Uber Offers To Pay For Drivers' Health Insurance, and Then Yanks it Away (theverge.com) 35
Uber mistakenly sent out an email to some of its drivers and delivery workers last month offering to cover some of their health insurance costs -- only to revoke the offer two weeks later. From a report: On May 26th, an email from Uber with the enticing subject line "It's a great time to get health coverage" appeared in the inbox of an unspecified number of the company's drivers and delivery workers. When they opened the email, they were greeted by an even more alluring proposition: "Uber can help cover your healthcare costs." Drivers and couriers for Uber are classified as independent contractors, making them ineligible for employer-sponsored health insurance plans. For years, many of these workers have lobbied for more benefits and protections, only to face vicious opposition from Uber.
So one can only imagine the shock from drivers who opened this email and saw an offer for subsidies ranging from $613.77 to $1,277.54, depending on the type of insurance plan they had and the amount of hours they worked each week. That kind of money could be transformative for drivers, many of whom subsist on poverty-level wages and are struggling to find work amid a steep drop in demand during the pandemic. What could account for this radical change in position by Uber? As it turns out, nothing has changed. Uber intended only to send the email to drivers and delivery workers in California, and not any other state.
So one can only imagine the shock from drivers who opened this email and saw an offer for subsidies ranging from $613.77 to $1,277.54, depending on the type of insurance plan they had and the amount of hours they worked each week. That kind of money could be transformative for drivers, many of whom subsist on poverty-level wages and are struggling to find work amid a steep drop in demand during the pandemic. What could account for this radical change in position by Uber? As it turns out, nothing has changed. Uber intended only to send the email to drivers and delivery workers in California, and not any other state.
Newsflash... (Score:2)
Company makes mistake and sends emails to wrong people. In the history of computing, nothing like this has ever happened to anyone....
It's a good thing that within the United States, those very drivers can go get another job. It would be especially easy with the current job climate. A shortage of workers for Uber and the like might make them reconsider how to take better care of their "contractors".
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It's refreshing to see that after all this time and so, so many fuck ups Uber is still actively looking for new ways to be shitty towards everyone they touch.
we need crack down on fake contractors lot don't (Score:1)
we need crack down on fake contractors lot don't the control to really be an contractor.
Wake up call (Score:4, Insightful)
Maybe it will encourage some of these drivers to ask their own representatives why they don't have the same protections
they need to be classed as w2 (Score:2)
they need to be classed as w2
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Why? Any Uber/Lyft driver can determine their own fate at any time. Right now they can find ample employment opportunities in either the housekeeping or food service industries as well.
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Indeed. My local Walmart has a sign on the front door offering an $18/hour starting wage.
Uber drivers aren't taking other jobs because they prefer the independence and flexible hours of a contractor.
They tried to determine their fate (Score:4, Insightful)
It's almost as if individual employees _can't_ determine their fate, and that some form of organization of labor, a Unification if you will, is required. Pity we don't have centuries of labor rights history to go off of...
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What would you recommend they do with the answer?
Something better (Score:2)
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Speaking as the drunk guy, it was the driver's fault for the way he drove. He should have been much smoother on and off the throttle and using the brake. 1 star!
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It wasn't for the smell from the last guy that barfed and shit on seats I probably would have been okay. And have you ever showered? That crap gas station fragrance isn't covering any of it.
Arbitrage? (Score:1)
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Have you never heard of the term 'fraud'?
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Can an Uber driver change their official Uber residence to California (I am sure one of the CA drivers will rent them a 1 sq inch corner in their apartment) and then offer rides outside the state and gain those health benefits?
Simple answer: CA state income tax; plus depending on where they live state income tax where they actually work and possibly no offset.
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Yes, they can, but they won't be able to pick up riders in their own state if they do that.
For instance, I know drivers that have dropped off passengers in Nevada, but that couldn't pick anyone up on the way back because they were registered in California. Of course, this changes depending on which state you're in. I know other drivers that can pick up passengers in more than one state.
Doing the cucumber/grape experiment with drivers! (Score:1)
The reason (Score:5, Informative)
Uber intended only to send the email to drivers and delivery workers in California, and not any other state.
And the reason is because of California's Prop. 22 which was left out of the summary
Under Prop 22, Uber and other gig work companies are required to “provide healthcare subsidies equal to 41 percent the average [California Coverage] premium for each month” for drivers and couriers “who average between 15 and 25 hours per week of engaged time.”
Doesn't really help (Score:3)
A drivers's co-op would be better than Uber (Score:5, Interesting)
I've been suggesting this for a while, and I believe someone's actually trying it in New York now.
https://www.drivers.coop/
No boss. No external shareholders. Drivers democratically decide on governance and revenue distribution.
Techno-post-capitalism.
(The flip-side, if as a driver-member you want to complain, you're complaining to yourself, effectively.)
It will be interesting to see how this works out, and whether conditions for those co-op drivers are better than in the corporate model.
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Thanks for the link. I've been wondering about the same thing for awhile. There's no doubt that Uber/Lyft when they first started were competing against high cost, low value taxis. The taxis had no apps, no upfront prices, no ability to rate drivers, no surge pricing, no background checks etc etc.
For the use of their platform Uber charges 25-30% of the fare. Kind of interesting that Apple is getting criticized for basically that same amount in the appstore.
But the fundamental tech underlying Uber is pre
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That's socialism and automatically bad. Workers owning the means of production, what next, actual democracy, oh shit they're practicing that too, fucking socialists, better pass a law.
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There are a lot of types of socialism, some of which are very libertarian (invented by socialists) and free market orientated, unlike capitalism, which without lots of laws is naturally anti-free market. Don't confuse the free market with capitalism as many capitalists have a goal of monopoly.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/... [wikipedia.org] for one version. As usual there is a spectrum.
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You used 'Uber' and 'profit' in the same sentence? Good one!
The Real Headline (Score:2)
Uber fires a mid-level executive who incorrectly sends an e-mail company-wide. Everybody is worried about the 'poor contractors' but what about the assistant email minion in the communications team who hit SEND incorrectly? What about him/her?
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Its the dishonesty that hurts in so many ways (Score:2)
Instead of their upbeat subject that makes it sound like management is happy about the situations they could have sent out -
"CA Drivers Health Insurance subsides as required ny State law now available"
Would have resulted in a lot less confusion, and a lot less surprise when the arrangement turns out to be less sweet than it sounds.