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this post was submitted on 30 Jun 2024
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Work Reform
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A place to discuss positive changes that can make work more equitable, and to vent about current practices. We are NOT against work; we just want the fruits of our labor to be recognized better.
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- All workers must be paid a living wage for their labor.
- Income inequality is the main cause of lower living standards.
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- Higher wages for underpaid workers.
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That sounds reasonable and still a massive upgrade for drivers.
If you wait 10 minutes for a fare… give a 20-minute ride to some suburban house… and then drive 20 minutes back to the city…
your pay would be $10.83 (with this new deal).
…that’s very different from $32.50 per hour.
Does an airline baggage-handler only get paid for the “specific minutes” when he is lifting luggage?
Does a cashier only get paid for “specific minutes” when there are customers in her line?
The original goal of this lawsuit was to classify drivers as employees under state law…
And that goal was ignored completely.
What you're talking about is "waiting to be engaged" versus "engaged to wait."
The drivers are not on set schedules and have no obligation to the company except for the time between accepting a fare and dropping them off. If the drivers were required to return to a staging area and wait for a call the they'd need compensation. But they're not. They can do whatever they want at that point.
When I worked retail I wasn't paid for the time between my shift's end and the next one beginning, but that's what you're arguing for in this case.
The central feature of their business IS having drivers WAITING when a ride is requested.
So yes - it would be fair if they included some “waiting time” for each ride (maybe up to 15 minutes of actual waiting time).
These apps ONLY have value if there are drivers WAITING when a ride is requested, so drivers should be paid for that.
My Dad used to be a hot-shot delivery driver.
He didn't sit around waiting for a job. He'd go about his business and when his phone pinged he'd decide in the moment if he wanted to do the job.
Sometimes we'd be watching TV and his phone would ping and he'd get up to leave. Sometimes he wasn't interested and he'd let someone else get it.
The issue with Uber, Lyft, etc isn't that they treat their drivers as contractors. People who have they option of when, where, and whether to work and are paid per task aren't employees. The problem is the pay is terrible for what they're doing.