-uber/588154/">Innisfil, Ontario</a>. Innisfil had no public transport, but needed a service for its growing population. The town engaged Uber to provide a bus service. Within a year it was carrying about 8,000 passengers a month. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Street view of the town of Innisfil, Ontario" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/510227/original/file-20230214-20-765lwf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/510227/original/file-20230214-20-765lwf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=334&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/510227/original/file-20230214-20-765lwf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=334&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/510227/original/file-20230214-20-765lwf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=334&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/510227/original/file-20230214-20-765lwf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=420&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/510227/original/file-20230214-20-765lwf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=420&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/510227/original/file-20230214-20-765lwf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=420&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Instead of establishing its own bus service, the Canadian town of Innisfil turned to Uber.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/all-your-transport-options-in-one-place-why-mobility-as-a-service-needs-a-proper-platform-157243">All your transport options in one place: why mobility as a service needs a proper platform</a>
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<h2>What’s stopping more public transport deals?</h2>
<p>Are such partnerships a <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-01-26/what-to-make-of-uber-s-bid-to-help-public-transit">good idea</a>? While there are some advocates among public transport officials, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2019/08/07/technology/uber-train-bus-public-transit.html?referringSource=articleShare">many others remain sceptical</a>. Their reasons include: </p>
<ul>
<li><p>ride-sharing <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41893-020-00678-z">reduces public transport patronage</a></p></li>
<li><p>concerns about whether these companies want to cooperate or divert riders</p></li>
<li><p>enticing people from public transport to ride-share vehicles has <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41893-020-00678-z">increased traffic congestion</a></p></li>
<li><p>these companies historically have not shared their data</p></li>
<li><p>the agencies don’t want to become dependent upon companies whose financial viability is questionable – how can they make money and continue this cooperation when public transport agencies cannot? </p></li>
</ul>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/can-an-app-change-australias-car-culture-only-if-all-moving-parts-work-together-167450">Can an app change Australia's car culture? Only if all moving parts work together</a>
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<h2>So why do some public transport agencies sign up?</h2>
<p>What is the motivation for public transport agencies co-operating with these companies? For large public transport agencies it’s about <a href="https://nytransit.org/resources/transit-tncs/205-transit-tncs">improving operations</a> related to:</p>
<ul>
<li><p>increasing public transport use by subsidising rides to and from commuter rail, bus and tram stations</p></li>
<li><p>late-hours services when it is expensive to run routes, or to provide services where public transport routes are not operating</p></li>
<li><p>increased mobility due to having multiple transport options</p></li>
<li><p>paratransit, a supplement to public transport that provides individualised rides without fixed schedules or routes, which is costly for public transport agencies because they lack vehicles of the right size and the ability to respond efficiently to demand.</p></li>
</ul>
<p>However, most of these partnerships can be <a href="https://nytransit.org/resources/transit-tncs/205-transit-tncs">found in smaller cities</a>. This is because small improvements – such as ride-sharing replacing a low-use bus route – can have a significant impact on their budgets. </p>
<p>Another trend emerging from the pandemic is that public transport agencies are rethinking how they operate and how they can improve services. While some have partnered with transportation network companies, other have decided to implement <a href="https://www.pewtrusts.org/en/research-and-analysis/blogs/stateline/2022/08/17/can-uber-like-public-transit-replace-old-fashioned-buses">TNC-like services in house</a> in an effort to increase ridership.</p>
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<a href="https://theconversation.com/what-if-opal-and-myki-became-one-itd-help-more-of-us-than-youd-think-197684">What if Opal and Myki became one? It'd help more of us than you'd think</a>
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</p>
<hr>
<p>While things were evolving rapidly before the pandemic, progress slowed due to lockdowns and more people working from home. How these companies will fare in a post-COVID environment is still unclear, including whether travellers will use them as a substitute for some public transport services, particularly on low-frequency routes and for first mile, last mile trips.</p>
<p>The companies have indicated the goal of these partnerships is to get people out of their cars. If they can make it easier for people to use public transport, then it is good for these companies because people might buy fewer cars and use more of their services in the future.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/the-battle-to-be-the-amazon-or-netflix-of-transport-103351">The battle to be the Amazon (or Netflix) of transport</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/132664/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Neil G Sipe receives funding from the Australian Research Council. </span></em></p>Around the world, very few public transport agencies make money, while ride-sharing companies are making huge losses. So why partner up, and how do those partnerships work?Neil G Sipe, Honorary Professor of Planning, The University of QueenslandLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1980272023-01-18T18:05:11Z2023-01-18T18:05:11ZInsomnia, headaches, and stomach pains: the hidden costs of gig workers’ flexibility<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/505141/original/file-20230118-8082-1r7n63.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C3876%2C2578&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Uber, which has operations in 72 countries, is a household name of the gig economy. </span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:UBER_Eats_Delivery_Cyclist_Riding_Through_a_Busy_Oxford_Road_in_Manchester.jpg">Creative Commons</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>The ever-expanding gig economy has brought with it the rise of the independent contractor, from delivery drivers to personal shoppers and dog walkers. Compared to traditional employees, independent contractors are classified as self-employed and do not benefit from a minimum wage, paid time off, or other protections. This kind of work arrangement is becoming increasingly common, with a <a href="https://www.upwork.com/research/the-great-resignation">recent study</a> showing 20% of professionals surveyed are considering switching to independent contract work.</p>
<p>Growing popularity has also raised questions about how to appropriately categorise and regulate workers in the gig economy. In <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-uber-court-idUSKBN20R23F">France</a> and the <a href="https://www.peoplemanagement.co.uk/article/1751796/ongoing-debate-over-worker-status">UK</a>, courts have held that rideshare drivers are employees entitled to protections like a minimum wage and paid time off. In the US, states such as <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/06/14/technology/massachusetts-gig-workers.html">Massachusetts</a> viewing rideshare drivers as employees, while in <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/04/technology/california-uber-lyft-prop-22.html">California</a>, a similar proposition failed to pass.</p>
<h2>The promises and perils of limitless flexibility</h2>
<p>Gig economy companies have a clear interest in influencing these public debates, <a href="https://www.wired.com/story/california-voted-for-cheaper-uber-rides-it-may-have-hurt-drivers/">as was the case in California</a>, and have gone so far as to <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/news/2022/jul/12/uber-paid-academics-six-figure-sums-for-research-to-feed-to-the-media">pay economists</a> in the United States, Germany, and France to produce research painting independent contractor arrangements in a favourable light. Gig economy companies often highlight the freedom workers have to set their own schedule as one key reason to preserve the independent contractor status. For example, <a href="https://www.uber.com/us/en/u/flexibility/">Uber’s website</a> seeks to recruit drivers by highlighting the flexibility their app offers, complete with statistics about how much current drivers value this autonomy. <a href="https://dasher.doordash.com/en-us?source=dx_about_page&internal-referrer=legacy-signup">DoorDash</a> and <a href="https://www.instacart.com/company/shopper-community/10-items-or-less-the-importance-of-flexibility/">Instacart</a> make similar claims on their websites.</p>
<p>But there is a downside to all this flexibility that is rarely discussed. Instead of an hourly rate or salary, independent contractors are paid for each task they complete with no minimum wage protections. Without guaranteed income, these workers experience “pay volatility”, or frequent changes in earnings over time. As a researcher interested in uncovering the ways that work affects our lives outside of work, I wanted to understand what impact pay volatility has on workers’ health. I recently conducted three studies dedicated to answering this question.</p>
<h2>Headaches, back aches, and stomach problems</h2>
<p>In my <a href="https://psycnet.apa.org/record/2023-22176-001">study</a>, I recruited 375 gig workers from across the United States using Amazon’s Mechanical Turk (MTurk), an online platform where workers complete small tasks for a fee. Because these workers are paid varying rates for each task they complete, they experience volatility in their pay. As one participant said, “I can make $80 one day and barely hit $15 the next. It is very unpredictable.” Assuming an eight-hour workday, that’s like switching between earning $10/hour on one day and $1.88/hour the next. I focused only on “dedicated” MTurkers – those who spent at least 20 hours per week on the platform and completed at least 1,000 tasks – and surveyed them over the course of three weeks.</p>
<p>My findings showed that gig workers who reported more volatility in their pay also tended to report more physical symptoms like headaches, back aches, and stomach problems. The reason why? Workers experiencing more pay volatility were more concerned about making ends meet and were preoccupied with thoughts about their personal finances. Dealing with pay volatility means never knowing how much money you’ll make in a given week or month, and that insecurity makes it difficult to cope with ordinary expenses. As one participant described, they like working from home on their own time, but:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>“Mturk is too unpredictable in terms of the money and effort required that it becomes frustrating and depressing.”</p>
</blockquote>
<p>This challenge seemed to weigh on workers, enough to impact their physical health.</p>
<p>While the problem of pay volatility is clearly relevant for gig workers, they aren’t the only ones who experience it. People who rely on tips, such as restaurant servers, bartenders, valets, and hairdressers, also have constantly changing take-home pay. In a second study, I asked 85 tipped workers in the US about their earnings and health every day for two weeks. Here is one participant from that study reporting the tips they earned each day, underscoring how much volatility can exist for some:</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/504952/original/file-20230117-25-jm1g8h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/504952/original/file-20230117-25-jm1g8h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=336&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/504952/original/file-20230117-25-jm1g8h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=336&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/504952/original/file-20230117-25-jm1g8h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=336&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/504952/original/file-20230117-25-jm1g8h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=422&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/504952/original/file-20230117-25-jm1g8h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=422&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/504952/original/file-20230117-25-jm1g8h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=422&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">One worker in the study reported strong variations in the tips received per day, ranging from $250 to nothing at all.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Results indicated that earning more in tips on any given day didn’t make people feel better or worse that evening. But experiencing more <em>volatility</em> in tips over the two weeks was related to more physical symptoms and greater insomnia.</p>
<p>One thing that gig and tipped workers have in common is that they often have lower-than-average income. It might be that pay volatility is not harmful on its own, but only when coupled with low income. After all, Elon Musk probably wasn’t losing much sleep when Tesla shares recently <a href="https://www.reuters.com/technology/elon-musks-net-worth-slips-below-200-billion-tesla-shares-waver-2022-11-08/">dropped</a>, even if the effect on his net worth was substantial. Hard-pressed to find a sample of billionaires willing to complete my surveys, I conducted a third study with 252 higher-paid workers in sales, finance, and marketing in the United States. Commissions and bonuses are common in these industries, meaning that workers still experience pay volatility even if their income is higher. While the effects were not as strong, I saw the same pattern where workers who were more dependent on volatile forms of pay reported more physical symptoms and worse sleep.</p>
<p>I also considered how workers could protect themselves from the harmful effects of pay volatility. Mindfulness, for example, refers to one’s ability to focus on the present moment instead of worrying about the future and thinking about the past. Although people who are more mindful tend to show <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/guides/well/be-more-mindful-at-work">resilience</a> in the face of stress, they were equally affected by pay volatility in my study. Workers who were able to save a larger percent of their take-home pay were also similarly affected by pay volatility. These results show that pay volatility is equally harmful for most people. The only factor that actually weakened the observed effects of pay volatility was individuals’ reliance on volatile sources of pay. When volatile pay made up a smaller percentage of their total income, pay volatility didn’t seem to impact their health or sleep.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A man wipes his eyes in front of a computer" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/505108/original/file-20230118-19-n4qyym.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/505108/original/file-20230118-19-n4qyym.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/505108/original/file-20230118-19-n4qyym.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/505108/original/file-20230118-19-n4qyym.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/505108/original/file-20230118-19-n4qyym.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/505108/original/file-20230118-19-n4qyym.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/505108/original/file-20230118-19-n4qyym.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Seesawing income is linked to poor health, with workers reporting increased headaches, back aches, stomach problems and insomnia.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/fr/image-photo/young-indian-eastern-tired-exhausted-business-1979913266">Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Hidden costs demand consideration</h2>
<p>So what can be done? First, lawmakers need to consider both the benefits <em>and</em> drawbacks of these independent contractor work arrangements. The benefits like flexibility and job creation are well advertised by gig economy companies, but there are also hidden costs that receive less attention. As one participant in my survey stated:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>“There are no safeguards in place for workers to guarantee a fair wage on any tasks which, as you can imagine, is probably the one singular aspect of working that produces the most stress, angst and anxiety.”</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Ensuring stronger legal protections for independent contractors can help create these safeguards.</p>
<p>Second, companies that employ independent contractors or pay workers based on piece-rate or commissions should carefully consider whether the perceived benefits to motivation or performance outweigh the costs to worker health. Aside from this economic calculation, there is also a moral imperative to offer decent work and preserve good health and well-being among employees, in line with <a href="https://sdgs.un.org/goals">UN Sustainable Development Goals</a>.</p>
<p>Third, companies could strike a balance by reducing workers’ reliance on volatile forms of pay, offering more substantial base pay instead. This strategy should weaken the link between pay volatility and health according to my findings. Overall, it’s clear that while work arrangements popularised by the gig economy hold benefits, we must also consider hidden costs and move toward improving conditions for this substantial swath of the population.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/198027/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Gordon M. Sayre ne travaille pas, ne conseille pas, ne possède pas de parts, ne reçoit pas de fonds d'une organisation qui pourrait tirer profit de cet article, et n'a déclaré aucune autre affiliation que son organisme de recherche.</span></em></p>Gig companies like Uber often promote the freedom that comes with independent contractor arrangements. They talk less about the impact that pay volatility can have on workers’ health.Gordon M. Sayre, Assistant Professor of Organizational Behavior, EM Lyon Business SchoolLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1964912022-12-21T19:11:33Z2022-12-21T19:11:33ZUber plans a kids service to replace mum and dad’s taxi. What’s wrong with that? Plenty<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/501463/original/file-20221216-24-ityp8l.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C296%2C2995%2C1967&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Ride-share company Uber has just <a href="https://www.theage.com.au/national/victoria/uber-installs-child-car-seats-in-melbourne-edges-closer-to-kids-service-20221212-p5c5ib.html">rolled out an option</a> to book vehicles equipped with a children’s car seat across Melbourne. Uber is also considering allowing unaccompanied children to use its service.</p>
<p>In Australia, a recent <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1369847822000341">study</a> found most parents remain unwilling to let their children use a ride-share service unaccompanied. (Uber policy, like <a href="https://www.finder.com.au/apps-like-uber">most ride-sharing companies</a>, currently <a href="https://help.uber.com/driving-and-delivering/article/requests-from-underage-riders---?nodeId=43b84de6-758b-489e-b088-7ee69c749ccd">requires</a> a solo passenger to be over 18.) There appears to be more acceptance in countries such as the United States where child-specific ride-shares are more <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/dfw/news/rideshare-services-cater-to-children/">widespread</a>. </p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1463923762689191944"}"></div></p>
<p>Many time-poor families are desperate for better alternatives to having to drive their children everywhere they need to go. There are indeed high <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1353829222000806">social</a>, <a href="https://ubibliorum.ubi.pt/handle/10400.6/10376?locale=en">economic</a> and <a href="https://apo.org.au/node/236476">environmental</a> costs associated with parental taxis. </p>
<p>But outsourcing this role to ride-share services is not the best solution. It will reinforce an over-reliance on cars, which is demonstrably harmful for children’s <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S2214367X16300734">health and wellbeing</a>.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/cars-have-taken-over-our-neighbourhoods-kid-friendly-superblocks-are-a-way-for-residents-to-reclaim-their-streets-187276">Cars have taken over our neighbourhoods. Kid-friendly superblocks are a way for residents to reclaim their streets</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>What are parents’ main concerns?</h2>
<p>The Australian <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1369847822000341">study</a> identified several factors that mattered to parents. These included:</p>
<ul>
<li><p>being able to decide the route of the vehicle</p></li>
<li><p>who is able to drive and ride in the vehicle</p></li>
<li><p>the presence of a designated adult waiting at the child’s destination</p></li>
<li><p>technological features such as GPS tracking and two-way cameras to communicate with the child during the trip.</p></li>
</ul>
<p>Clearly, a few roadblocks need to be overcome before these services gain broader appeal for families with children in Australia. But what would be the impact if they did go ahead? We should consider both the problems these services could solve and the problems they might create. </p>
<p>“<a href="https://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/newslocal/inner-west/rydhero-is-a-new-sydney-ridesharing-service-for-busy-parents-designed-to-ferry-children-to-afterschool-activities/news-story/c23d52188866ee321013bd0ec323d81e">Busy parents</a>” is a phrase that comes up often when talking about children’s transport challenges and solutions. Child-specific ride-sharing seems to be a logical response to that problem. And Uber is <a href="https://www.news.com.au/lifestyle/parenting/kids/stretch-ride-the-new-car-service-for-kids-travelling-without-their-parents/news-story/3f5d00df3e282d8b437727ff2638b241">not the the first</a> car <a href="https://www.shebah.com.au/ride">service for kids</a> in Australia. </p>
<p>However, the benefits gained from these “care-drivers” (driver/babysitter) are likely to be offset by new anxieties for parents. </p>
<p>In particular, parents worry about their children’s safety in the company of an unknown adult. When it comes to trusting a service to transport unaccompanied children, <a href="https://research.monash.edu/en/publications/parents-willingness-to-allow-their-unaccompanied-children-to-use-">Australian research</a> found parents were more likely to voice concerns about ride-share services than autonomous vehicles. </p>
<p>This is likely to remain the case despite technologies enabling real-time monitoring of the child and other desired features of the ride-share vehicle. And these surveillance technologies raise additional <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/chso.12016">ethical questions</a>.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/from-covid-anxiety-to-harassment-more-needs-to-be-done-on-safety-in-taxis-and-rideshare-services-149911">From COVID anxiety to harassment, more needs to be done on safety in taxis and rideshare services</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1237723966669754370"}"></div></p>
<h2>There’s also health and wellbeing to consider</h2>
<p>Children’s dependence on cars to get around also affects their health. The risks range from <a href="https://www.unicef.org/documents/unicef-technical-guidance-child-and-adolescent-road-safety">road safety issues</a>, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2022/jun/02/traffic-noise-slows-childrens-memory-development-study-finds">noise</a> and <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2017/jun/12/children-risk-air-pollution-cars-former-uk-chief-scientist-warns">air pollution</a> to being <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/23219100/">less active physically</a>. A ride-share service for children would reinforce their families’ car dependence and the associated health issues.</p>
<p>Any child-specific ride-share service is also likely to magnify existing social and economic issues. To name a few:</p>
<ol>
<li><p>the services would tend to be exclusive in nature, being more accessible for those who are <a href="https://escholarship.org/uc/item/82w2z91j">well-off</a> and <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S2214367X22000722">able-bodied</a></p></li>
<li><p>passive commuting in cars would become even more passive in the absence of adults known to the children, further reducing their opportunities to construct their <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/14733281003691418?journalCode=cchg20">social identities</a> and develop <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/14733285.2020.1787950">independence</a> and <a href="https://www.achievementprogram.health.vic.gov.au/news/latest-updates/benefits-of-active-travel-to-school.html">self-reliance</a> – parents, too, could have fewer opportunities to interact with each other and the broader community at school or sport events</p></li>
<li><p>both parents and children place a <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/23800127.2022.2071060">high value on the togetherness</a> aspect of family trips to schools and extra-curricular activities, even when travelling by car. Child-only ride-share services would reduce the time spent together.</p></li>
</ol>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/501725/original/file-20221218-61132-9xiiz2.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/501725/original/file-20221218-61132-9xiiz2.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/501725/original/file-20221218-61132-9xiiz2.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/501725/original/file-20221218-61132-9xiiz2.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/501725/original/file-20221218-61132-9xiiz2.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/501725/original/file-20221218-61132-9xiiz2.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/501725/original/file-20221218-61132-9xiiz2.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Child-only ride services might relieve parents of driving duties but would reduce the time families spend together.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/designing-suburbs-to-cut-car-use-closes-gaps-in-health-and-wealth-83961">Designing suburbs to cut car use closes gaps in health and wealth</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>It all comes down to car dependence</h2>
<p>The heavy reliance on private cars by families with children is one of the key challenges facing most <a href="https://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2020/09/joseph-henrich-explores-weird-societies/">WEIRD</a> (Western, educated, industrialised, rich and democratic) countries. The emergence of ride-share services for children highlights the difficulties with children’s lifestyles <a href="https://apo.org.au/node/236476">dominated by the need to get to extra-curricular activities</a>, often at non-local places. </p>
<p>Like any profit-driven approach, this kind of service raises concerns about exploitation of system-wide weaknesses. In this case, it’s the transport challenges faced by families with children.</p>
<p>These “solutions” also undermine various policies and programs that aim to create more socially and environmentally just communities. These include, for example, local living policies – such as so-called <a href="https://theconversation.com/people-love-the-idea-of-20-minute-neighbourhoods-so-why-isnt-it-top-of-the-agenda-131193">20-minute neighbourhoods</a> – which are central to most planning strategies across Australia.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/people-love-the-idea-of-20-minute-neighbourhoods-so-why-isnt-it-top-of-the-agenda-131193">People love the idea of 20-minute neighbourhoods. So why isn't it top of the agenda?</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Allowing unaccompanied kids to travel in high-tech, ride-share vehicles might help some parents in the short term. In the long term, though, it will create more complex problems. These parallel many of the well-reported issues associated with lives and societies shaped by the car – known as <a href="https://www.oxfordbibliographies.com/display/document/obo-9780199874002/obo-9780199874002-0206.xml#:%7E:text=obo%2F9780199874002%2D0206-,Introduction,and%20shaped%20by%2C%20the%20automobile.">automobility</a>. </p>
<p>Happier and healthier children should be the lens to look through at any new approaches to how children get around. Plenty of equitable and cost-effective solutions exist. The most obvious involve creating the social and environmental conditions for safe and convenient walking, cycling and public transport. </p>
<p>Having these solutions available instead of having to drive children would help time-poor families. And children can use all these transport options in groups, which eases safety concerns. There are, for example, <a href="http://www.walkingschoolbus.org/">walking school buses</a> and <a href="https://www.walkbiketoschool.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/SRTS_BikeTrain_final.pdf">bike trains</a>. </p>
<p>People and cities have much to gain from a move away from a narrow view of technology – such as retrofitting cars for monitoring and controlling children. Instead, we can use <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/279450305_Parental_fear_as_a_barrier_to_children%27s_independent_mobility_and_resultant_physical_activity_Final_Report">technology</a> to promote healthier, greener and more equitable ways of getting around.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/196491/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Hulya Gilbert does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Uber is eyeing a service to take children wherever their parents would otherwise have to drive them themselves. Some might see it as a lifesaver, but it’s problematic for many reasons.Hulya Gilbert, Lecturer in Planning and Human Geography, La Trobe UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1934372022-11-29T13:33:58Z2022-11-29T13:33:58ZStill recovering from COVID-19, US public transit tries to get back on track<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/492863/original/file-20221101-25191-x6w1v8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C8%2C5615%2C3724&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Ridership on public transit had been declining even before the spread of the virus.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/photo/elevated-subway-train-and-new-york-city-skyline-royalty-free-image/1216197405?phrase=new%20york%20city%20subway%20train&adppopup=true">Leo Patrizi/E+ via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p><em>U.S. commuters take approximately <a href="https://www.apta.com/news-publications/public-transportation-facts/">10 billion trips on public transit every year</a>. SciLine asked <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=gkID6ccAAAAJ&hl=en">Kari Watkins</a>, an associate professor of civil and environmental engineering at the University of California, Davis, what cities can do to increase public transportation ridership and how people can make better use of this environmentally friendly mode of transportation.</em></p>
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<iframe src="https://player.vimeo.com/video/761600611" width="500" height="281" frameborder="0" webkitallowfullscreen="" mozallowfullscreen="" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">Kari Watkins discusses why public transit matters to communities throughout the United States.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p><em>Below are some highlights from the discussion. Answers have been edited for brevity and clarity.</em></p>
<p><strong>Why is transit a sustainable mode of transportation?</strong></p>
<p><strong>Kari Watkins:</strong> Economically, it’s <a href="https://www.vtpi.org/tranben.pdf">easier on people’s pocketbooks</a>. Environmentally, transit has <a href="https://www.transit.dot.gov/regulations-and-programs/environmental-programs/transit-and-sustainability">less emissions per trip</a>. </p>
<p>From an equity point of view, transit is more sustainable than other modes because you’re <a href="https://nap.nationalacademies.org/catalog/26264/racial-equity-addendum-to-critical-issues-in-transportation">more able to serve all people</a>. This service is out there – you don’t have to afford a vehicle in order to be able to take it.</p>
<p><strong>How does public transit affect traffic congestion?</strong></p>
<p><strong>Kari Watkins:</strong> We save about 24% of our congestion levels <a href="https://static.tti.tamu.edu/tti.tamu.edu/documents/umr/archive/mobility-report-2012.pdf">by having transit in our 15 largest cities</a>. </p>
<p><strong>What has research shown us about transit’s safety?</strong></p>
<p><strong>Kari Watkins:</strong> Transit is the <a href="https://www.apta.com/news-publications/public-transportation-facts/">safest mode of transportation</a> because of the professional drivers and because of the nature of how the services are provided. They’re often in their own corridors with really, really high factors of safety in how those corridors are designed. </p>
<p>When we look at cities where more people take transit as opposed to driving themselves, we always have lower crash rates, both internationally and across the U.S.</p>
<p><strong>What are some trends of ridership on public transit systems in recent years?</strong></p>
<p><strong>Kari Watkins:</strong> Over the past approximately five years before COVID, we were <a href="https://nap.nationalacademies.org/catalog/26320/recent-decline-in-public-transportation-ridership-analysis-causes-and-responses">seeing declines in both bus and rail</a> in ways that we had not seen before and could not be attributed to things like population decreases or lower employment rates. We saw declines that could be largely attributed to the rideshare companies. Uber and Lyft were <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tra.2022.04.006">taking a pretty heavy toll on transit ridership</a>. </p>
<p>In addition to this, before COVID, low <a href="https://www.eia.gov/dnav/pet/hist/LeafHandler.ashx?n=pet&s=emm_epm0_pte_nus_dpg&f=m">gas prices were a factor</a>. When gas prices go down, transit ridership is going to go down. And a little bit of increases in fares on transit systems was also hitting transit ridership. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.apta.com/wp-content/uploads/APTA-POLICY-BRIEF-Transit-Ridership-09.28.2022.pdf">And then COVID hit</a>. </p>
<p>What happened during COVID was a lot of the people who rely on transit on a day-to-day basis – those critical workers, folks who were keeping our society going during the early parts of COVID – they still had to get to work. And many of those folks are bus riders as opposed to rail riders, because of the way we’ve set up these systems. And so we saw bus ridership decline, but it was still at significant portions of what it was before COVID. </p>
<p>Rail, <a href="https://www.urban.org/urban-wire/transit-ridership-dropped-heavy-rail-stations-during-covid-19-pandemic-ridership-change-depended-neighborhood-characteristics">on the other hand, was decimated</a>, especially commuter rail. </p>
<p>Most commuter rail agencies are even still today nowhere close to what they were pre-COVID. In the early days of the pandemic, they were at 10% <a href="https://www.apta.com/wp-content/uploads/APTA-POLICY-BRIEF-Transit-Ridership-09.28.2022.pdf">of the ridership levels that they once were</a>. </p>
<p>We’re seeing some agencies, like Los Angeles Metro, where they’re predicting that in the next year or two, they’re going to be back up to the levels that they were pre-COVID. But there’s a lot of cities that have been permanently hit, <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-09-23/la-looks-to-beat-new-york-back-to-pre-pandemic-transit-ridership#xj4y7vzkg">such as San Francisco and New York</a>. </p>
<p><strong>Why are some transit agencies facing a ‘fiscal cliff’?</strong></p>
<p><strong>Kari Watkins:</strong> What happened during COVID was that many of these agencies were rescued through government programs where <a href="https://www.cbo.gov/publication/57636">they got extra operating funds</a> because the federal government and state governments knew that these agencies were going to be facing such dramatic declines in ridership that they wouldn’t be able to provide their services without some sort of extra support. </p>
<p>But all of that extra operating funding is disappearing over time. And with some agencies, they expect it’ll last another year, maybe two, but they’re not sure if their ridership is projected to be back at the same levels that it once was.</p>
<p><strong>How could transit become more environmentally friendly?</strong></p>
<p><strong>Kari Watkins:</strong> There’s actually a lot that can be done to our system <a href="https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2022/03/five-transit-policies-cities-should-prioritize-to-become-more-sustainable/">if we electrify transit further</a>. For decades, we’ve had transit lines that had overhead systems to power it, or a third rail system, where it’s powered from underneath, like our subway systems. </p>
<p>All of those are really expensive to build. But battery technology that is <a href="https://www.cnet.com/roadshow/news/the-new-batteries-that-will-make-you-an-electric-car-believer/">coming around for our passenger vehicles</a> is also coming around and <a href="https://www.reliableplant.com/Read/27709/Electric-bus-of-future">improving greatly for larger-scale vehicles</a>, such as trucks and buses. This gives us the ability to start to electrify routes that are running on pavement in streets. The hang-up is simply that we have to run these routes for an entire day and the window to charge them is just a small window overnight.</p>
<p><em>Watch the <a href="https://sciline.org/social-sciences/public-transit/">full interview</a> to hear more about public transit.</em></p>
<p><em><a href="https://www.sciline.org/">SciLine</a> is a free service based at the nonprofit American Association for the Advancement of Science that helps journalists include scientific evidence and experts in their news stories.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/193437/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Kari Edison Watkins is an Associate Professor for the University of California at Davis and has received funding from the US Department of Transportation, the Transportation Research Board, the National Science Foundation, and multiple state and local agencies. </span></em></p>Public buses, subways and trains are relatively safe, fast and cheap. But competition from rideshares and concerns over COVID-19 will soon see some local agencies short of funds.Kari Edison Watkins, Associate Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of California, DavisLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1929142022-11-01T18:51:54Z2022-11-01T18:51:54ZUber Eats’ cannabis delivery partnership with Leafly is mostly smoke and mirrors<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/492821/original/file-20221101-22-pf88r1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=574%2C1047%2C4105%2C2397&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">A new partnership between Uber and Leafly allows users to order cannabis for delivery using the popular Uber Eats app.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span></figcaption></figure><iframe style="width: 100%; height: 100px; border: none; position: relative; z-index: 1;" allowtransparency="" allow="clipboard-read; clipboard-write" src="https://narrations.ad-auris.com/widget/the-conversation-canada/uber-eats--cannabis-delivery-partnership-with-leafly-is-mostly-smoke-and-mirrors" width="100%" height="400"></iframe>
<p>Before 2018, cannabis was illegal in Canada. Now, as of mid-October, <a href="https://www.uber.com/en-CA/newsroom/leafly-cannabis-delivery/">Uber Eats can deliver it in Toronto</a> as the result of a partnership with Leafly, an online marketplace for licensed cannabis retailers. This is the <a href="https://apnews.com/article/canada-business-ontario-toronto-5913ace985c9d5fdec70e17bc3022f21">first time Uber will deliver cannabis anywhere in the world</a>.</p>
<p>This deal is <a href="https://www.leafly.ca/news/strains-products/uber-eats-leafly-toronto-delivery-weed">being touted by Uber and Leafly as a great leap forward for the industry</a>. The companies claim the arrangement will provide several benefits, including more business for the retailers, increased choice and flexibility for consumers while reducing the illicit market, and cutting down on impaired driving. However, these arguments hold little water.</p>
<h2>How it will work</h2>
<p>Consumers are able to use the Uber Eats platform to order cannabis products from any of three Toronto-based retailers — Hidden Leaf Cannabis, Minerva Cannabis and Shivaa’s Rose — provided they are within the retailer’s delivery footprint. </p>
<p>The ordering experience is similar to ordering food delivery on the app: customers navigate to the “recreational cannabis” category, then to their chosen retailer’s menu where they select their desired products, then state whether they will pick up the order or prefer delivery. Uber then transmits the order to the applicable store. Once filled, the order is delivered to the customer by the retailer’s own delivery staff, as prescribed by law. </p>
<p>Ontario’s provincial <a href="https://www.agco.ca/bulletin/2022/information-bulletin-supporting-cannabis-retailers-curbside-pick-and-delivery-become">cannabis regulations were only recently modified to permit delivery</a>, although they do not permit third-party delivery. The retailer’s drivers must be employees of the retailer, be <a href="https://purchase.cannsell.ca/product?catalog=CannSell-Standard-Certification">CannSell certified</a> and are required to verify identity and age at the time of delivery.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Hands holding a smartphone with the Uber Eats app loading screen visible on it" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/492651/original/file-20221031-12-zz85qx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/492651/original/file-20221031-12-zz85qx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/492651/original/file-20221031-12-zz85qx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/492651/original/file-20221031-12-zz85qx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/492651/original/file-20221031-12-zz85qx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/492651/original/file-20221031-12-zz85qx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/492651/original/file-20221031-12-zz85qx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Consumers can use the Uber Eats platform to order cannabis products from any of three Toronto-based retailers.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span>
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</figure>
<h2>Little to gain for consumers and retailers</h2>
<p>From the consumer’s perspective, the deal will merely provide another online location to order cannabis for delivery, on top of the <a href="https://www.ontario.ca/page/buying-recreational-cannabis">Ontario Cannabis Store and other private retailers</a>.</p>
<p>All three of the initial stores currently offer online ordering for either in-store pickup or free same-day delivery to a designated area within the Greater Toronto Area (with a minimum purchase amount). </p>
<p>Consumers can also order these same products from the Ontario Cannabis Store run by the Ontario government where they can opt for <a href="https://ocs.ca/blogs/about-my-order/shipping-updates">same-day delivery within Toronto for a fee of eight dollars</a>. Any gain on the part of consumers is minimal.</p>
<p>There’s also little in this for retailers. They will likely see a marginal increase in orders, but at what price to them? Neither the retailers nor Uber have been willing to disclose the commercial terms of this deal so we’re left to guess. Cannabis, as of this moment, doesn’t enjoy the kind of margins that can sustain the fees that Uber is charging.</p>
<p>It’s not hard to imagine that most cannabis retailers will also want to join Uber Eats down the road, when the industry has consolidated more. When this happens, it will mean overwhelming choices for consumers, <a href="https://www.scienceofpeople.com/choice-paralysis/">something that has been proven to reduce sales in other categories</a>.</p>
<h2>The profitability question</h2>
<p>Since the majority of cannabis retailers are private, we don’t have visibility into their profitability. We can, however, gain some insight into it using the Québec-owned <a href="https://www.sqdc.ca/fr-CA/">la Société québécoise du cannabis</a> as a case study. It represents the upper boundary of profitability, since they have the <a href="https://cannabisretailer.ca/2021/sales-per-store-how-do-you-stack-up/">highest sales per store in Canada on average</a>, and a relatively modest 90 store footprint compared to the <a href="https://www.agco.ca/status-current-cannabis-retail-store-applications">1,680 currently authorized in Ontario</a>. </p>
<p>La Société québécoise du cannabis is, by any measure, a healthy cannabis retailer. In their <a href="https://www.sqdc.ca/en-CA/about-the-sqdc/medias/2022/09/12/The-SQDC-reports-net-income-of-205-million-for-its-first-quarter-ended-June-18-2022">most recent quarterly report</a>, they reported a net income of $20.5 million on sales of $139 million, which translates to a net profit margin of just under 15 per cent.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="SQDC logo on the outside of a store" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/492652/original/file-20221031-7758-24bv97.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/492652/original/file-20221031-7758-24bv97.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/492652/original/file-20221031-7758-24bv97.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/492652/original/file-20221031-7758-24bv97.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/492652/original/file-20221031-7758-24bv97.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/492652/original/file-20221031-7758-24bv97.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/492652/original/file-20221031-7758-24bv97.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">La Société québécoise du cannabis store in Montreal.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Uber <a href="https://news.yahoo.com/much-restaurants-really-order-grubhub-171851427.html">charges food retailers 15 per cent of their total revenue</a> to those that provide their own delivery service and use the platform solely to take orders (30 per cent if Uber’s drivers are used). Assuming Uber takes a similar bite out of cannabis retailers’ profits, there isn’t margin enough for this to make sense to retailers. The math just doesn’t work.</p>
<p>The value offered by Leafly in this arrangement is unspecified, but given their <a href="https://investor.leafly.com/news/news-details/2022/Leafly-Holdings-Inc.-Reports-Second-Quarter-2022-Financial-Results/default.aspx">recent losses in both end user and retail accounts</a>, it may be in the deal to merely juice their stock price.</p>
<h2>Uber and Leafly come out on top</h2>
<p>Arguments claiming that this partnership will help <a href="https://www.cannabisbusinesstimes.com/article/leafly-uber-eats-delivery-partnership/">reduce cannabis-impared driving and the size of the illicit market</a> are simply not defensible. While <a href="https://madd.ca/pages/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/Alcohol-and-or-Drugs-Among-Crash-Victims-Dying-Within-12-Months2c-by-Jurisdiction-Canada2c-2014_April-202c-2018.pdf">driving while high is a serious and increasingly prevalent issue</a>, the existence of another cannabis delivery service will not affect the current statistics.</p>
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<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/cannabis-impaired-driving-heres-what-we-know-about-the-risks-of-weed-behind-the-wheel-173823">Cannabis-impaired driving: Here’s what we know about the risks of weed behind the wheel</a>
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<p>There are already plenty of delivery options for people who would rather stay on the right side of the law and avoid driving to the nearest store. Similarly, consumers who are interested in purchasing legal weed, not black market weed, already have the means to do so.</p>
<p>There is no reason why an Uber Eats-specific delivery service will have any more of an impact than current delivery services do. It also remains to be seen if people will want to use Uber to buy their weed in the first place, considering the options already available.</p>
<p>It’s clear that retailers and consumers will not be the winners in this new partnership — that honour goes to the middlemen, Uber and Leafly. At the moment, that seems to be the state of the Canadian cannabis industry — business is booming for provincial wholesalers, while private retailers and cannabis producers are left in the lurch.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/192914/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Brad Poulos does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>A third platform for ordering cannabis in Ontario provides little to no benefit to consumers or retailers.Brad Poulos, Lecturer and Ambassador for Cannabis Education, Entrepreneurship and Strategy Department, Toronto Metropolitan UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1927042022-10-20T13:14:12Z2022-10-20T13:14:12ZCorporate spending in state politics and elections can affect everything from your wallet to your health<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/490190/original/file-20221017-7289-9wr57o.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C4%2C2916%2C2004&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">From Alaska to Alabama, corporations spend money to shape their local business environments, resources and regulations. </span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/photo/campaign-donations-royalty-free-image/1398882607?phrase=political%20donations&adppopup=true">Douglas Rissing/ iStock / Getty Images Plus</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Political spending by corporations is big business. </p>
<p>As one corporate executive with experience in business-government relations says, “A company that is dependent on government that does not donate to politicians is engaging in corporate malpractice.” </p>
<p>Our research group heard that statement during a series of interviews with industry insiders that we conducted for <a href="https://journals.aom.org/doi/abs/10.5465/amj.2017.1258">a study on corporate political strategy and involvement</a> in U.S. state politics. </p>
<p>In the 2020 election cycle, private interests spent <a href="https://www.opensecrets.org/political-action-committees-pacs/2022">US$486 million on campaign contributions</a> to U.S. federal election candidates and over <a href="https://www.opensecrets.org/federal-lobbying">$7 billion</a> to lobby Congress and federal agencies.</p>
<p>The 2022 cycle could be a record period if recent trends are any indication. At the federal level, <a href="https://www.opensecrets.org/news/2020/12/most-expensive-races-of-all-time-senate2020/">nine of the 10 most expensive Senate races to date happened during the 2020 election cycle</a>. Notably, Georgia was home to the <a href="https://www.opensecrets.org/news/2021/01/georgia-senate-races-shatter-records/">two most expensive Senate contests of all time in 2020</a>, with candidates and outside groups spending over $800 million on the two races combined.</p>
<p>Data from campaign finance monitor the <a href="https://www.opensecrets.org/federal-lobbying/top-spenders">Center for Responsive Politics</a> shows that those companies most affected by government regulation spend more. The operations of Facebook owner Meta, for example, could be heavily affected by government legislation, whether from laws concerning <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-42096185">net neutrality</a>, <a href="https://gdpr.eu/the-gdpr-meets-its-first-challenge-facebook/">data privacy</a> or <a href="https://www.abajournal.com/magazine/article/social-clashes-digital-free-speech">censorship</a>. Meta spent nearly $7.8 million in contributions and $36.4 million in lobbying <a href="https://www.opensecrets.org/orgs/summary?toprecipcycle=2020&contribcycle=2020&lobcycle=2020&outspendcycle=2020&id=D000033563&topnumcycle=2020">during the 2020 cycle</a>. </p>
<p>This kind of political spending is also common across state governments. From Alaska to Alabama, <a href="https://www.followthemoney.org/">corporations spend huge sums of money</a> to influence policymaking because they depend on their local business environments, resources and regulations. </p>
<p>Contributions to gubernatorial and state legislative candidates <a href="https://www.followthemoney.org/research/institute-reports/joint-report-reveals-record-donations-in-2020-state-and-federal-races">set records during the 2020 cycle</a>, nearing $1.9 billion. That was up from $1.57 billion during the 2016 cycle and $1.4 billion during the 2012 cycle. Contributions in the 2020 cycle represented a nearly 21% increase from 2016. Both major political parties tend to receive roughly the same level of contributions, though the numbers can vary from year to year.</p>
<p>As the next election approaches, corporate involvement in state politics is vital to understand. </p>
<p>Companies’ attempts to manage state regulations have important effects on their operations directly as well as on state revenues and on the lives of state residents. Corporations can affect <a href="https://academic.oup.com/sf/article-abstract/90/3/947/2235830">the air that you breathe, the water you drink</a> and <a href="https://apnews.com/bd8a878c5fe84ea48ffbcf05b4edba0e">the taxes you pay</a>. </p>
<h2>External forces spark donations</h2>
<p>A <a href="https://journals.aom.org/doi/abs/10.5465/amj.2017.1258">study we conducted</a> with colleagues <a href="https://robins.richmond.edu/faculty/asutton/">Trey Sutton</a> and <a href="https://business.fsu.edu/person/bruce-lamont">Bruce Lamont</a> provides insight into the details of when and why corporations contribute to state gubernatorial and legislative candidates. </p>
<p>We examined political contributions by publicly traded companies in elections for governor and the legislature across the 50 U.S. states. The companies we studied (e.g., ExxonMobil and 3M) all operate in environmentally intensive industries – oil and gas, chemical, energy and manufacturing industries. Specifically, the companies in these industries have industrial manufacturing processes <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/christopherhelman/2013/06/10/americas-20-worst-corporate-air-polluters/#403cf82d41c6">that create toxic releases</a>. </p>
<p>We also interviewed industry insiders, political affairs consultants and lobbyists to complement our empirical findings. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/343567/original/file-20200623-188882-1tzlhzd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/343567/original/file-20200623-188882-1tzlhzd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=374&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/343567/original/file-20200623-188882-1tzlhzd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=374&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/343567/original/file-20200623-188882-1tzlhzd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=374&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/343567/original/file-20200623-188882-1tzlhzd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=470&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/343567/original/file-20200623-188882-1tzlhzd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=470&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/343567/original/file-20200623-188882-1tzlhzd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=470&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">ExxonMobil is one of many companies that will likely spend a lot of money on upcoming elections.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/anastasia-hinchsliff-fuels-her-suv-at-an-exxon-mobile-gas-news-photo/103157613?adppopup=true">John Gress/Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>At the core, companies spend when they are dependent on states, meaning that they have vested interests and operations in a state that are subject to regulation. Regulation creates uncertainty for managers – which they don’t like. Spending helps alleviate the uncertainty by influencing what regulation may be imposed. </p>
<p>Our study went beyond this observation, and had four major insights:</p>
<p><strong>1. Corporations spend when they are worried about negative media coverage prompting what they perceive to be potentially harmful regulations.</strong></p>
<p>As one executive told us, “We spend a lot of time tracking media and local advocacy groups. We track [them] on a daily basis, and I get a report each week.” </p>
<p>Media coverage can drive public perceptions of corporations and influence politicians’ views. In particular, media coverage can amplify misdeeds of companies across states, which worries managers who do not want to see new regulations. In line with this, we found that the companies spent 70% more in states they operated in when national media coverage was more negative rather than less negative. </p>
<p>We found that this effect was exclusive to national media coverage as opposed to local media coverage. Specifically, when local media coverage was more negative, it did not appear to affect political spending. </p>
<p><strong>2. Corporations spend when there are powerful social movement organizations – for example, environmental protection groups – within a state.</strong></p>
<p>“Public relations firms are routinely engaged to monitor activists and the media, because if you don’t watch them, they can create regulatory change. You have to get ahead of it,” an executive said. </p>
<p>Social movement organizations (e.g., Sierra Club and the Rainforest Action Network) help <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/3312913?casa_token=5XA3RUoopBYAAAAA%3Agc06Z6cwRA6ODbgPUOkHwk2Ea7XB43KocZhFtMZjaTyH0UlKbOim5uAZS9QniQ1k9hXjtwGYyCEbovm__npFAuKOb467j57cqa12omJC4o1tzHJrUl--&seq=1#metadata_info_tab_contents">shape public opinion on important issues, pursue institutional change and can prompt legal reform</a> as well, which is a concern to corporations. Our research indicated that in states where they had operations, companies spent 102% more when facing greater opposition from social movement organizations than they would have on average. </p>
<p><strong>3. Corporations spend to gain a seat at the legislative table to communicate their interests.</strong></p>
<p>A political affairs consultant and lobbyist said, “Regulations are a negotiation, there is not a logic, no rule of law, lobbyists come in here…” In essence, legislators rely on policy experts and analysts, among others, when crafting new legislation, but often, solutions can be unclear with competing demands and interests. </p>
<p>Our interviewees shared with us that companies spread their contributions around to those politicians who they believe will listen to their causes and concerns – regardless of party. </p>
<p>They described themselves as wanting their voices heard on particular issues and as important players in the states in which they operate due to the employment and tax base they bring to states. </p>
<p>Boeing, for example, was the <a href="https://www.bizjournals.com/seattle/news/2021/10/06/amazon-microsoft-boeing-largest-employers.html">largest private employer in Washington state for decades</a> and has been able to <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-boeing-incentives/boeing-lobby-group-team-up-to-defend-8-7-billion-in-state-tax-breaks-idUSKBN14U23V">secure tax breaks</a> as a result. This is despite <a href="https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/environment/boeing-discharge-to-duwamish-violates-pcb-standards/">documented environmental problems that Boeing’s operations have had in the state.</a> </p>
<p><strong>4. Corporations spend because they see it as <a href="https://www.businessroundtable.org/about-us">consistent with their responsibility to stakeholders</a>.</strong> </p>
<p>“Companies mostly want certainty, they want to know the bottom line, and engagement can create opportunities,” said one political affairs consultant. </p>
<p>Corporations have a legal and ethical responsibility to their stakeholders. Company leaders often believe they are upholding their responsibilities to shareholders, employees, communities, customers and suppliers by participating in the political process. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/343565/original/file-20200623-188936-v56a1n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/343565/original/file-20200623-188936-v56a1n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/343565/original/file-20200623-188936-v56a1n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/343565/original/file-20200623-188936-v56a1n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/343565/original/file-20200623-188936-v56a1n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/343565/original/file-20200623-188936-v56a1n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/343565/original/file-20200623-188936-v56a1n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">California lawmakers often set more stringent environmental policies than most other states.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/state-capitol-building-sacramento-california-news-photo/661870070?adppopup=true">Education Images/Universal Images Group via Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>What are the stakes?</h2>
<p>There can be huge repercussions for companies in state regulation. As one political affairs consultant told us, “[Regulation] is the pot at the end of the rainbow that could create endless possibilities of profit. It’s the only thing that stands between them and unending profits …” </p>
<p>Ride hailing service Uber, for example, mounted <a href="https://www.theregreview.org/2018/06/28/schriever-uber-lyft-lobby-deregulation-preemption/">protracted political campaigns</a> aimed at state legislatures and local governments to protect the company’s interests. One result: The ride hailing service has been able to get independent contractor status for their drivers in many states, which means the company does not have to provide unemployment insurance, workers’ compensation and other benefits. </p>
<p>Passage of regulations in large states like California, for example, can have nearly as much impact as a national regulation, making their passage far more significant for companies working nationally. </p>
<p>Since California sets more <a href="https://theconversation.com/why-california-gets-to-write-its-own-auto-emissions-standards-5-questions-answered-94379">stringent emissions standards</a> for vehicles than most other states, manufacturers designing cars for the U.S. market must make sure their vehicles can pass these standards. In this way, California and other states <a href="https://www.latimes.com/politics/story/2020-06-22/nevada-will-adopt-californias-car-pollution-standards">following its lead</a> pose a larger regulatory hurdle for auto manufacturers. </p>
<h2>Where does this leave us?</h2>
<p>Corporate involvement in state politics is an important phenomenon. Corporations provide needed products and services, and also bring jobs and increased investment to states, which can strengthen communities and state economies. Their operations also can bring health and environmental problems for state residents.</p>
<p><a href="https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/where-are-georgias-senate-candidates-getting-all-that-cash-from/">As the 2020 Georgia U.S. Senate races suggest</a>, campaign donations for candidates for federal office increasingly come from outside the state. <a href="https://www.followthemoney.org/research/institute-reports/joint-report-reveals-record-donations-in-2020-state-and-federal-races">While this pattern does not pervade state elections yet</a>, it raises questions about politicians’ responsiveness to the issues most relevant to their local constituencies.</p>
<p>Given the changed business landscape – <a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/how-much-covid-19-cost-those-businesses-that-stayed-open-11592910575">and increased operating costs</a> – caused by the coronavirus pandemic, we expect that businesses across the country will continue to be interested in influencing policies ranging from workplace safety to local and state tax breaks. This interest will likely translate into significant spending in the upcoming election, to both major parties and their candidates.</p>
<p>And that political spending will affect everything from your wallet to your health.</p>
<p><em>This is an updated version of a <a href="https://theconversation.com/money-talks-big-business-political-strategy-and-corporate-involvement-in-us-state-politics-140686">story originally published on June 29, 2020</a>.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/192704/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Businesses can spend huge amounts of money to influence Congress. But sizable lobbyist and campaign donations also go to state campaigns and lawmakers to influence policymaking.Richard A. Devine, Assistant Professor of Management, DePaul UniversityR. Michael Holmes Jr., Jim Moran Professor of Strategic Management, Florida State UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1910202022-10-04T15:46:12Z2022-10-04T15:46:12ZBlaming poor labour conditions in Ghana’s transport sector on ride-hailing companies misses the deeper issues<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/486496/original/file-20220926-24-205g44.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Ride hailing companies have found success in the transport sector in Ghana.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">G.KBediako/Wikimedia Commons</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Ride-hailing services like Uber and Lyft have become ubiquitous in many parts of the world over the past decade. <a href="https://www.lltjournal.ca/index.php/llt/article/view/6075/7028">Criticism of their business model</a> has also become commonplace: ride-hailing companies are frequently accused of destroying traditional taxi businesses, undermining wages, and creating the digital <a href="https://isiarticles.com/bundles/Article/pre/pdf/100073.pdf">equivalent of sweatshops</a>.</p>
<p>Though many of the complaints have emanated from <a href="https://www.lltjournal.ca/index.php/llt/article/view/6075/7028">wealthier countries</a> in the West, there are growing concerns that such companies’ African operations are not above reproach. From Abuja to Cape Town, Cairo to Nairobi, <a href="https://africasacountry.com/2018/04/what-is-uber-up-to-in-africa">researchers are documenting</a> the precarious conditions in which drivers operate.</p>
<p>In our <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41599-022-01258-6">recent paper</a>, we examined the situation in Ghana. We interviewed drivers, riders, car owners and other scholars who are researching Ghana’s ride-hailing industry. </p>
<p>We found that the popular narrative of blaming the industry’s precarious labour conditions on ride-hailing companies is problematic. It deflects attention from the structural enablers of the conditions (which predate the companies), while fomenting life-threatening hatred for the drivers who work with them. </p>
<p>Our analysis draws attention to the need to address the broader societal influences of labour exploitation in Ghana’s urban transport sector. These include the inadequate prioritisation of the creation of adequate, secure jobs and strong labour protections.</p>
<h2>It’s no joyride</h2>
<p>Some ride-hailing drivers own their cars. But the majority operate under either <em>‘sales’</em> or <em>‘work and pay’</em> contracts. Drivers employed under sales contracts operate their cars as a sort of franchise and pay a daily or weekly fee to the owners. </p>
<p>They also have to foot daily operational expenses including companies’ commissions; the cost of fuel, internet and sometimes maintenance. The drivers’ take home is what remains after deducting the sales and operational costs. </p>
<p>Under the work and pay contract system, however, the driver operates the car and pays the owner a weekly or monthly sum up to a pre-agreed vehicle value, after which ownership of the vehicle transfers to the driver. </p>
<p>Car owners, under both sales and work and pay contract systems, normally demand weekly returns of GH¢ 400–500 from drivers. These arrangements did not arrive with the emerging of the ride-hailing industry; they have long existed in the traditional taxi business and are merely being copied by the industry’s players.</p>
<p>Unlike tro-tro (minibus) and taxi drivers, ride-hailing drivers serve two masters: the company and the car owners. This doubles their financial obligations and contributes to tremendous financial precarity, which seeps into the rest of their lives. They work long hours and sometimes sleep in their cars. One driver in Accra told us that some of his colleagues:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>…don’t even go home; they have their toothbrushes, sponge, and towel in their cars. They drive from morning to evening, park at filling stations, take a nap, take a bath and continue driving.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>These experiences may suggest that ride-hailing activities are creating shaky labour conditions. However, as we have <a href="https://theconversation.com/why-fines-and-jail-time-wont-change-the-behaviour-of-ghanas-minibus-drivers-155379">extensively documented elsewhere</a>, the tro-tro and shared taxi drivers who dominate Ghana’s urban public transport sector operate under similar conditions.</p>
<p>The fact that both traditional and ride-hailing company drivers face similar precarious conditions suggests that the roots of the labour issues in Ghana’s urban transport sector go deeper. </p>
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<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/why-fines-and-jail-time-wont-change-the-behaviour-of-ghanas-minibus-drivers-155379">Why fines and jail time won't change the behaviour of Ghana's minibus drivers</a>
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<h2>Tracing the roots of the problem</h2>
<p>Most people walk a great deal to access work and services in <a href="http://airqualityandmobility.org/STR/NMTStrategy_Ghana_200402.pdf">Ghana’s cities</a>. For longer distances, however, they rely on the ubiquitous tro-tros, shared taxis and, in recent times, <em>Okada</em> (motorcycles).</p>
<p>While being <em>‘popular’</em> in the sense that they are widely used, these privately-run transport modes remain marginal in terms of public support and investment. The operators are highly fragmented, and financial capital is thus dispersed. </p>
<p>Their business perspective largely focuses on individual short-term profits, which are also generally low. These conditions undermine a deeper focus on investing in vehicle maintenance/replacement or digital innovations to improve service delivery. </p>
<p>Their regular use means that large numbers of passengers and workers are exposed to high levels of discomfort, safety and other problems which undermine the quality of passengers’ experience.</p>
<p>It is against this backdrop that ride-hailing arrived in Ghana; Uber was the first to launch operations there in July 2016. It alone is estimated to have <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41599-022-01258-6#Sec5">180,000 active riders</a> and some <a href="https://qz.com/africa/1090738/uber-is-marking-four-years-in-africa/">3,000 driver-partners</a>.</p>
<p>Our interviewees told us that ride-hailing companies are driving up the standards of commercial passenger transport. Ride-hailing trips are generally seen as affordable compared to hiring traditional taxicabs. The trips are also traceable, which reassures users that they can recover lost items or track down criminal drivers and passengers.</p>
<p>The problem, however, is that ride-hailing companies do not offer their drivers guaranteed incomes or wages. Neither do they pay them any benefits like social security. In fact, they <em>strenuously</em> avoid such employment obligations, insisting that their drivers are not their <a href="https://arizonastatelawjournal.org/2020/11/10/employees-or-independent-contractors-uber-and-lyft-avoid-reclassifying-their-drivers/">“employees”</a>.</p>
<p>The companies have been able to implement this business model easily in Ghana because the youth are desperate for jobs. To put the issue of youth unemployment into perspective, in 2018, the Ghana Immigration Service received <a href="https://www.pulse.com.gh/ece-frontpage/immigration-recruitment-only-500-out-of-84-000-applicants-will-be-employed-by/7dzdb3m">84,000 applications for just 500 entry level vacancies</a>.</p>
<p>Ghana’s youth unemployment, as with the problems with the popular transport systems, is linked to policy marginalisation. Successive governments have failed to create or stimulate the creation of enough secure jobs. Meanwhile, the state barely concerns itself with employment practices and labour relations and conditions in the <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41599-020-0502-8">passenger transport sector</a>. </p>
<p>These conditions are what have created room for international (and a few indigenous) ride-hailing companies and other powerful private interests (including vehicle owners) to profit from the labour of drivers they do not <em>‘employ’</em>. These issues will persist even if ride-hailing companies shut down tomorrow. </p>
<h2>Towards better protection</h2>
<p>All of these issues have led to dangerous tension between ride-hailing drivers and traditional drivers. Some have <a href="https://africasacountry.com/2018/04/what-is-uber-up-to-in-africa">been killed; cars are frequently burned</a>. Luckily Ghana hasn’t yet experienced any violent skirmishes – but <a href="https://trid.trb.org/view/1675221">the animosity</a> between different kinds of drivers is growing. </p>
<p>Ghana can learn from the emerging developments in <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2019/09/11/california-passes-assembly-bill-5-for-gig-workers.html">the US</a> and <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/02/19/business/uber-drivers-britain.html">the UK</a>, where lawmakers and the courts are strengthening labour protections for gig workers, including ride-hailing company drivers. </p>
<p>In some Australian cities, like Sydney, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2022/sep/22/nsw-levy-on-ride-hailing-and-taxi-passengers-extended-until-2029">lawmakers introduced rules that created an equal playing field for taxis and ride-hailing companies</a>. </p>
<p>If left unregulated, drivers of all stripes will continue to be disadvantaged. That’s bad for them, and it’s bad for their passengers. Now is the time for authorities to act.</p>
<p>Dr <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=uwa35PwAAAAJ&hl=en">Kingsley Tetteh Baako</a> of RMIT University, Australia contributed to the <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41599-022-01258-6#Sec5">original article</a>.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/191020/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Lawmakers and courts in Ghana must strengthen protections for drivers of ride hailing companiesFestival Godwin Boateng, Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Centre for Sustainable Urban Development, The Earth Institute, Columbia UniversitySamuelson Appau, Assistant Professor, Melbourne Business SchoolLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1873192022-08-30T09:56:30Z2022-08-30T09:56:30ZUber files: how World Bank-sponsored research on gender painted the company in a positive light<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/478341/original/file-20220809-25-jmxion.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=20%2C20%2C4432%2C2937&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Uber claims its business model helps women - but it is unclear where independent research ends and corporate lobbying begins.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/asian-girl-wearing-hijab-driving-happy-353150720">Faiz Zaki / Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>The recent leak of 124,000 confidential Uber documents has shed light on some of the ethically questionable activities that have arguably helped fuel the ride-hailing company’s global rise. Among allegations of law breaking and the secret lobbying of government figures, the <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/news/2022/jul/10/uber-files-leak-reveals-global-lobbying-campaign">“Uber files”</a> show that the company <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/news/2022/jul/12/uber-paid-academics-six-figure-sums-for-research-to-feed-to-the-media">paid academics</a> to <a href="https://www.promarket.org/2022/07/12/relationships-with-academics-is-at-the-center-of-the-uber-files-revelations/%20Relationships%20With%20Academics%20at%20the%20Center%20of%20the%20Uber%20Files%20Revelations">produce research</a> <a href="https://the-blindspot.com/spotlight-on-the-uber-files/">on the company</a> – often co-authored with Uber’s own employees. While of course not illegal, this raises questions about the role of academics and research in corporate lobbying. </p>
<p>The files and messages, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/news/2022/jul/10/uber-files-leak-reveals-global-lobbying-campaign">leaked to The Guardian</a>, appear to show that Uber used this research to push a positive narrative about the company and to argue against regulation. One <a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B1s08BdVqCgrZWZrQnVWNUFPNFE/view?resourcekey=0--ZI1Rxp0KHe7hk4wSLGTJg">study</a> published in 2016, co-authored with an Uber employee, suggested that Uber provided a way for poor youth in France to escape unemployment. It found that this group would become “highly vulnerable” if action was taken against drivers who violated licensing rules. </p>
<p>The rigour, <a href="https://www.timeshighereducation.com/news/bias-fears-over-uber-academic-research-programme">independence</a> and use of research like this has been questioned by transport experts like <a href="https://www.promarket.org/2019/12/05/ubers-academic-research-program-how-to-use-famous-economists-to-spread-corporate-narratives/">Hubert Horan</a>, and by some academics. Another <a href="https://www.nber.org/system/files/working_papers/w22843/w22843.pdf">paper</a> published in 2016, again co-authored by an Uber employee, extolled the flexibility and earnings benefits of Uber to drivers in the US. A <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/0019793918798593">2018 analysis</a> of this study found evidence of “sample bias, leading questions, selective reporting of findings, and an overestimation of driver earnings”.</p>
<p>One aspect that has been overlooked in coverage of the Uber files is the role of research about gender equality. This includes work that Uber did with the International Finance Corporation (IFC), part of the World Bank Group, the world’s largest and most influential development institution.</p>
<p>I have researched the World Bank’s gender initiatives for over 20 years. In 2009, I published an <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/43158353">early analysis</a> of how the IFC framed labour market deregulation as beneficial to women’s equality. Since then, I have become increasingly concerned at how the IFC has partnered with companies in particular sectors to produce research on gender equality, including research arguing that deregulating labour markets benefits women. </p>
<p>Researchers disagree over whether labour market deregulation increases gender equality. An independent study of labour market flexibility and women’s employment, prepared for the World Bank’s gender unit by economist Jill Rubery, found that evidence that deregulation benefited women was “relatively thin”, “neither substantial nor always robust”. Rubery urged an approach that <a href="https://academic.oup.com/cje/article-abstract/35/6/1103/3738727?login=false">examined the effects</a> of specific regulations (such as employment protection, minimum wages, unionisation and collective bargaining) on women workers. Other research has also been produced on this topic, some of which is sponsored by companies who will benefit from deregulation.</p>
<p>Uber is one example. In 2018, the IFC partnered with Uber on the research report <a href="https://www.ifc.org/wps/wcm/connect/topics_ext_content/ifc_external_corporate_site/gender+at+ifc/drivingtowardequality">Driving toward Equality: Women, Ride-Hailing, and the Sharing Economy</a>. IFC reports have also touted the <a href="https://www.ifc.org/wps/wcm/connect/a3e296da-ffd8-40b3-a4d3-254fdc1d5231/IFC-LONMIN_WomenInMining_Manual.pdf?MOD=AJPERES&CVID=jaDDmao">mining</a> and <a href="https://www.ifc.org/wps/wcm/connect/7a8950dd-db88-4d52-8b88-fbeb771cf89c/SheforShield_Final-Web2015.pdf?MOD=AJPERES&CVID=nZh46on">insurance</a> sectors as pioneers for women’s empowerment, especially in the global south. Such research blurs the line between company lobbying and independent research about legal and policy frameworks to achieve equality.</p>
<p>This matters because the World Bank Group is highly influential in international development. In the Bank’s 2021 <a href="https://openknowledge.worldbank.org/handle/10986/35219">review of its gender strategy</a>, development partners “identified the Bank Group as producing and contributing to important research in support of gender equality, which they used to inform their own positions”. Development experts from the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency and Global Affairs Canada, interviewed for the 2021 review, mentioned “valuable IFC products and initiatives” including the Driving toward Equality report. Findings from Uber-supported research will have registered with key development actors in this sector.</p>
<h2>Driving toward deregulation</h2>
<p>The IFC’s report with Uber, illustrated with glossy photographs of women drivers and riders, described ride-hailing as “a pioneer of the modern sharing economy” that could improve women’s limited mobility. Female drivers could juggle childcare responsibilities while earning income and becoming financially independent. Female passengers could meet complex transport needs with children.</p>
<p>The report used driver and passenger data from Uber to examine how women and men use the company’s services. It also included original research (surveys and interviews) in six case study countries. This research was undertaken by the IFC and Accenture, a consulting and information technology services company. </p>
<p>In a statement to The Conversation, the IFC noted Uber’s willingness to disclose gender-specific data: “Partnerships with platforms like Uber offer a unique opportunity to uncover data that would otherwise not be publicly available, data that are critical if the barriers between women and men are to be closed.”</p>
<p>The acknowledgements in the report note financial contributions from Uber and funding from the IFC. Barney Harford, Uber’s then chief operating officer, wrote the foreword, expressing pride that the company had recently passed a key milestone of a million women drivers: “Driving with Uber gives women flexibility, allowing them to balance their work with other responsibilities and commitments they have.”</p>
<p>The report contained the disclaimer that it “does not examine public policy or regulatory frameworks that hinder or advance sharing economy models”. The IFC told The Conversation that this was important to include because of “ongoing litigation at that time related to the definition of employees, entrepreneurs, and independent contractors”.</p>
<p>Still, it warned that barriers for drivers to enter the sector were a challenge to be overcome, if women’s opportunities for empowerment were to be realised. The barriers listed included requiring commercial licenses to drive on the platform. This requirement – common in many countries, <a href="https://www.uber.com/gb/en/drive/requirements/get-a-license/">including the UK</a> – presented a direct challenge to Uber’s expansion plans.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A young woman holds a smartphone in her hand and flags down a taxi" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/479150/original/file-20220815-15-wqz6mv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/479150/original/file-20220815-15-wqz6mv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/479150/original/file-20220815-15-wqz6mv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/479150/original/file-20220815-15-wqz6mv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/479150/original/file-20220815-15-wqz6mv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/479150/original/file-20220815-15-wqz6mv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/479150/original/file-20220815-15-wqz6mv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Research with the IFC helped paint a picture of Uber as a force for gender equality for women drivers and passengers.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/young-blonde-woman-standing-city-street-1367448803">Snapic_PhotoProduction / Shutterstock</a></span>
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<p>The report also recommended that ride-hailing companies “partner with financial institutions to develop insurance, pension, and retirement products tailored for independent contractors”. Uber has <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2021/03/18/uber-is-reclassifying-uk-drivers-as-workers-heres-what-happens-next.html">long resisted</a> legal pressure to classify drivers as employees. In most countries, employees are entitled to better benefits, such as maternity and sick leave, than independent contractors. The IFC’s report used Uber’s preferred framework – of drivers as contractors, not employees – despite claiming not to take a position on such regulatory issues. </p>
<p>In further evidence that the IFC replicated corporate narratives about Uber’s benefits, the report cites several of the academic papers that the Uber files identified as linked to company lobbying. This includes <a href="https://www.nber.org/papers/w22627">one</a> – co-authored by two Uber employees – which argues that Uber creates billions in consumer welfare benefits. A <a href="https://www.promarket.org/2019/12/05/ubers-academic-research-program-how-to-use-famous-economists-to-spread-corporate-narratives">counterargument</a> by transport economist Horan examines Uber’s losses and the unsustainable use of investor money to subsidise rides. </p>
<p>The IFC told The Conversation that the findings from that paper (about the benefits of improved mobility and job access for women) were corroborated in a <a href="https://www.ifc.org/wps/wcm/connect/945c2c3d-f313-49de-bf31-ee22e77181be/Women+and+Ride-Hailing+in+Sri+Lanka.pdf?MOD=AJPERES&CVID=noy9xSK">separate study</a> it conducted with a ride-hailing platform in Sri Lanka. The IFC said it is not accurate to say that the report with Uber was aimed at supporting an organisation’s corporate narrative. </p>
<h2>Uber’s gender reality</h2>
<p>In addition to providing arguments against regulation, these company-sponsored findings are also material that Uber can use to counter its own negative reputation on gender equality.</p>
<p>Uber became notorious for its alleged sexist workplace culture after a former employee alleged sexual harassment at the company in a 2017 <a href="https://www.susanjfowler.com/blog/2017/2/19/reflecting-on-one-very-strange-year-at-uber">blog post</a>. An ongoing <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2022/jul/14/uber-faces-550-passenger-lawsuit-over-alleged-and-assault-in-us">lawsuit</a> also claims that Uber has failed to adequately address passengers’ reports of harassment and assault, including rape, kidnapping and stalking. </p>
<p>In an effort to distance itself from such allegations, Uber <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/bizcarson/2018/02/03/inside-ubers-effort-to-fix-its-culture-through-a-harvard-inspired-university/?sh=35a93de51695">overhauled</a> its company culture and began publishing <a href="https://www.uber.com/newsroom/2022-us-safety-report/">reports on safety</a> in 2019. It also partnered with the US-based anti-sexual violence organisation RAINN to produce courses on “the <a href="https://www.rainn.org/uber">best ways to respect others</a> while riding and driving with Uber”.</p>
<p>Partnering with the IFC and the World Bank gives legitimacy, however questionable, to Uber’s own narrative about its gender equality credentials and business model. This partnership should alert us to take corporate sponsorship of gender and development research far more seriously, and crucially, to question the World Bank’s work with companies, especially when reports recommend deregulation that will benefit those companies.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/187319/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Kate Bedford is Professor of Law and Political Economy at the University of Birmingham. She has received funding for academic research from bodies including the Ford Foundation, UNRISD, and the ESRC. She has never received funding from Uber.</span></em></p>Questionable academic research has been used by Uber to argue against regulation.Kate Bedford, Professor of Law, University of BirminghamLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1882552022-08-10T14:34:19Z2022-08-10T14:34:19ZWhat’s wrong with the Fourth Industrial Revolution<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/477678/original/file-20220804-18-ob8b2x.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">shutterstock</span> </figcaption></figure><p>The “Fourth Industrial Revolution” is a term coined in 2016 by German economist Klaus Schwab. It’s used to describe the technology revolution that the world is going through. But there is growing criticism, particularly in the global south, of how it’s framed. Many are questioning whether it should be considered a revolution at all. </p>
<p>The Fourth Industrial Revolution, according to one view, is a very simplistic narrative that advances a distinct political agenda. It is a kind of exploitation that is being sold as progress. The narrative is being advanced to achieve a specific economic outcome – at the expense of many people in the global south.</p>
<p>Many innovations are happening in the digital technological space. But do they reorganise production and social relations, or do they just entrench past forms of inequality?</p>
<p>Consider the case of the ride-hailing app Uber. It may sound like enticing work for drivers, but there’s more to it. Drivers may face bad working conditions, penalties and other challenges without the security of human resources behind them. </p>
<p>In this episode of Pasha, Ruth Castel-Branco, manager of the Future of Work(ers) research project at the University of the Witwatersrand, joins Nanjala Nyabola, a storyteller and political analyst, in taking us through the seductive idea of the Fourth Industrial Revolution. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/the-fourth-industrial-revolution-a-seductive-idea-requiring-critical-engagement-184475">The Fourth Industrial Revolution: a seductive idea requiring critical engagement</a>
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<p><strong>Photo</strong>
“A smartphone attached to the dash on a vent holder in a moving Uber car. The Uber App shows the route in Cape Town map.” by maurodopereira, found on <a href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/cape-town-south-africa-march-17-1728494632">Shutterstock</a>.</p>
<p><strong>Music</strong>
“Happy African Village” by John Bartmann, found on <a href="http://freemusicarchive.org/music/John_Bartmann/Public_Domain_Soundtrack_Music_Album_One/happy-african-village">FreeMusicArchive.org</a> licensed under <a href="https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/">CC0 1</a>.</p>
<p>“African Moon” by John Bartmann, found on <a href="http://freemusicarchive.org/music/John_Bartmann/Public_Domain_Soundtrack_Music_Album_One/happy-african-village">FreeMusicArchive.org</a> licensed under <a href="https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/">CC0 1</a>.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/188255/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
Innovation in the digital space is not necessarily working for people in the global south.Ozayr Patel, Digital EditorLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1871182022-08-02T20:23:24Z2022-08-02T20:23:24ZThe manipulation of Uber’s public image profoundly impacted the lives of taxi drivers<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/475754/original/file-20220724-31587-tasl57.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C6240%2C4156&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Uber deliberately positioned itself as a tech company to avoid the regulations of the taxi industry.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>In early July, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/news/series/uber-files">the leak of 124,000 confidential files from Uber</a> — known as the “Uber Files” — as part of an investigation by <em>The Guardian</em> revealed how the company knowingly <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/news/2022/jul/10/uber-files-leak-reveals-global-lobbying-campaign">flouted laws</a>, <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/business-62057321">secretly lobbied governments</a> and embraced a long list of “<a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/resources/idt-f2971465-73d2-4932-a889-5c63778e273d">dark tricks</a>” and <a href="https://www.latintimes.com/uber-leaks-reveal-ethically-questionable-actions-potentially-illegal-activity-520492">ethically questionable</a> practices as it grew into the tech giant we know today.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/the-uber-files-leaked-documents-reveal-a-strategy-of-chaos-has-anything-changed-186770">The Uber files: leaked documents reveal a strategy of chaos – has anything changed?</a>
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<p>Implicating high-profile government officials, media barons, academics and more, the leak <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/news/2022/jul/15/the-uber-files-how-the-leak-prompted-outrage-across-the-world">has rightfully triggered outrage</a> and a slew of questions.</p>
<p>It’s crucial to recognize that Uber’s controversial behaviour during its aggressive <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/news/2022/jul/10/uber-files-timeline-parisian-eureka-moment-global-domination">global expansion</a> didn’t just help the company build its global empire. It put taxi drivers’ livelihoods at risk and negatively impacted their lives.</p>
<h2>Enabling Uber</h2>
<p>Our team, consisting of researchers at business schools across Canada, has studied Uber’s expansion into cities during the period covered by the leaked documents that have been <a href="https://www.icij.org/investigations/uber-files/">shared with the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists</a>. </p>
<p>In our published research on Uber’s entry into Toronto from 2013 to 2016, we explain how Uber and other groups manipulated the public perception of both Uber and the taxi industry. Uber’s entry stratified the taxi-driving profession by <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/joms.12574">materially and symbolically elevating Uber drivers over taxi drivers</a>.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A man driving a car with a passenger in the backseat" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/476373/original/file-20220727-15-3szen0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/476373/original/file-20220727-15-3szen0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=364&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/476373/original/file-20220727-15-3szen0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=364&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/476373/original/file-20220727-15-3szen0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=364&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/476373/original/file-20220727-15-3szen0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=458&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/476373/original/file-20220727-15-3szen0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=458&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/476373/original/file-20220727-15-3szen0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=458&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Uber portrayed its drivers as part-time workers who made a good income.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span>
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</figure>
<p>What the Uber Files leak indicates is that the manipulation of Uber’s image at the cost of the taxi industry was due to more than Uber’s lack of decorum and disregard of local laws. It was the product of an ecosystem of actors — including public officials, media and Uber — that allowed Uber to cast a shadow over the taxi industry.</p>
<h2>Tech company</h2>
<p>Our research looked at the dynamics and impact of Uber’s entry into Toronto, including its growing recognition as a tech company and its eventual <a href="https://www.thestar.com/news/city_hall/2016/08/16/toronto-grants-uber-first-ever-canadian-licence-to-operate.html">legalization as a private transportation company</a>. We found that Uber spokespeople, public officials and the media created a categorical distinction by pointing to technology to explain why Uber was not a taxi company, and highlighting differences between the perceived identities of Uber drivers and taxi drivers.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/how-uber-drivers-avoided-and-contributed-to-the-fate-of-taxi-drivers-158339">How Uber drivers avoided — and contributed to — the fate of taxi drivers</a>
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<p>The differences between Uber and taxi drivers were manufactured and didn’t necessarily reflect reality. For example, Uber drivers were constantly described as <a href="https://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/economy/jobs/rise-of-sharing-services-uber-airbnb-points-to-a-precarious-labour-climate/article26968204/">working part-time</a>, as opposed to taxi drivers who drive full-time. But many Uber drivers were often driving full-time, as some Uber drivers we interviewed pointed out:</p>
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<p>The perception that people have is that the Uber drivers are not really — this is not their job. This is just an income, a different type to substitute whatever… I’ve heard that a lot of people are doing this full-time.</p>
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<p>Meanwhile, although Uber drivers were often portrayed in the media as <a href="https://nationalpost.com/news/canada/summer-of-uber-everything-you-need-to-know-about-the-upstart-ride-sharing-service">making more than taxi drivers</a>, the leaked documents show that Uber’s leadership knew that Uber drivers’ earnings sometimes <a href="https://www.thestar.com/news/investigations/2022/07/10/uber-files-reveal-playbook-that-fueled-ride-share-firms-rise.html">fell below minimum wage</a>.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/taxi-driver-compensation-for-uber-is-unfair-and-poorly-implemented-64354">Taxi driver compensation for Uber is unfair and poorly implemented</a>
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<p>Such portrayed differences had profound effects on the lives of Uber and taxi drivers, serving as foundational building blocks in the construction of a positive image for Uber drivers and a negative image of taxi drivers during Uber’s very public expansion.</p>
<p>Uber’s categorization as a technology company paved the way for them to operate on their own terms and the eventual creation of a new set of <a href="https://www.thestar.com/opinion/contributors/2022/07/15/dont-close-the-uber-files-this-story-is-not-over-in-toronto.html">favourable bylaws</a> that gave them a competitive advantage over the highly regulated taxi industry.</p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/475753/original/file-20220724-30608-5da8r6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A row of BECK TAXIS" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/475753/original/file-20220724-30608-5da8r6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/475753/original/file-20220724-30608-5da8r6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/475753/original/file-20220724-30608-5da8r6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/475753/original/file-20220724-30608-5da8r6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/475753/original/file-20220724-30608-5da8r6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/475753/original/file-20220724-30608-5da8r6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/475753/original/file-20220724-30608-5da8r6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">In Toronto, Ont., Uber drivers and taxi drivers were pitted against each other in the media.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span>
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<h2>Public polarization</h2>
<p>When Uber entered Toronto, Uber drivers and taxi drivers were polarized in the mainstream discourse and portrayed as being at war with each other. Yet taxi drivers were often portrayed as the bad guys losing every battle, as an article in <em>The National Post</em> illustrates: “taxi drivers are losing the PR war: <a href="https://nationalpost.com/opinion/robyn-urback-protesting-taxi-drivers-expedite-their-own-demise">it’s impossible to sympathize with people who are acting like thugs</a>.”</p>
<p>Uber’s aggressive tactics received some negative coverage, but there was a distinctively positive sentiment associated with Uber.</p>
<p>As we interviewed taxi drivers, it was apparent that they were frustrated. All they wanted was for Uber to play by the rules and for the city to hold Uber to the same standards as taxis. In their minds, the city was letting “<a href="https://www.thestar.com/news/city_hall/2015/09/09/toronto-city-staff-open-door-to-legalizing-uberx.html">an unfair two-tier system</a>” emerge, allowing Uber to put taxi drivers’ livelihoods at risk.</p>
<h2>Supported manipulation</h2>
<p>In Toronto, the rise of Uber at the cost of taxis was partly the result of actions by various groups, and not a singular concerted effort by Uber.</p>
<p>Journalists around the world, including in Toronto, have reported on how the leaked data reveals how <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/carlieporterfield/2022/07/10/uber-courted-politicians-to-help-it-expand-worldwide-despite-other-than-legal-status-leaked-docs-reportedly-show/">Uber tried to shore up support by discreetly courting</a> key and powerful members of society.</p>
<p>Globally, attention has fallen on how Emmanuel Macron, then France’s economy minister, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/news/2022/jul/10/emmanuel-macron-secretly-aided-uber-lobbying-drive-france-leak-reveals">aided Uber by brokering a secret deal</a>. Documents also reportedly show that in France, “<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/news/2022/jul/12/uber-paid-academics-six-figure-sums-for-research-to-feed-to-the-media">Uber paid academics six-figure sums for research to feed to the media</a>” as a part of Uber’s overall strategy to target academics and think tanks to “help it construct a positive narrative” and lobby for favourable conditions and rules.</p>
<p>It has also been reported that Uber’s policy team worked to secure an “<a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/business/uber-ride-hailing-ijic-1.6514563">extremely positive response</a>” from the <a href="https://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2022/07/13/toronto-mayor-rejects-allegations-of-improper-links-between-his-office-and-uber.html">City of Toronto</a>.</p>
<p>The leaked documents also show how the strategic construction of Uber’s categorization and Uber drivers’ perceived identities was <a href="https://www.thestar.com/news/investigations/2022/07/10/uber-files-reveal-playbook-that-fueled-ride-share-firms-rise.html">central to Uber’s business</a>. </p>
<p>Ultimately, what happened in Toronto — Uber’s celebrated rise and eventual codification into local bylaws — shows us that Uber’s success in constructing its desired image was supported in part by the actions of public officials and media. Unfortunately, that image separated Uber drivers from taxi drivers, despite the two groups fundamentally having the same job. All this fuelled a whirlwind of developments that have profoundly impacted the lives of taxi drivers.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/187118/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Kam Phung has previously received funding from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC).</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Luciana Turchick Hakak has previously received funding from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC).</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Madeline Toubiana has received funding from from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC). </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Trish Ruebottom receives funding from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC). </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Sean Buchanan does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>The Uber Files leak reveals that the company embarked on a deliberate public relations strategy that involved the media, public officials and academics.Kam Phung, Assistant Professor of Business & Society, Simon Fraser UniversityLuciana Turchick Hakak, Assistant Professor, Organizational Behaviour, University of The Fraser ValleyMadeline Toubiana, Associate Professor, Entrepreneurship and Organization, L’Université d’Ottawa/University of OttawaSean Buchanan, Assistant Professor of Business Administration, University of ManitobaTrish Ruebottom, Associate Professor of HR and Management, McMaster UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1861472022-08-01T13:54:01Z2022-08-01T13:54:01ZRide-hailing in Lagos: algorithmic impacts and driver resistance<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/474861/original/file-20220719-14-y0eref.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C25%2C4249%2C2796&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">A driver checking the Uber App.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/by-cyril-belaud-a-non-licensed-private-cab-driver-working-news-photo/508330288?adppopup=true">Simon Maina/AFP via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>In July 2014, the ride-hailing app Uber emerged in Lagos, offering the public improved mobility through technology. Uber, at the time, was valued at <a href="https://www.bizjournals.com/sanfrancisco/blog/techflash/2014/08/uber-doubles-reach-200-cities.html">US$18 billion</a> and had launched in 205 cities. Its competitor, Bolt, arrived in Nigeria in 2016. </p>
<p>These apps enable passengers to request a taxi service immediately. They can see information like the fare range, driver ratings, trip distance and driver’s arrival time. The driver sees the passenger’s location, fare range and passenger rating. The driver gets a short time in which to accept or reject a trip request.</p>
<p>Lagos was an obvious market for a transport solution. The city is Nigeria’s financial, economic and digital hub, with over <a href="https://www.statista.com/statistics/1218259/largest-cities-in-africa/">15.4 million</a> people and a public transport system under strain. From the rider’s point of view, Uber and Bolt offered the benefit of improved vehicles, cheaper fares, efficiency, traceability and safety.</p>
<p>The benefit for potential drivers was employment.</p>
<p>When Uber came to Nigeria, the unemployment rate was around <a href="https://databank.worldbank.org/source/world-development-indicators">4.6%</a>. By the time Bolt arrived in 2016, it had increased to 9.1%. Youth unemployment <a href="https://databank.worldbank.org/source/world-development-indicators">increased</a> from 8.1% to 12.4% in the same period, and there was a recession. It was easy for these platforms to tempt potential drivers and employees with popular phrases like “be your own boss”. These platforms advertised that drivers made between about US$286 and US$477 a week. The minimum wage was 18,000 Naira (US$43.34) a month at the time and even white-collar workers were <a href="https://www.vanguardngr.com/2015/10/nigerian-teacher-a-poorly-paid-professional-expected-to-deliver-gold/">poorly paid</a> and sometimes had to <a href="https://qz.com/africa/663626/nigeria-has-a-culture-of-not-paying-workers-and-its-not-about-to-change-anytime-soon/">wait</a> a long time to be paid. </p>
<p>In 2017, Uber claimed to have 276,000 riders and <a href="https://qz.com/africa/1090738/uber-is-marking-four-years-in-africa/">7,000</a> drivers in Nigeria. </p>
<p>Uber and Bolt seemed to perfect the platform idea. The systems created digital identities for drivers and managed them through algorithms. This was supposed to create transparency, accountability, autonomy, flexibility, safety and security. But it also created challenges for drivers.</p>
<p>I <a href="https://www.sciencegate.app/document/10.1215/00382876-9443378">researched</a> this for my PhD thesis, exploring the impact of algorithmic management on platform drivers in Lagos and how they resisted these hidden forms of control. </p>
<p>For the advantages of ride-hailing platforms to outweigh the challenges, algorithms must reflect the realities of drivers and nuances of the city where they are used. Traceability and safety on platforms must be improved, too, especially as the business model is adopted by more startups across the transport, delivery and domestic work industries. </p>
<h2>Impacts of algorithmic management in Lagos</h2>
<p>The design of the Uber and Bolt platforms demands top-notch service from drivers. This is done through performance evaluations (such as ratings, and acceptance and cancellation rates); transparency of payment (dashboard display of earnings); incentives (promotional trips); and sanctions (disciplining bad or unsafe behaviours by blocking or deactivating drivers). </p>
<p>To understand how this worked in practice in Lagos, I interviewed 25 drivers over six months, took 40 platform trips and carried out three focused group discussions with both platform drivers and traditional taxi drivers. I also used online worker groups on Facebook and interviewed passengers, policy representatives and venture capitalists. In total, about 70 people were directly involved in this study. </p>
<p>In this article, I summarise some of the challenges and strategies of resistance that my research revealed. </p>
<p>The first challenge the platforms present is that drivers can be <a href="https://dailypost.ng/2021/09/09/police-arrest-suspects-for-murder-of-uber-driver-in-lagos/">exposed to danger</a>. A ride-hailing driver has to register with a platform by providing personal information such as a valid driver’s licence, certifications such as proof of the vehicle passing inspection, address and guarantors to validate worker details. Passengers provide less personal information: contact numbers, bank card details (optional), email addresses and addresses which are not verified. Drivers are <a href="https://www.icirnigeria.org/uber-bolt-drivers-protest-killings-by-passengers/">vulnerable</a> to passengers. One driver said: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>A good number of drivers have been killed by riders because platforms do not profile them well. They do not often input their correct information in the app; they are collecting cars and killing people. </p>
</blockquote>
<p>Even if passengers are blocked from the app following drivers’ complaints, they can re-enter the platform ecosystem with different accounts. In contrast, drivers can be temporarily or permanently deactivated if a passenger complains – even falsely. Drivers are calling for better scrutiny of passengers because they do not feel safe on platforms.</p>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="Cars in a traffic jam." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/474194/original/file-20220714-32290-oveflf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/474194/original/file-20220714-32290-oveflf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=774&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/474194/original/file-20220714-32290-oveflf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=774&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/474194/original/file-20220714-32290-oveflf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=774&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/474194/original/file-20220714-32290-oveflf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=973&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/474194/original/file-20220714-32290-oveflf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=973&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/474194/original/file-20220714-32290-oveflf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=973&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Drivers complain they are sometimes misled into traffic jams.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Daniel Arubayi</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The second challenge is the inaccuracy of embedded digital maps. In a city like Lagos, a poorly built environment without a proper address system, the app can mislead drivers to traffic jams, bad roads or areas undergoing infrastructural construction. This can delay pick-up or arrival times, lead to conflict with passengers, affect the fare, increase cancellation rates, and reduce ratings. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/lagoss-chequered-history-how-it-came-to-be-the-megacity-it-is-today-124306">Lagos's chequered history: how it came to be the megacity it is today</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Passengers complicate this issue by switching pickup locations or providing false locations. This affects drivers’ arrival times and hence their performance record. The algorithms don’t properly account for these realities of driving in Lagos. </p>
<h2>Escaping the app</h2>
<p>Drivers have found ways to resist the algorithms to make more income. For instance, drivers ask riders to cancel a trip so they (drivers) aren’t penalised by cancelling it themselves. They earn a cancellation fee and then take the passengers on the trip anyway – offline. </p>
<p>Drivers persuade passengers to do this by raising the possibility of traffic jams, dangerous or very distant locations and bad roads. They then suggest that the rider cancel the trip and go offline on a better route at a lower fare. </p>
<p>Sometimes, passengers initiate offline trips, especially if they go to multiple destinations or travel out of the city. It suits the drivers because they are not entirely subject to the algorithm in terms of payment, ratings and directions from embedded maps. </p>
<p>Social media and communication networks such as Facebook, WhatsApp and Telegram are central to drivers’ resistance strategies. These online environments serve as daily commentary on the job and a source of tricks for how to resist algorithms. Drivers can comment on whether a proposed offline fare is reasonable, for example, or share details of a passenger for safety. </p>
<p>One informant told me a story about a female passenger who refused to pay a driver:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>When this was posted in the WhatsApp group, about 27 drivers visited the lady, seized her iPhone, and collected the fare, including money for damages.</p>
</blockquote>
<h2>Build in local realities</h2>
<p>Platforms such as Uber and Bolt possess the power to fully digitise the <a href="https://theconversation.com/nigerias-okada-motorcycles-have-a-bad-image-but-banning-them-solves-nothing-154765">transport industry</a> in Lagos with their technology. </p>
<p>But platform algorithms in isolation cannot solve the challenges drivers experience, mainly when contexts are so different from the global north where the platforms were designed.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/186147/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Daniel Arubayi currently works for Fairwork, based at Oxford Internet Institute, University of Oxford which researches similar issues. </span></em></p>Drivers claim that algorithms are skewed against them on ride-hailing platforms.Daniel Arubayi, Researcher, University of OxfordLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1859602022-07-18T04:07:35Z2022-07-18T04:07:35Z‘A weird dinging sound that everyone dreads’: what rapid deliveries mean for supermarket workers<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/474476/original/file-20220718-12-iehrty.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=500%2C0%2C1133%2C895&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Woolworths</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Online grocery shopping has boomed since the pandemic began in 2020, with Woolworths and Coles steadily expanding their home-delivery offerings. Rapid delivery is the latest frontier.</p>
<p>Woolworths and Coles Express have been offering on-demand deliveries through UberEats and Doordash since last year. Woolworths recently launched the <a href="https://www.smh.com.au/business/companies/woolworths-offers-rapid-deliveries-for-5-via-new-metro60-app-20220623-p5aw7p.html">Metro60 app</a> which promises home delivery within an hour to select suburbs.</p>
<p>These arrangements have received little fanfare, yet they signal a significant shift for supermarket workers. </p>
<p>As part of ongoing research, I study how the gig economy is transforming conditions of work within traditional employment. To find out how interacting with delivery platforms affects supermarket employees, I interviewed 16 experienced “personal shoppers” at Woolworths and Coles who fill delivery orders from supermarket shelves.</p>
<h2>The labour of on-demand grocery</h2>
<p>In supermarkets that offer on-demand home delivery, the work of the personal shopper takes on a faster pace. For Woolworths employees, for instance, an UberEats order can drop in at any time, setting off an alarm until the order is accepted and picking begins. As one personal shopper explains:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>We get this weird dinging sound that everyone dreads. You have to pick that order within the half hour or within the hour … it can drop in at any time. So if you’re sitting there having lunch for an hour, you still have to go do it because you’ve got that KPI to hit.</p>
<p>All the (scanner) guns in the store drop that sound. So it reverberates through the store. The customers can’t hear it because they don’t know what it is. But all of us know what it is.</p>
</blockquote>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/474481/original/file-20220718-24-3l6g5g.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/474481/original/file-20220718-24-3l6g5g.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/474481/original/file-20220718-24-3l6g5g.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/474481/original/file-20220718-24-3l6g5g.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/474481/original/file-20220718-24-3l6g5g.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/474481/original/file-20220718-24-3l6g5g.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/474481/original/file-20220718-24-3l6g5g.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Serving up urgent orders to couriers from gig economy platforms like DoorDash and UberEats has a significant impact on supermarket workers.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">DoorDash</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The on-demand orders must be prioritised alongside existing orders, requiring the personal shopper to juggle competing time crunches simultaneously. </p>
<blockquote>
<p>It’s urgent, and they just pop out of nowhere. So you don’t really know when they’re coming until they’re there. It’s super stressful. I dislike them immensely.</p>
</blockquote>
<h2>Enter the gig worker</h2>
<p>Once the order is picked from the supermarket aisles, the employee hands it over to a gig worker for home delivery. Supermarket staff say their interactions are brief and often impersonal. </p>
<blockquote>
<p>It’s a complete mess. You have no idea who’s coming to pick up these things. And it’s just people showing up with their headphones in showing you that they’ve got this order on their phone. There’s no real rhyme or reason to any of it.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>For supermarket workers, gig workers are neither colleagues nor customers, yet they play an essential role in home delivery and customer service. </p>
<p>When things go awry, however – such as a missing bag or broken eggs – it’s the supermarket staff who field those complaints. Similarly, when personal shoppers run behind schedule it has punitive flow-on effects for gig workers. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/coles-and-woolworths-are-moving-to-robot-warehouses-and-on-demand-labour-as-home-deliveries-soar-166556">Coles and Woolworths are moving to robot warehouses and on-demand labour as home deliveries soar</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>The on-demand model may, by design or otherwise, pit two groups of workers against each other, fostering frustrations at both ends. </p>
<blockquote>
<p>Most of the time they’re pretty good. They deal with it. It’s just those bad times where we might be behind and then they don’t deal with it very well.</p>
</blockquote>
<h2>A new labour regime</h2>
<p>At first glance the partnerships between supermarkets and gig economy platforms look like the supermarket is outsourcing the work of delivery. </p>
<p>But this is a simplification: in fact, the traditional companies are bringing the precarious and on-demand labour of the gig workers inside their own firm, and making it legitimate through formal partnerships. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/474407/original/file-20220717-43859-vda9cd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/474407/original/file-20220717-43859-vda9cd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=562&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/474407/original/file-20220717-43859-vda9cd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=562&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/474407/original/file-20220717-43859-vda9cd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=562&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/474407/original/file-20220717-43859-vda9cd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=706&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/474407/original/file-20220717-43859-vda9cd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=706&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/474407/original/file-20220717-43859-vda9cd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=706&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The ‘dedicated team’ behind Woolworth’s Metro60 app includes traditionally employed staff and gig workers.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.metro60.com.au/">Woolworths</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>How do supermarket employees view on-demand grocery?</h2>
<p>Most personal shoppers I spoke with are ambivalent or wary of the expanding on-demand services.</p>
<blockquote>
<p>The people that I work with either love it or hate it. They like it because it’s different, you never get bored, and you’ve always got something to do. But that’s why other people hate it. Because you don’t get a chance to just stand for a second, you always have to be doing something.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Some enjoy the fast pace and express satisfaction in meeting targets and making the customer happy. </p>
<blockquote>
<p>We’ve all gotten to the point now where we’re attuned, we hear the chime, we know what actions we need to take. So it almost happens autonomously. And before you know it, here comes another one and you just keep going.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Others expressed concerns about burnout, unpredictable workloads and an increasing pace of work. </p>
<blockquote>
<p>It’s obviously a very high-demand, high-speed job. That’s probably the biggest frustration. We also have pick rates, essentially like Amazon, where we get told this is how many items we should average an hour … and a lot of the time people can’t meet the average.</p>
</blockquote>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/guilt-shame-dissatisfaction-workers-and-customers-on-the-gig-economy-and-how-to-make-it-better-185502">Guilt, shame, dissatisfaction: workers and customers on the gig economy (and how to make it better)</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Staff who have been in the role more than a decade have seen the pace of work speed up significantly during their tenure, and are more critical. </p>
<blockquote>
<p>You’re not a person when you walk in the door, you’re a machine. </p>
</blockquote>
<p>Some expressed broader concerns about the possibility of their role being taken over entirely by the gig economy. In the words of one shopper:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>I was a little dismayed when the whole DoorDashing started because it’s like, oh no, the gig economy is getting closer and closer. Gig stuff always … makes me uncomfortable … It’s all this whole long-term ploy to destroy some existing industry or place, or eliminate worker protections. </p>
</blockquote>
<p>Another expressed a similar sentiment:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>My biggest worry is that they start outsourcing the actual shopping procedure. I think that would be the next logical step similar to what America has with Instacart.</p>
</blockquote>
<h2>Supermarket jobs of the future</h2>
<p>All the personal shoppers I spoke with shared a pride in their work and their deep knowledge of the supermarket and its local community. How the role continues to evolve through partnerships with the gig economy is not inevitable but a matter of choice.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/185960/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Lauren Kelly receives funding from the Australian Research Council for PhD research on which this article is based. Lauren Kelly works with United Workers Union which has members in the supermarket supply chain.</span></em></p>As Coles and Woolworth turn to UberEats and DoorDash for fast deliveries, supermarket workers feel ‘the gig economy is getting closer’.Lauren Kate Kelly, PhD Candidate, ARC Centre of Excellence for Automated Decision-Making and Society, RMIT UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1864922022-07-15T13:51:58Z2022-07-15T13:51:58ZDigital labour platforms subject global South workers to ‘algorithmic insecurity’<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/473249/original/file-20220709-22052-9ctlj9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Protesting food delivery workers in São Paulo, Brazil. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Getty Images</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Digital labour platforms are rapidly transforming the world of work. Many governments in the global south have welcomed platforms that bring <a href="https://www.ilo.org/global/research/global-reports/weso/2021/WCMS_771749/lang--en/index.htm">businesses, workers and consumers</a> together, creating opportunities to reduce unemployment. But what happens when jobs are turned into tasks? Workers are increasingly managed by apps that allocate these tasks and monitor their performance. Platform workers face low pay, poor working conditions – and algorithmic surveillance.</p>
<p>The number of digital platforms has <a href="https://www.ilo.org/global/research/global-reports/weso/2021/WCMS_771749/lang--en/index.htm">expanded rapidly</a> over the past decade, a trend accelerated by COVID-19. Most are <a href="https://www.ilo.org/global/research/global-reports/weso/2021/WCMS_771749/lang--en/index.htm">concentrated in just a few locations</a>, among them the US, India and the UK. There is also a <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/1024258916687250">significant imbalance</a> between the demand for digital workers based in the global north and the supply of workers in need of income opportunities, in the global south.</p>
<p>There are <a href="https://www.ilo.org/global/research/global-reports/weso/2021/WCMS_771749/lang--en/index.htm">two broad types</a> of digital labour platforms. The first are “location-based”. They mediate tasks carried out in person at particular locations: delivering food, taxi services, domestic work and care services. The second are “online web-based”. They mediate tasks such as data categorisation and translation and editing services that can, in theory, be performed anywhere via the internet and remotely.</p>
<p>While digital labour platforms create new opportunities for income, they also threaten to extend informality into new sectors through “algorithmic insecurity”.</p>
<h2>Claimed advantages</h2>
<p>Platform work is often seen to create opportunities that better suit workers’ skills, interests and schedules. This increased flexibility is said to provide workers, particularly women who have to balance paid and unpaid care work, with income opportunities and greater autonomy over their work. However, a <a href="https://www.degruyter.com/document/doi/10.1515/jbnst-2018-0019/html?lang=en">growing body of evidence</a> shows that the flexibility of many of these jobs comes at a cost to workers’ economic security and control over the work process.</p>
<p>Many people are drawn to platform work because they aspire for the greater autonomy and control that comes from “not having a boss”. Yet, as Brazilian historian <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e0IgwvyknW0">Lucas Santos</a> shows in his research with food delivery workers in São Paulo, Brazil, riders soon realise that the “feeling of freedom” they associate with “working for an app” is more aspiration than reality.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/for-workers-in-africa-the-digital-economy-isnt-all-its-made-out-to-be-176724">For workers in Africa, the digital economy isn't all it's made out to be</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Indian sociologist <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e0IgwvyknW0">Gayatri Nair’s</a> research shows that many gig workers in India are attracted to the “initial façade of formality and respectability”. Many women workers in India’s beauty sector see “digital mediation” via an app as creating a “form of respectability” that was not there before. But, Nair shows, earnings are meagre and many workers lack autonomy and control over their work. Digital labour platforms, she argues, are creating new forms of “algorithmic insecurity” in the form of surveillance, ratings, and arbitrary changes to remuneration.</p>
<h2>The reality of algorithmic control</h2>
<p>Digital labour platforms often deny any employment relation. They insist that they act simply as a mediator between businesses, workers and consumers. What distinguishes them from a traditional labour market intermediary is that what they <a href="https://joint-research-centre.ec.europa.eu/publications/algorithmic-management-consequences-work-organisation-and-working-conditions_en">mediate is a single task, activity or service rather than a job</a> in the traditional sense. And though platforms are never fully autonomous, they manage workers and tasks using algorithms (computer programmed procedures). In so doing they minimise human interaction. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/the-fourth-industrial-revolution-a-seductive-idea-requiring-critical-engagement-184475">The Fourth Industrial Revolution: a seductive idea requiring critical engagement</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>This process of automating work processes and the coordination of tasks is often referred to as <a href="https://joint-research-centre.ec.europa.eu/publications/algorithmic-management-consequences-work-organisation-and-working-conditions_en">“algorithmic management”</a> or “algorithmic control”.</p>
<p>For example, food delivery workers in <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e0IgwvyknW0">São Paulo</a> and <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/02692171.2020.1773647">Johannesburg</a>, South Africa receive automated instructions on their mobile phones about where to collect and drop off the food, and the route via GPS map they should take. South African sociologists Eddie Webster and Fikile Masikane <a href="https://www.wits.ac.za/media/wits-university/faculties-and-schools/commerce-law-and-management/research-entities/scis/documents/I_just_want_to_survive.pdf">show</a> that digital labour platforms not only assign tasks: they also assess performance and determine pay. They have the power to deactivate or disconnect a worker from the platform, unilaterally terminating employment.</p>
<p>Algorithmic management is invisible and inaccessible. It also controls all aspects of the work process. As Colombian sociologist <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e0IgwvyknW0">Derly Yohanna Sanchez</a> points out, this control extends to more than just the “supply and demand” for digital work. Platforms also control aspects of the work that are, she says, “external to the digital market such as personal information and human resources”. </p>
<p>This can produce anti-competitive or discriminatory outcomes, or both. For example, platforms give customers, as <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e0IgwvyknW0">Nair</a> put it, “full power to rate and review” workers. This algorithmic “disciplining” of workers via customer ratings has minimised transparency and accountability. It has also created perverse “information asymmetries”, as noted by communications scholar <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e0IgwvyknW0">Sai Amulya Kommarraju</a>. These make it nearly impossible for workers to contest customer ratings or challenge the forms of algorithmic control they are subjected to.</p>
<h2>Resistance</h2>
<p>Although algorithmic control appears insurmountable, there is some evidence that workers are beginning to <a href="https://t.co/zRBLahx9LW">push back</a> and fight for greater transparency and improved worker conditions. </p>
<p>In December 2020, Uber drivers in Johannesburg, South Africa <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/02692171.2020.1773647">launched a protest</a> by disabling the Uber app and not accepting requests for rides. Among the drivers’ complaints were the obscure way in which their accounts were blocked by Uber and the inequitable way in which the fees earned by drivers were unilaterally decided and implemented by Uber. </p>
<p>There are also examples of workers forming <a href="https://digilabour.com.br/2021/06/17/worker-owned-platforms-and-other-experiences-in-brazil/">platform cooperatives</a> and demanding <a href="https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=2ahUKEwjMjOrK7vL4AhXGOcAKHY_wC7MQFnoECAYQAQ&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.itfglobal.org%2Fsites%2Fdefault%2Ffiles%2F2021-07%2FWorkers_in_the_On-location_Platform_Economy%2520.pdf&usg=AOvVaw26YGItZPlr_wwigbX1UT0R">collective user rights over their data</a>. </p>
<p>If digital labour platforms are here to stay it is an imperative to build platforms and algorithms that <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/1024258916687250">prioritise the interests and needs of workers</a>, not only business. Giving workers the right to access and have control over their data is, International Labour Organisation economist <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e0IgwvyknW0">Uma Rani</a> argues, one of the most important ways to “empower worker control over algorithmic management”. This will require both regulation and pressures from below, by consumers and workers.</p>
<p><em>The Future of Work(ers) Research Programme at the Southern Centre for Inequality Studies, University of the Witwatersrand is hosting a seven-part dialogue series. The aim is to generate public debate on the relationship between digital technologies, the changing nature of work(ers) and the implications for inequality.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/186492/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Digital platform work is often seen to suit workers’ skills, interests and schedules. But it comes at a cost to their economic security and control over the work process.Hannah J. Dawson, Senior Researcher, Southern Centre for Inequality Studies, University of the WitwatersrandRuth Castel-Branco, Research Manager, University of the WitwatersrandLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1855022022-07-12T20:03:51Z2022-07-12T20:03:51ZGuilt, shame, dissatisfaction: workers and customers on the gig economy (and how to make it better)<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/469962/original/file-20220621-25-bx024p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C7%2C4861%2C2714&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>The gig economy is in trouble. Rideshare drivers are <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-07-06/uber-cancellations-queensland-fuel-price-rise/101197684">cancelling in droves</a>. Wait times for food delivery are <a href="https://www.theage.com.au/national/victoria/why-is-your-uber-eats-order-taking-so-long-to-arrive-20211111-p59824.html">ballooning out</a> and driver shortages are leading to <a href="https://www.goodfood.com.au/eat-out/news/uber-eats-driver-shortage-leads-to-widespread-food-waste-and-staff-abuse-20210723-h1xclf">food waste</a>.</p>
<p>So, what’s going on? To find out more, I interviewed 30 Melbourne gig workers who worked as rideshare drivers, food deliverers or for task-based platforms such as Airtasker. </p>
<p>I also spoke to 30 customers who use such services, and to 20 industry stakeholders. My colleague, Elizabeth Straughan from the University of Melbourne, conducted a further ten interviews with gig workers after the pandemic set in, to learn how they’d been affected. </p>
<p>Our five years of <a href="https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5c47b0bc29711455c397bb7e/t/62c0ef6ad4a49d09eb53450d/1656811386720/GigCities-ResearchReport-v2+-+ebook.pdf">research</a> reveals an industry facing pushback from both workers and customers. Many workers we spoke to sought to leave the gig economy. </p>
<p>Customers, meanwhile, often have complicated feelings – including guilt and shame – about using rideshare or food delivery services that rely on gig economy workers. Many have already quit them. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/469964/original/file-20220621-21-1smm64.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/469964/original/file-20220621-21-1smm64.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/469964/original/file-20220621-21-1smm64.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/469964/original/file-20220621-21-1smm64.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/469964/original/file-20220621-21-1smm64.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/469964/original/file-20220621-21-1smm64.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/469964/original/file-20220621-21-1smm64.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/469964/original/file-20220621-21-1smm64.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Many workers told researchers they are keen to leave the gig economy.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/getting-onto-the-wait-list-is-a-battle-in-itself-insiders-on-what-it-takes-to-get-social-housing-184838">'Getting onto the wait list is a battle in itself': insiders on what it takes to get social housing</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>‘It just felt really entitled and selfish’</h2>
<p>One of our customer interviewees, “Mel” (all names are pseudonyms), reported feeling uneasy about food delivery:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>It just felt really entitled and selfish and gluttonous and ashamed. So, I wouldn’t want people to see me doing it and then I’d close the door and it’d be my secret thing inside […] the packaging made me feel I want to cry because there was so much of it […] so much guilt.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Mel also worried she was robbing herself of skills such as food preparation or interacting with real people when ordering and collecting food herself:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>It’s teaching me helplessness.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Others lamented poor service. Khalid said:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>It’s kind of lost the sense of quality and customer service that they used to have that I really enjoyed […] it got to the point where, say I’d order twice in one week, both orders would come, and they’d be cold. Basically inedible. The drivers would literally have no idea where they’re going.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>His household has since vowed not to use food delivery services.</p>
<p>Another customer, Li, found she was spending too much on food delivery:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>There are times where I used it for like breakfast, lunch and dinner and I was spending like almost A$200 a day on it […] I stopped it and started cooking for myself now.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>She’s also cut back on ordering rideshares, saying:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>It’s so much better to walk, because there’s so many things going on that you miss from a car.</p>
</blockquote>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/469963/original/file-20220621-14-xlm18p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/469963/original/file-20220621-14-xlm18p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/469963/original/file-20220621-14-xlm18p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=393&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/469963/original/file-20220621-14-xlm18p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=393&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/469963/original/file-20220621-14-xlm18p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=393&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/469963/original/file-20220621-14-xlm18p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=494&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/469963/original/file-20220621-14-xlm18p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=494&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/469963/original/file-20220621-14-xlm18p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=494&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Some customers reported having complex feelings about using delivery services reliant on gig economy workers.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Workers looking for the exit</h2>
<p>Many workers we interviewed said they’re looking to exit the gig economy.</p>
<p>James does rideshare and delivery work, but admits to feeling ashamed about it:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>I actually don’t share with too many people that I’m doing rideshare. To most people, I just say ‘I’ve just stopped working’.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Lui does food delivery on a bike most nights. It’s punishing, low-paid, and he only drinks one glass of water so he doesn’t have to return home to use the bathroom. He told us:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>In the future, I still have to get a full-time secure job because this delivery job is not enough for me.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Lui said he will leave this work off his CV.</p>
<p>Vijay, who has experienced racist abuse as a rideshare driver, says he’s also looking to get out:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>There is no money in Uber anymore […] I’m desperately looking for work, to just jump into something else.</p>
</blockquote>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/469965/original/file-20220621-3398-wqy25m.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/469965/original/file-20220621-3398-wqy25m.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/469965/original/file-20220621-3398-wqy25m.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/469965/original/file-20220621-3398-wqy25m.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/469965/original/file-20220621-3398-wqy25m.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/469965/original/file-20220621-3398-wqy25m.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/469965/original/file-20220621-3398-wqy25m.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/469965/original/file-20220621-3398-wqy25m.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The COVID-induced slowdown on migration has reduced the pool of gig workers to replace those leaving the industry.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Recommendations for policymakers, customers, platforms and gig workers</h2>
<p>The gig economy is facing twin challenges: cost-of-living pressures are forcing customers to cut costs, while the COVID-induced slowdown on migration has reduced the pool of gig workers to replace those leaving the industry. </p>
<p>Platform companies are constantly <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/0042098017751982">adapting</a> the way they work, but, as our research shows, many workers and customers are growing tired of the gig economy. </p>
<p>Our report made several recommendations to a range of different stakeholders.</p>
<p>Our recommendations for policymakers include:</p>
<ul>
<li>enhance oversight and regulation of platform companies by ensuring these workers are recognised as employees</li>
<li>invest in ways to help people working in industries being displaced
by platform-based gig work to transition to new training and employment opportunities</li>
<li>continue to invest in public transport, a vital public good for the future of cities; rideshare is not a sustainable or socially just replacement for public transport</li>
<li>provide adequate facilities in urban centres for food delivery riders and rideshare drivers to wait between gigs</li>
<li>raise public awareness of the hardships faced by many gig workers</li>
<li>apply tougher penalties for abusive behaviour towards gig workers.</li>
</ul>
<p>Platform companies should:</p>
<ul>
<li>offer fairer and more consistent rates of pay</li>
<li>provide paid training for workers on how to better deal with challenging interpersonal situations</li>
<li>better assist workers who have been abused by customers or involved in accidents</li>
<li>organise social events connecting workers and make them feel part of a valued community.</li>
</ul>
<p>Customers should:</p>
<ul>
<li>always treat gig workers with courtesy and respect – even small kind gestures
can significantly improve their well-being</li>
<li>consider how the use of gig work platforms might reduce the viability of similar established services</li>
<li>tip gig workers, until regulation improves their pay</li>
<li>choose more socially progressive options, such as platform cooperatives, where they exist.</li>
</ul>
<p>We recommended gig workers:</p>
<ul>
<li>recognise the transferable “soft skills” they’ve developed doing gig work</li>
<li>connect with other workers to foster a sense of collective endeavour and belonging</li>
<li>work together to bring about positive change in the regulation of gig work.</li>
</ul>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/growing-up-in-a-disadvantaged-neighbourhood-can-change-kids-brains-and-their-reactions-184145">Growing up in a disadvantaged neighbourhood can change kids' brains – and their reactions</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/185502/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>David Bissell receives funding from the Australian Research Council. This article is part of The Conversation's Breaking the Cycle series, which is about escaping cycles of disadvantage. The series is supported by a philanthropic grant from the Paul Ramsay Foundation.
</span></em></p>Our five years of research reveals an industry facing push back from both workers and customers. Many workers we spoke with sought to leave the gig economy.David Bissell, Associate Professor, The University of MelbourneLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1867702022-07-12T14:28:38Z2022-07-12T14:28:38ZThe Uber files: leaked documents reveal a strategy of chaos – has anything changed?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/473586/original/file-20220712-32189-fzxsrn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=44%2C7%2C4861%2C3245&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/soest-germany-august-4-2019-uber-1497227390">Lutsenko_Oleksandr</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Uber has had a controversial history since its founding in 2009, from violent <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/sep/08/violence-erupts-taxi-uber-drivers-johannesburg">conflicts</a> among drivers to a secret software allegedly used to <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2017/03/03/technology/uber-greyball-program-evade-authorities.html?_r=0">evade law enforcement</a>. Now, a leak of over 124,000 documents dubbed <a href="https://www.icij.org/investigations/uber-files/uber-global-rise-lobbying-violence-technology/">the Uber files</a> shows the extent to which the firm under co-founder and former CEO Travis Kalanick capitalised on that chaos to expand across 40 countries.</p>
<p>My <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/rego.12456">research explores</a> the relationship between Uber and the state. The company’s strategy to grow at all costs has been uneven, shaped and slowed by varying regulations in different markets. In recent years, Uber appears to have toned down its approach and stop some of the more aggressive activity detailed in the leaks. But in my view, the strategy at the heart of the company’s success means it will always be in battle with the laws where it operates.</p>
<p>The <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/news/2022/jul/10/uber-files-leak-reveals-global-lobbying-campaign">Uber files reportedly</a> show the company had a deliberate strategy of breaking or ignoring the law and was very much aware of it. Uber’s original service – citizens driving other citizens in their private cars without permits or licenses of any kind – was mostly in a grey legal area. In emails, executives joked about being “pirates” and the company’s model being “just fucking illegal”, when it faced legal opposition in entering new markets.</p>
<p>The leaked documents also reveal the role that lobbying and relationships with friendly politicians played in Uber’s success. The company hired powerful lobbyists, many of them former members or associates of national governments who promised to end revolving doors between politics and industry. Meetings with politicians included figures like France’s then-economy minister (and now president) Emmanuel Macron and then-mayor of Hamburg (and now chancellor of Germany) Olaf Scholz. </p>
<p>Embracing the chaos also allegedly included endangering the company’s drivers. Almost wherever Uber landed, taxi unions organised protests that could sometimes turn violent. Messages in the Uber files show that Kalanick considered that Uber drivers going to a taxi drivers’ protest in France was “worth it” as “violence guarantee[s] success”. </p>
<p>Uber also allegedly had in place a “kill switch”, a technological tool to prevent authorities from accessing Uber’s data when they raided its offices.</p>
<p>The company has made an effort to distance itself from the allegations in the Uber files. <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/news/2022/jul/10/uber-response-uber-files-leak">A statement</a> issued by the company attributes the content of the leaks to the Kalanick era, and stresses the change in leadership and values. </p>
<p>Meanwhile, Kalanick’s spokesperson <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/news/2022/jul/10/travis-kalanick-response-uber-files">has said</a> that Uber’s approach to expansion was not his own doing, but was instead “under the direct oversight and with the full approval of Uber’s robust legal, policy, and compliance groups”. </p>
<h2>What has (and hasn’t) changed</h2>
<p>This chaos strategy arguably worked. Uber is now a US$43 billion (£36 billion) company, and its drivers make around 19 million journeys a day. Yet, it still struggles with profitability and aggressive competitors.</p>
<p>In 2017, Kalanick stepped down and was replaced as CEO by Dara Khosrowshahi. Most of the leadership has also changed since then. Accusations about <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/mar/01/susan-fowler-uber-whistleblower-interview-travis-kalanick">a workplace culture of harassment and sexism</a> appear to. </p>
<p>The company has generally moved away from its original service towards one where licensed drivers use vehicles with specific permits to hail passengers (in other words, a taxi for the smartphone era), and introduced a food delivery wing, Uber Eats. It has also taken a calmer and more polite approach to expansion —- moving slower, breaking less stuff.</p>
<p>Let me give you two examples: Uber entered Madrid in 2014 in disregard of a Spanish law requiring companies and drivers to have a specific license. It entered Berlin the same year, in violation of German competition laws. </p>
<p>The company was banned, left both cities and returned later in compliance with existing regulations. When addressing the German expansion in 2018, Khosrowshahi admitted that <a href="https://venturebeat.com/2018/01/22/uber-ceo-slams-founders-pirate-culture-pledges-to-grow-responsibly/">Uber’s approach had backfired</a>, and pledged to grow responsibly. Similarly, in talking about the experience in Spain, Carles Lloret, Uber’s CEO for southern Europe, acknowledged that “it was a mistake to replicate the American model – more liberal – without taking into consideration <a href="https://www.elmundo.es/economia/empresas/2017/04/20/58f7aca346163f1d3b8b4615.html">the Spanish context</a>”. </p>
<p>And yet, some things have stayed the same. The company faces multiple lawsuits, most of them around whether its workers are classed as employees, and its <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/05/04/business/uber-earnings-revenue-pandemic.html">profitability</a> remains an open question. As I explain <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/rego.12456">in my research</a>, these two things can be explained by the company’s fundamental strategy: that of “contentious compliance”. </p>
<p>Uber adapts to existing rules, but only as little as necessary to provide its services. Meanwhile, it continues to fight legislation everywhere – spending billions on lobbying and in crafting political connections – to push existing rules closer to its preferences. </p>
<p>Uber’s executives know their business model might not be sustainable, and even less so if they are forced to classify workers as employees and pay for related rights and benefits. Fighting regulations is a survival strategy. </p>
<p>They have a preferred model in mind – as close as possible to their original one. Though they are not openly breaking laws anymore, they continue to push for their preferred regulations through the courts or by finding legal loopholes.</p>
<p>In <a href="https://www.theverge.com/2022/5/9/23063499/uber-ceo-slash-costs-hiring-slowdown-ride-hailing-profit">a memo recently sent to employees and leaked to the press</a> Khosrowshahi wrote: “We will be even more hardcore about costs across the board.” The company knows that if it is forced to re-classify drivers as workers (as, for example, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2021/feb/19/uber-drivers-workers-uk-supreme-court-rules-rights">the UK supreme court has ruled</a>) the financial situation will be even worse. </p>
<p>Beyond another stain in its reputation, Uber has very real problems. Profitability might be the most urgent one for the company, but for our society there is a far more important one. </p>
<p>Apps like Uber and the hundreds that followed promised innovation. Instead, they have brought a barely-disguised version of the exploitation and corruption that has always characterised capitalism. Given the allegations in the Uber files, one also has to wonder if there will ever be consequences for tech entrepreneurs with a taste for rule breaking.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/186770/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jimena Valdez does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>The company has managed to change some of its practices, but it is still butting heads with regulators and governments.Jimena Valdez, Lecturer in Comparative Politics, City, University of LondonLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1834962022-07-05T19:10:16Z2022-07-05T19:10:16ZDelay and deflect: How women gig workers respond to sexual harassment<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/468473/original/file-20220613-26-rnp35x.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C17%2C5727%2C3778&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Service provider apps are set up in ways that endanger gig workers.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>These days, we use apps to order food, call ride-sharing vehicles, assign home improvement tasks and personal errands. But these apps depend on people to deliver the promised service — to deliver food, provide rides and complete tasks. These gig workers use the apps to find work, and in North America, <a href="https://teamstage.io/gig-economy-statistics/">nearly half of these service workers are women</a>.</p>
<p>Platforms that provide gig services use powerful algorithms, artificial intelligence and big data to provide access for millions of gig workers and customers. That was <a href="https://www.citivelocity.com/citigps/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/Uber_Drivers_of_Disruption.pd_.pdf">how these platforms were able to disrupt established industries</a>, like taxi and delivery services.</p>
<p>However, women gig workers deal with bias and harassment in the workplace. Women Uber drivers, for instance, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1093/restud/rdaa081">earn less</a>, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1145/3359319">feel unsafe</a> and <a href="http://lerachapters.org/OJS/ojs-2.4.4-1/index.php/PFL/article/view/3263">experience unwanted advances and sexual assaults</a>.</p>
<h2>Feeling unsafe and powerless</h2>
<p>Gig workers are rated for their performance on the platforms they use to provide the service. We interviewed 20 women gig workers and found <a href="https://doi.org/10.1145/3491102.3517524">that women gig workers experience harassment on the job, and develop response mechanisms to protect their ratings and future work opportunities</a>.</p>
<p>Women drivers felt that they faced more scrutiny from customers regarding their driving skills and how they were dressed, and this sometimes affected their ratings. Some women workers noted that they did not enjoy driving passengers because they felt unsafe and judged.</p>
<p>Women drivers had to deal with unwanted sexual comments and behaviours from customers, and considered this to be part of the job. To reduce their risk of harassment, women would be more selective of when and where they would work, which further worsened the pay gap because they would miss out on prime earning opportunities, such as weekends and evening hours.</p>
<p>Gig platforms prioritize assigning jobs to drivers with higher ratings, which prevented women drivers from confronting customers who made them feel uncomfortable. Prioritizing customer satisfaction comes at the expense of women workers’ safety and well-being. The design of the apps currently allows drivers to be harassed with impunity.</p>
<p>The platforms fail to enforce effective harassment prevention policies to their rating, matching and recommendation features.</p>
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<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/luh0kYJrvKA?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">Reshaping Work looks at the women in the gig economy.</span></figcaption>
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<h2>Complicit platforms</h2>
<p>Our research found that in response to the harassment, women gig workers would “brush off” harassment because they were concerned about how the customer would rate them. Jennifer (all names used are pseudonyms), an Uber driver, said: “Is it worth it? Is it worth your life to speak up right now? And most of the time it’s not, so you just don’t.”</p>
<p>Due to concerns about the immediate threat and rating retaliation, the women workers we interviewed found it difficult to stand up for themselves in the moment. They hesitate reporting these encounters because the recourse process is time-consuming and difficult.</p>
<p>The only option left for them is to let the harassers get away with bad behaviours. To de-escalate potentially dangerous situations, the women laugh off the remarks or play along. Annette, an Uber driver, called this tactic “delay and deflect.”</p>
<p>Another gig worker, Penny, told us: “It bothers me, yes. I have a choice of losing it and getting angry and taking time to gather myself to the point where I can work again, or I can take a different route and just realize OK, you got this person here for five minutes and then they’re getting out of your car and you will never see them again.”</p>
<p>And Jennifer explained how the platform’s rating mechanism is complicit because in “certain situations, it’s just not worth standing up for yourself because if you do, and they give you a bad rating, it’s not like Uber reaches out to you to get clarification on the issue.”</p>
<h2>Invaluable assets</h2>
<p>Women workers are invaluable assets to the gig ecosystem. For instance, women passengers feel more comfortable when the driver is another woman. One driver told us that “[women passengers] are so creeped out by who the drivers are. [Passengers tell me] ‘Thank God, Tiffany, you’re driving me home.’”</p>
<p>Some platforms have implemented panic buttons that can dial 911 in an emergency, but this measure misses the point that an overwhelming amount of harassment encounters are more subtle, and not all of them are physical. Involving law enforcement could potentially escalate a situation that could place the women in danger or waste valuable money-making time.</p>
<p>Ella, who completes tasks like assembling furniture and home repair, shared that more than 90 per cent of her customers are women. She speculates this is because she herself is a woman.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/472136/original/file-20220702-22-jm9mwx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="a woman in a mask wearing a blue shirt puts together furniture" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/472136/original/file-20220702-22-jm9mwx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/472136/original/file-20220702-22-jm9mwx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/472136/original/file-20220702-22-jm9mwx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/472136/original/file-20220702-22-jm9mwx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/472136/original/file-20220702-22-jm9mwx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/472136/original/file-20220702-22-jm9mwx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/472136/original/file-20220702-22-jm9mwx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">Women taskers — gig workers who complete home-based tasks — are popular on apps like TaskRabbit because other women feel more comfortable hiring them.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span>
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<p>The platforms do not explicitly discriminate against women workers, but they ignore both the gendered reality of women’s experiences and the advantages women workers bring. Our research highlights the gender-insensitive design of gig platforms by illustrating the platform’s inaction and failure to account for women’s lived experiences.</p>
<p>Ratings are an insufficient and lazy way of quality control that shifts the balance of control to the customer. Gig platforms need to address the limits of rating and rewards systems that further marginalize women. Current rating systems give disproportionate power to customers, <a href="https://doi.org/10.18420/ecscw2017-27">which leads to more biased results for women workers</a>. </p>
<h2>Safety for everyone</h2>
<p>Platforms need to consider gender when designing their features and systems. They can start by listening to women. For example, <a href="https://trips4w.com/">Trips4Women</a> is a women-only ride-sharing platform.</p>
<p>Further, platforms can provide safe spaces for women workers, such as designating public rest areas and partnering with commercial locations to identify worker-friendly washroom and rest facilities.</p>
<p>Both customers and gig platforms benefit when women workers thrive. Supporting women does not come at the cost of alienating other workers. To the contrary, supporting women workers will inevitably benefit workers overall by providing a safe and secure work environment.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/183496/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Rating services on ride and task apps disadvantage gig workers, whose future work assignments are affected by their ratings. Women workers are made vulnerable, and have to contend with harassment.Ning Ma, Postdoctoral Researcher, Computer Science, University of British ColumbiaDongwook Yoon, Assistant Professor, Computer Science, University of British ColumbiaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1861972022-07-04T20:00:51Z2022-07-04T20:00:51ZHow Australia’s gig workers may remain contractors under Labor<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/472200/original/file-20220704-14-mlut8k.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C5354%2C2677&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Uber Australia’s historic <a href="https://www.twu.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/Statement-of-Principles-28-June-2022.pdf">agreement</a> with the Transport Workers’ Union, on the need to regulate the gig economy, is the first step in fundamental reform of gig work. It suggests the direction the Albanese government will to take to deliver better conditions for gig workers. </p>
<p>The “statement of principles” agreed to between Uber and the union supports “regulatory certainty for platforms” and “minimum benefits and standards for platform workers who aren’t engaged as employees”. It does not agree that gig workers should be classified as employees instead of independent contractors. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/whats-driving-ubers-historic-agreement-with-the-twu-on-gig-work-186044">What's driving Uber's historic agreement with the TWU on gig work</a>
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<p>The response of federal workplace relations minister Tony Burke to <a href="https://ministers.dese.gov.au/burke/important-step-rights-gig-workers">the agreement</a> suggests the government will take the same route – not changing the classification of gig workers but giving the federal industrial relations umpire, the Fair Work Commission, the power to set minimum standards for any workers in designated sectors.</p>
<p>A precedent for this approach comes from <a href="https://www.ntc.gov.au/sites/default/files/assets/files/Safe-payments-report-October-2008.pdf">New South Wales provisions</a> enabling regulation of payments to owner-drivers of trucks. Those provisions have been in place for more than 40 years, and have inspired the proposal <a href="https://statements.qld.gov.au/statements/95479">before the Queensland parliament</a> to regulate the work of independent courier drivers.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/a-new-definition-of-worker-could-protect-many-from-exploitation-91083">A new definition of 'worker' could protect many from exploitation</a>
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<h2>Leaving gig workers as contractors</h2>
<p>There are good reasons to aim to regulate gig economy workers as contractors, rather than attempting to bring them under the umbrella of being employees.</p>
<p>Yes, their relationship with platforms can look an awful lot like an employment relationship – hence the reason for <a href="https://theconversation.com/an-employee-not-a-contractor-unfair-dismissal-ruling-against-deliveroo-is-a-big-deal-for-australias-gig-workers-161173">court cases</a> supported by the Transport Workers’ Union seeking to have gig workers deemed employees.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/an-employee-not-a-contractor-unfair-dismissal-ruling-against-deliveroo-is-a-big-deal-for-australias-gig-workers-161173">An employee, not a contractor: unfair dismissal ruling against Deliveroo is a big deal for Australia's gig workers</a>
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<p>As the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Duck_test">saying goes</a>, if it looks, swims and quacks like a duck, it probably is a duck. </p>
<p>But the outcome of trying to define gig workers as employees has been mixed. Around the world these attempts have sometimes <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/business/2017/feb/10/pimlico-loses-appeal-against-plumbers-worker-status-in-gig-economy-case">succeeded</a>, <a href="https://btlaw.com/insights/blogs/currents/2018/philadelphia-u-s-district-court-determines-uber-drivers-are-independent-contractors">sometimes not</a>. </p>
<h2>Roadblocks to becoming employees</h2>
<p>Platform companies have worked against these attempts, leveraging the fact quite a number of gig workers like to imagine themselves as <a href="https://www.cipd.co.uk/Images/to-gig-or-not-to-gig_2017-stories-from-the-modern-economy_tcm18-18955.pdf">independent</a>, self-employed people, as well as customers’ preference for cheap services. </p>
<p>The best (but not only) example is their success against California’s <a href="https://www.acslaw.org/expertforum/ab5-regulating-the-gig-economy-is-good-for-workers-and-democracy/">AB5</a> law, passed in 2019, that tightened the rules for companies to hire workers as independent contractors. </p>
<p>Uber and rival Lyft first <a href="https://calmatters.org/economy/2020/08/california-gig-work-ab5-prop-22/">threatened to suspend operations</a> in California rather than comply with the law. They then teamed up with other platform companies such as DoorDash and spent a reported <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/nov/12/uber-prop-22-law-drivers-ab5-gig-workers">US$200 million</a> in 2020 to secure and a win a “ballot proposal” (known as Proposition 22) <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/04/technology/california-uber-lyft-prop-22.html">exempting</a> app-based transportation and delivery companies from the new law. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Workers rally in August 2019 in support of California's proposed AB5 law to stop companies categorise workers as independent contractors. The law was passed, but Uber and other platform companies bankrolled a successful attempt in 2020 to be exempt from t" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/472211/original/file-20220704-12-qh4qb5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/472211/original/file-20220704-12-qh4qb5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=414&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/472211/original/file-20220704-12-qh4qb5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=414&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/472211/original/file-20220704-12-qh4qb5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=414&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/472211/original/file-20220704-12-qh4qb5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=520&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/472211/original/file-20220704-12-qh4qb5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=520&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/472211/original/file-20220704-12-qh4qb5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=520&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Workers rally in August 2019 in support of California’s proposed AB5 law to stop companies categorise workers as independent contractors. The law was passed, but Uber and other platform companies bankrolled a successful attempt in 2020 to be exempt from the law.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Rich Pedroncelli/AP</span></span>
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<p>A Californian court has since found <a href="https://www.nelp.org/blog/prop-22-unconstitutional/">Proposition 22 unconstitutional</a>, but it remains in place pending an appeal.</p>
<p>Even when a rule is devised to interpret the contracts that gig workers sign as employment contracts, gig companies could <a href="https://www.hcamag.com/au/specialisation/industrial-relations/uber-eats-announces-new-business-model-and-contracts-for-riders/245068">amend their contracts</a> to get around that.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/redefining-workers-in-the-platform-economy-lessons-from-the-foodora-bunfight-107369">Redefining workers in the platform economy: lessons from the Foodora bunfight</a>
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<p>But in the end, a company such as Uber will adhere, grudgingly, to most standards that are imposed on it — other than defining its workers as employees. Thus it has accepted <a href="https://www.uber.com/ca/en/drive/montreal/get-started/training-requirement/">training requirements in Quebec</a> (after first <a href="https://www.thedrive.com/article/14652/uber-threatens-to-leave-quebec-over-new-driver-training-requirements">threatening to quit</a> the Canadian province), <a href="https://www.masslive.com/politics/2016/08/gov_charlie_baker_signs_law_regulating_uber_and_lyft_in_massachusetts.html">fare regulation in Massachusetts</a> and driver accreditation requirements in <a href="https://www.transport.nsw.gov.au/newsroom-and-events/media-releases/transport-for-nsw-statement-regarding-ride-sharing-apps">several</a> <a href="https://www.intellinews.com/uber-reaches-agreement-with-the-czech-government-138071/">jurisdictions</a>. </p>
<h2>Regulating contractors as contractors</h2>
<p>Regulating gig work without redefining gig workers as employees is not just politically easier, and hence more sustainable. It is also more effective policy. </p>
<p>It enables regulation to be <a href="https://research-repository.griffith.edu.au/bitstream/handle/10072/405187/Peetz498000-Accepted.pdf?sequence=2&isAllowed=y">tailored to circumstances</a>. For example it may mean applying an hourly wage rate in one sector, and a piece rate of some sort in another.</p>
<p>For example, a New York state inquiry into how to regulate passenger transport came up with an amount expressed like taxi charges – that is, dollars per kilometre travelled – drivers needed to be paid to earn the <a href="https://news.yahoo.com/judge-rules-lyft-must-york-rules-driver-minimum-010416081.html">equivalent of the state’s minimum wage</a> (taking into account waiting times, average speeds and so on). </p>
<p>Different panels of the Fair Work Commission could determine different forms of gig economy regulation for different industries. </p>
<p>Legislation does not need to specify how regulation should be expressed. It just needs to make sure that the Commission has all the power it needs, to regulate in whatever way it sees fit.</p>
<h2>Levelling the playing field</h2>
<p>The Transport Workers’ Union – which has a number of former officials in the Albanese government – has a long history of successfully promoting regulation of safety conditions for independent contractors (such as truck owner-drivers) without rebadging workers as employees. </p>
<p>In the 1970s, for example, it persuaded the Wran government in NSW to introduce amendments to the NSW Industrial Relations Act that have made roads safer. </p>
<p>The Albanese government does not need to legislate specific regulation. It just needs give the Fair Work Commission the power it needs to regulate in whatever way it sees fit, setting a minimum hourly rate or something else.</p>
<p>The law must also direct the commission to set minimum standards in a way that ensures gig workers are paid as much as comparable award-covered employees, taking account of expenses. (Contractors often pay for costs that, if they were employees, would be covered by their employer.) This sort of direction is important to ensure neutrality between the costs of using employees or contractors.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/186197/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>As a university employee, David Peetz undertook research over many years with occasional financial support from governments from both sides of politics, employers and unions. He has been and is involved in several Australian Research Council-funded and approved projects. He was an adviser to the inquiry that led to the Queensland legislation that is referred to in the fourth paragraph of this article. However, he has no financial interest in any other aspect of this article.</span></em></p>Uber Australia’s deal with the transport workers union signals the Albanese government won’t mess about with attempts to reclassify gig workers as employees.David Peetz, Professor Emeritus, Griffith Business School, Griffith UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.