More generally I see a broad media campaign smearing Silicon Valley; spinning a narrative of tech companies as an out-of-touch new elite bent on oppressing the poor and middle class (e.g. the Google bus kerfuffle). That narrative seems popular even in tech circles these days. Perhaps it's an inevitable consequence of success.
Above attitude is pretty poor. There are many reasons why Uber(Pop) is not acceptable from a European perspective. In various countries in Europe the attitude is more about employees and social security. E.g. if I read the article I just arguments for customers and companies. But who is going to pay taxes? Who is protecting the employees?
With UberPop Uber actively tries to either break laws or skirt them. E.g. they're contractors, but they won't work with the government to ensure that the employees/contractors pay their taxes. Social security requires taxes to be paid. Ensuring that this happens requires cooperation and cross checks.
Airbnb is similar. Assume it is not their responsibility.
Such attitudes totally conflict. I work in an international company, following local laws is standard business practice. It's not a "OMG difficult". If it is too difficult, do it anyway.
In most articles I see Uber described as a "ride-sharing" company, while it is a taxi company. IMO there's a heavy pro Uber bias including the usual assumptions that the taxi situation is the same all over the world.
There are laws and there's a US company ignoring these laws, with more money than is good for them (much larger and powerful than "Uber's powerful and connected opponents" that the GP spoke of). That matches every stereotype of US companies that try to force the American Way onto Europe.
I can't think of many ways to make it easier for the media to produce a scandal (which is how they make their money).
And to some degree it looks plausible: Uber is larger than most of the incumbents (I'm pretty sure that they're larger than any of the existing taxi companies in Germany). They're handed injunctions against the way they operate all the time. They don't seem to care to work within the legal framework (There might have been options in Germany - but they require some amount of good will by elected officials, something that probably dried up by now), but simply want to destroy it.
They are also provided benefits through the union such as health insurance and pensions.
Cab licenses are also regulated to ensure that the driver is fit to ferry passengers, some countries even require them to pass a CPR / emergency treatment courses.
The local regulations also ensure that the vehicle that is used is road worthy even in places that do not require a yearly checkup for all vehicles.
Very few people wake up in the morning and say "Gee, I'm so excited to drive for Uber today! I don't need the extra money, I just love it!" The sharing economy is only possible because of income inequality. Granted, ride-sharing is letting a tiny drip of income back into the driver's wallets, but it's temporary.
We do not need a new category of worker just because a few corporations decide that they do not want to provide their workers with benefits. The benefits that come with the employee designation are the bare minimum. A company that cannot afford to provide those to employees should not exist.
The entire purpose of labor law is to quash that "business model".
Unions. The people who brought you the weekend.
(I think minimum wages are 800 yen per hour, or roughly $6.50)
Now, employers still want to treat employees like independent contractors, right? So what does this mean?
As a computer nerd, this means that if I work as an independent contractor for a company with a legal department, I have to go through a body shop, a company that takes 30-50% off the top, and then wants to hire me as a W2, of course, but without benefits. Which is a pain in the ass, because that means the benefits I buy for myself need to come out of post-tax money.
(Now, if you find an especially shady body shop, they will often let you go "corp-to-corp" - usually they tell you that they will be telling the client that you are a W2, as that provides better protection to the client. But you can find some honest body shops that will let you go corp to corp, especially if you can demonstrate insurance and revenue for your company that isn't you.)
Of course, labor laws are there to protect the low end, and driving is one of the most dangerous jobs that you can get in a modern economy, so I certainly agree that uber drivers need some sort of "workers comp" like disability insurance, just because their job is so dangerous.
I'm just pointing out that telling companies that they can't hire contractors directly doesn't always end up working out better for the employees.
From a European perspective Uber, AirBNB and so on are a setback.
But in some (not all) cities taxi services are ridiculously expensive.
Some regulation of this industry is good, if Uber (and AirBNB for that matter) are willing to get their drivers/vehicles on the same footing as the competition and if they ensure that their contractors are not going to skip out on paying taxes and background checks then I'm fine with it.
The thing that bugs me is that the way both these entities position themselves they essentially leave others to hold the bag while they rid to riches and that's an issue. The new middle men are in that sense not better or worse than the old middle men, they're just different people.
$50 billion valuation for a taxi company common!
But the customer service of Uber/etc is night and day different than Taxis. There's no question the takeover will happen.
Taxi drivers and taxi companies seem to see medallions as a license to cheat and steal. Good riddance.
Apparently his younger brother (also at university with us in the late 90's) struck it lucky with a company he helped start up, and is now rich enough that he doesn't need to work. He is planning on consulting part time, as he wants something to fill his days (other than just kayaking - we all met through the university kayak club).
I've never taken an uber, but I've met many uber drivers, and I've actually heard this several times.
It's not like they are being forced to work, and many like the random interaction with people better than sitting at home.
I know one retired guy that drives for Uber on occasion. He sold his family business to his son and has more money than I wold know what to do with, but drives Uber just for fun.
Anyway, I have no real point, but these people exist.
>'Tiny drip of income into the drivers wallets'
80% goes to drivers.
Employee benefits for this kind of work just won't exist. Technology is making it easier for people to provide services for a wide pool of individuals without needing a company to employ them. The companies make an easy target for this sort of complaint today, but they are middlemen that will be eliminated by decentralized systems.
Unfortunately algorithms and implementations for truly decentralized auctions (for the pricing) and trust models (for the feedback mechanism) and actually transferring the money without resorting to cash-in-hand (which, for some reason, seems to be highly unpopular in the US) are hard and by design less profitable than setting up a central instance that controls everything for a fee (eg 20% of revenue).
You're right that under such a system, every driver would be self-employed with as many benefits as they pay for themselves. Uber isn't that system.
I have a feeling this can be done via a worker's coop. But someone will need to take the initiative to start.
Hailo.
It should not be a company's job to take care of an employees general welfare. Other developed countries seem to have a more elegant solution to this issue...
That's one thought experiment I conduct - imagine we find out that a comet is going to approach Earth in 6 months. My main problem is us having to deal with 6 months of chaos (since nobody will be working) rather than instant annihilation.
Because bosses always get most of the profits.
I not sure that's true. The equilibrium price could actually be higher than where the market rate is now. Uber, Lyft, etc are subsidising their products with massive amounts of venture money in order to increase their market share - if they were removed from the equation it's entirely possible that drivers would get a higher fare and the cut Uber takes.