3 ms·

Are uber drivers "working people"? Are some uber users "working people"?

by xname2 10y ago

gaius 10y ago
Uber drivers are like employees, but without employee rights. This is great for Uber and its investors, but not so much for "working people".
- zaidf 10y ago
  Citation needed. If you were right, you wouldn't have employed baristas etc. quitting their jobs to drive uber. To make your claim without acknowledging well-established upside of not being employed by Uber is disingenuous at best. Many drivers I talk to enjoy not having fixed work hours and the general flexibility not usually offered when you become an employee. Your argument speaks for none of these Uber drivers.
  - stephenr 10y ago
    > If you were right, you wouldn't have employed baristas etc. quitting their jobs to drive uber. Right. No one ever took a job without knowing the full effects of said job. Everyone is 100% aware of the situation of their employment and of the inherent consequences of that job. Next up: obesity is just a media circus, nobody actually eats more than they need to survive.
    - zaidf 10y ago
      So working for uber is just like obesity? Got it! Ironically, OP is the one arguing as if he is 100% aware of job of driving an uber and his awareness leads him to argue that it is categorically bad. More realistically, it is good for some, bad for some...like basically any other job.
      - stephenr 10y ago
        Do you understand what an analogy is? You said people are leaving existing jobs to drive for uber. My response is that people make bad decisions all the time. That doesn't make the decision any less bad. Also, based on most research, driving for Uber is generally nowhere near as well paying as they imply it is, when all costs are taken into account.
  - pmorici 10y ago
    Uber recruits drivers through deceptive if not outright false ads for starters. The ads I've seen said things like "Make $70,000 per year driving for Uber in city X!" That statement is outright false a full time Uber driver makes $12 an hour after expenses under the _best_ of circumstances. People quit jobs, take out new car loans, and generally make long term commitments based on statements from Uber like the one above. Uber also has total control over pricing, and lowers prices and changes what they pay drivers often with little more than a couple weeks notice if that. The driver has taken all the risk with regards to changing jobs, going into debt etc and Uber has them over a barrel. I can't think of another industry where a contractor would work under conditions like that where they let the company control the rate they get paid and change it at any time on short notice.

Are uber drivers "working people"? Are some uber users "working people"?

by xname2 10y ago

Are uber drivers "working people"? Are some uber users "working people"?

gaius 10y ago

Uber drivers are like employees, but without employee rights. This is great for Uber and its investors, but not so much for "working people".

zaidf 10y ago
Citation needed. If you were right, you wouldn't have employed baristas etc. quitting their jobs to drive uber. To make your claim without acknowledging well-established upside of not being employed by Uber is disingenuous at best. Many drivers I talk to enjoy not having fixed work hours and the general flexibility not usually offered when you become an employee. Your argument speaks for none of these Uber drivers.
- stephenr 10y ago
  > If you were right, you wouldn't have employed baristas etc. quitting their jobs to drive uber. Right. No one ever took a job without knowing the full effects of said job. Everyone is 100% aware of the situation of their employment and of the inherent consequences of that job. Next up: obesity is just a media circus, nobody actually eats more than they need to survive.
  - zaidf 10y ago
    So working for uber is just like obesity? Got it! Ironically, OP is the one arguing as if he is 100% aware of job of driving an uber and his awareness leads him to argue that it is categorically bad. More realistically, it is good for some, bad for some...like basically any other job.
    - stephenr 10y ago
      Do you understand what an analogy is? You said people are leaving existing jobs to drive for uber. My response is that people make bad decisions all the time. That doesn't make the decision any less bad. Also, based on most research, driving for Uber is generally nowhere near as well paying as they imply it is, when all costs are taken into account.
- pmorici 10y ago
  Uber recruits drivers through deceptive if not outright false ads for starters. The ads I've seen said things like "Make $70,000 per year driving for Uber in city X!" That statement is outright false a full time Uber driver makes $12 an hour after expenses under the _best_ of circumstances. People quit jobs, take out new car loans, and generally make long term commitments based on statements from Uber like the one above. Uber also has total control over pricing, and lowers prices and changes what they pay drivers often with little more than a couple weeks notice if that. The driver has taken all the risk with regards to changing jobs, going into debt etc and Uber has them over a barrel. I can't think of another industry where a contractor would work under conditions like that where they let the company control the rate they get paid and change it at any time on short notice.