Uber Spivs Take One Helluva Beating

Discussion in 'Taylor's Tittle-Tattle - General Banter' started by Moose, Feb 19, 2021.

  1. Diamond

    Diamond First Team

    I was trying, (clumsily), to point out that perhaps the gravy train that is, (or used to be), black cab driving had gone past being a service for the public and was instead a boys club that wasn't so beneficial for the customer anymore, where Uber is the exact opposite.

    This is much better put.
     
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  2. Diamond

    Diamond First Team

    There is a facebook group for delivery drivers that I am a part of, (long story for another time). There are good companies to work for and there are horrific ones. The one you quoted sounds exactly like Amazon, who are known in the industry to be the very worst of them all. Drivers start out with Amazon and soon leave due to exactly what you've posted. DHL have a great name amongst drivers and jobs with them are sought after.

    There is no need for any driver to be placed in that position written about when there are so many good companies to work for.
     
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  3. hornmeister

    hornmeister Tired

    Instead of trying to drag a discussion into a personal rant why not try discussing the actual issue.
    Address the points I've made if you disagree with them, or stop dragging my name in to it.
     
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  4. The undeniable truth

    The undeniable truth First Team Captain

    FTFY
     
  5. Moose

    Moose First Team Captain

    Sure, but with the imbalance of power so huge caution is required. Give an inch they will take a mile. This is beyond dispute.
     
  6. Moose

    Moose First Team Captain

    It’s a ludicrous fig leaf to claim ‘they are working for themselves’. The court has just told you squarely that they are not. All that has happened is a model of employment that shifts all of the responsibilities to the employee. Read the van example from Private Eye and tell us if that’s what you want for future generations of Tops?
     
  7. Clive_ofthe_Kremlin

    Clive_ofthe_Kremlin Squad Player

    Oh yes, sorry I forgot. In topsy-turvy capitalist land it is the union 'barons' and the union 'bosses' who are the champagne-swilling idle rich. If you sort of squint a bit and think backwards, it's actually the unions who are screwing the poor. All that anger the poor have about the blatant everyday in-yer-face inequality of life in Britain today, is far better directed towards the likes of those Lefties. If they would just let the kindly capitalist patrician go on making healthy profits and jobs, then there will be even more sunlit uplands. Everyone knows that if the feast gets bigger at the top table, then the crumbs that fall below will be more plenty!
     
  8. Clive_ofthe_Kremlin

    Clive_ofthe_Kremlin Squad Player

    3 years on the hourly, eh. No sick pay. Rough isn't it? Just like me on my job now.

    Although of course, I expect yer honour was paid right the way through from start time to finish, whereas I only get paid my contact time and nothing for travel in-between visits.

    However that is more than balanced out by the startling news that your holidays were unpaid! That is very alarming! You should join the union compadre, because that what they're doing is illegal. You're entitled to your 28 days. In that regard, I can happily report that dear employer is in full compliance and we are paid in full and promptly for our annual leave.

    I wonder whether you were thus compelled to work these 3 years without any break whatsoever, in order to keep a roof over your and Lady Topp's heads? I implore all the saints that your health was maintained during the 3 years to allow you to continue getting your shirt sweaty at your labours. But I wonder, were you compelled at any point, whether through exhaustion or ailment, to take an unpaid break from this relentless toil?

    If so, how did you manage without a pay packet? We Kremlins certainly couldn't. The whole pan-mercantile galaxy of very concerned landlords, agents and bankers would be all over us like desperate 3rd rate defenders on Sarr. Could it be that your hourly rate was rather more, even back then, than mine is now? More than any Uber driver? I don't expect you to reveal it precisely, but so that we may accurately gauge your suffering, perhaps you might put your hand on your chest and honestly say whether it was more or less than ten times my hourly rate of £8.72?
     
  9. zztop

    zztop Eurovision Winner 2015

    On this occasion, I'm not making general accusations in some idealogiccal battle, I'm being specific in this case, in line with the scope of the thread, that it is the unions who have removed the choice of thousands of Uber drivers to work for themselves and it is the unions action that will ultimately result in many Uber drivers losing their job. Those are facts, and the unions aren't denying it.
     
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  10. zztop

    zztop Eurovision Winner 2015

    You may think that the 75% of drivers who prefer working for themselves shouldn't be allowed to (as you know better than them), but they will disagree.

    I've read the Private Eye van example. I'm surprised that they didn't mention the employers name. Why was that, if it was true?

    But, it is well known that, at Amazon for example, the vast majority of drivers jobs are actually handled through third party fleets of drivers, and what is described in PE must be the worse example, as most do not treat their drivers like that. The good thing about the industry is that drivers can move to better fleets if they wanted to, drivers all mingle as they wait to load their vehicles or to check in on return and all chat with each other, and drivers move to the better companies all the time. Most of these 3rd party Fleets do pay a daily rate which is in excess of the minimum "wage" equivalent. Most of them also like the freedom to take their holidays when they like, and do not expect holiday pay, and they plan accordingly.
     
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  11. zztop

    zztop Eurovision Winner 2015

    I'm not complaining Clive, I was merely responding to Moose's accusation that I wouldn't want to work with no holiday or sick pay. Well I have, and preferred it!
     
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  12. Arakel

    Arakel First Team

    Uber's "business innovation" boils down to bypassing local employment regulations when it comes down to it. The workers aren't independent contractors, a conclusion that has now been drawn in multiple legal jurisdictions.

    Whether or not the black cab industry is ripping people off is honestly irrelevant.. The crux of the matter is that Uber (and other companies like it, such as DSP mentioned in the Private Eye article) are treating its workers like employees but don't give them the same rights and protections that come with that. The practice is predatory.

    As far as I'm concerned, any company which can't exist without exploiting people shouldn't exist. My wife and I manage to employee people despite being a small business a tiny percentage of the size of Uber. I'm sure Uber can manage it.
     
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  13. Lloyd

    Lloyd Squad Player

    I once jumped in the back of a black cab and asked the driver to take me to the nearest Nat West Bank. "There's one just there, squire," he replied, pointing to the other side of the road! He charged me a fiver for being a moron - which I was happy to pay
     
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  14. Moose

    Moose First Team Captain

    Being a contractor at a consultant level is quite different to what I was suggesting. I was asking if you want to be taken off the clock every time you stop writing?
     
  15. Moose

    Moose First Team Captain

    It must be terrible when people make sweeping generalisations about other's views. I hope it never happens to me. :)
     
  16. Arakel

    Arakel First Team

    Yeah, you would say that, wouldn't you? Fricking remoaner.
     
  17. wfcmoog

    wfcmoog Tinpot

    Quite. We don't need the exploitative model of Uber to provide competition for black cabs.

    Minicab firms and private hire taxi companies now have apps and online booking. They will still exist. Not sure how they pay their drivers though.

    I've only used Uber a couple of times. I rarely get taxis, apart from drunken lifts home from the station or airport runs, from the fantastic Tudor Cars.
     
  18. Diamond

    Diamond First Team

    Uber was also superb compared to my local taxi firms. I always used Fleet taxis outside Rickmansworth station to get home until one day when Karen behind the desk decided to be rude, then downloaded Uber and never used Fleet again. Cheaper, quicker to arrive and no ars*y Karens to deal with.
     

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