Uber drivers say the rideshare giant’s campaign spruiking flexibility for workers is “misleading”, arguing they are already treated as employees with none of the benefits.
Last week Uber launched a campaign featuring first-hand accounts of how the company’s flexibility to work when, where and how they want helps Australians wanting to earn a side income. It has been splashed across billboards and features video testimonials from workers explaining how they can work around other commitments like acting auditions and running a music business.
The push comes ahead of potential changes affecting gig economy workers, with the government signalling plans to give the Fair Work Commission the power to set minimum conditions and benefits for gig workers. Uber, alongside other major rideshare players, has publicly backed the government’s plan.
The Brisbane-based driver Shane Millsom said Uber’s campaign touting the benefits for workers of choosing how and when they work was an attempt to “weaponise flexibility”.
“They’re trying to scare drivers and possibly decision-makers into backing away from … introducing protections that would be fair.”
“Flexibility works for Uber. Uber have all the power and they control everything.”
According to a spokesperson from Uber, 90% of more than 1,200 drivers surveyed said flexibility was the most important feature of gig work and they would not continue to work for the platform if that flexibility went away. The company’s campaign states that two in three workers prefer to be an independent contractor over an employee.
But Millsom, who is also the secretary for the Rideshare Driver Network – an organisation that advocates for drivers – claims the company is already directing workers as employees, but with none of the protections and benefits. He believes workers should be paid for the duration they are engaged with a platform, and not per job.
“I have no control over how long I will wait [for a job], Uber does. Uber knows how many jobs there are, how many cars there are, how likely there is to be some trips, which car they’re going to give the job, they control everything,” he said. “We don’t know where we’re going. We don’t know how much we’re getting paid.
“I believe the way we work is already as employees under Australian law.”
In some instances, he said, short trips can result in the drivers losing money, which contributed to drivers barely scraping past minimum wage.
Millsom likens it to gambling: “Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose, but the house always wins … Uber makes money on every trip that gets completed.”
A spokesperson for Uber said the company was committed to industry-wide reform that improves conditions for gig workers. When asked if the campaign was misleading, Uber referred to the survey showing many preferred flexibility.
The company is supportive of legislation that brings earning standards above the minimum wage, and earning standards for time spent at work.
A report released by the Transport Workers’ Union, TEACHO, and the McKell Institute on Tuesday found 81% of the 1,000 food delivery, rideshare and Amazon Flex drivers surveyed depend on gig economy income to survive.
Almost half earn less than the minimum wage, 42% work over 40 hours a week, and 69% said they have to work during peak hours to earn enough money.
“This alarming study busts the myth that transport gig work currently offers flexibility in anything but a tagline,” said the union’s national secretary, Michael Kaine.
“Although many food delivery, parcel delivery and rideshare drivers are drawn to this work on the promise of flexible hours, this is unobtainable without the existence of fair, safe and sustainable standards.”
Steve Khouw, who works as a meal delivery rider in Sydney for Uber Eats and DoorDash in between studying and running a business, agrees the current flexibility does not benefit workers and argues Uber’s campaign is misleading.
“By default you get the flexibility because it is a gig economy, that’s what it’s all about,” he said. “But in practice, there’s very little flexibility. You can ride whenever you want, but you’re not going to earn much money if you do.
“Most riders ride on a Friday night and over the weekend … those are the only options that we have to make a reasonable living.”
He also said the “flexibility” of being paid per job was putting delivery riders’ safety at risk as they race to do as many jobs as possible in the hour to meet minimum wage.
“It’s dangerous,” he said. “When you are desperate and you need the work to supplement your income, you have no choice but to keep riding faster.”
Menulog has been trialling treating some of its workers as employees rather than independent workers, guaranteeing them the minimum wage and other benefits. On Monday it announced a new charter of principles signed with the Transport Workers’ Union to ensure safety and fair treatment of on-demand delivery couriers.
