Who is Uber Freedom and what do they want?

A new faction of discontented Uber drivers is calling for a nationwide strike all weekend to demand higher base fares and the option to tip drivers.

|
Eric Risberg/AP/File
A woman leaves the headquarters of Uber in San Francisco, Calif. on Dec. 16, 2014. Uber drivers are employees, not independent contractors, the Oregon Bureau of Labor and Industries said Wednesday, Oct. 14, 2015, in an opinion that takes direct aim at the business model for the popular ride-hailing company.

Hearing your Uber driver complain about the app is nothing unusual, whether it’s about taking a recommended, more time-consuming route, or contending with low demand in local areas.

Now, a faction of discontented Uber drivers across the nation has mobilized – though just how much riders will be affected remains to be seen.

The group, which calls itself Uber Freedom, has called for a strike beginning at 5 p.m. on Friday and running through 10 p.m. on Sunday, according to the Detroit Free Press.

Here are the drivers’ demands, according to their Facebook page:

A 60 percent fare increase for UberX, the cheapest private car offered

A $7 minimum fare, which varies across cities

A $7 cancellation fee (the cancellation fee for an UberX currently is $5)

An option for users to leave a tip

This is not the first group of drivers rallying against Uber. Last year, another group of New York-based drivers protested after a summer discount cut significantly into their earnings, BuzzFeed News reported. Black car and SUV drivers were also unhappy that the app forced them to accept lower-priced rides.

Labor conditions at the ride-hailing app have come under legal scrutiny in several states in past months. On Wednesday, Oregon Labor Commissioner Brad Avakian ruled that although drivers are freelancers, they are still considered employees, according to The Oregonian.

Uber has disputed the decision, saying that it was based on little evidence from the company and “full of assertions that are plain wrong.”

The company is also fighting a class action lawsuit, where “as many as 160,000 Uber drivers in California could join the case seeking mileage and tip reimbursement from the company, presently valued at $51 billion,” reports Wired magazine.

On social media Friday, sporadic updates from Uber Freedom’s protests began to trickle in, from cities including San Francisco, Dallas, and Detroit.

“There is no Uber movement in Chicago,” commented one user on the group’s Facebook page. “Pathetic but some of us are with it and not driving.” 

“I understand the whole strike issue. I’m sure there will be Uber drivers out there that need the money,” wrote another. “I will keep mine off and drive Lyft all weekend.”

NBC Washington reported this statement from Uber Friday: “We always welcome feedback from driver-partners. Each week, tens of thousands of drivers across the US begin using the Uber app to make money wherever and whenever they'd like."

You've read  of  free articles. Subscribe to continue.
Real news can be honest, hopeful, credible, constructive.
What is the Monitor difference? Tackling the tough headlines – with humanity. Listening to sources – with respect. Seeing the story that others are missing by reporting what so often gets overlooked: the values that connect us. That’s Monitor reporting – news that changes how you see the world.

Dear Reader,

About a year ago, I happened upon this statement about the Monitor in the Harvard Business Review – under the charming heading of “do things that don’t interest you”:

“Many things that end up” being meaningful, writes social scientist Joseph Grenny, “have come from conference workshops, articles, or online videos that began as a chore and ended with an insight. My work in Kenya, for example, was heavily influenced by a Christian Science Monitor article I had forced myself to read 10 years earlier. Sometimes, we call things ‘boring’ simply because they lie outside the box we are currently in.”

If you were to come up with a punchline to a joke about the Monitor, that would probably be it. We’re seen as being global, fair, insightful, and perhaps a bit too earnest. We’re the bran muffin of journalism.

But you know what? We change lives. And I’m going to argue that we change lives precisely because we force open that too-small box that most human beings think they live in.

The Monitor is a peculiar little publication that’s hard for the world to figure out. We’re run by a church, but we’re not only for church members and we’re not about converting people. We’re known as being fair even as the world becomes as polarized as at any time since the newspaper’s founding in 1908.

We have a mission beyond circulation, we want to bridge divides. We’re about kicking down the door of thought everywhere and saying, “You are bigger and more capable than you realize. And we can prove it.”

If you’re looking for bran muffin journalism, you can subscribe to the Monitor for $15. You’ll get the Monitor Weekly magazine, the Monitor Daily email, and unlimited access to CSMonitor.com.

QR Code to Who is Uber Freedom and what do they want?
Read this article in
https://www.csmonitor.com/Business/2015/1016/Who-is-Uber-Freedom-and-what-do-they-want
QR Code to Subscription page
Start your subscription today
https://www.csmonitor.com/subscribe