As if Uber needed more enemies. Presidential candidate Hillary Clinton will blast contractor-fueled companies for repressing middle-class wage growth in a speech tomorrow laying out her economic policies, according to an outline of the talk attained by Politico’s Michael Grunwald.
[Update 7/13 5:45am PST: Clinton’s camp has since clarified to Politico that “she’ll cite sharing economy as example of wage pressure”, but not as aggressively as its post implied. To better express that, we’ve edited our headline from “Hillary Clinton Plans To Campaign Against Uber’s Contractor Economy.”]
Update 7/13 7:20am PST: In her speech, Clinton said that “this on-demand or so-called gig economy is creating exciting opportunities and unleashing innovation. But it’s also raising hard questions about workplace protections and what a good job will look like in the future”. She “vows to crack down on employers who misclassify workers as independent contractors”, which she says is “wage theft”. Clinton also said that benefits, paid sick leave, and maternity leave are essential to strengthening the middle class. Those are things independent contractors don’t get.]
Clinton plans to make raising middle class incomes a focus of her campaign, and will lay out her strategy at The New School in Manhattan on Monday. Along with globalization and automation, Clinton will peg the sharing economy as “conspiring against sustainable wage growth”, according to Politico. The report says “she will argue that policy choices have contributed to the problem, and that she can fix it.”
The logic seems to be that if big job creators are only offering contractor positions that typically lack the benefits, advancement opportunities, and job security of full-time positions, they don’t contribute to building a country with sustainable wage growth. Before, full-time taxi drivers might have be able to rely on their future income to make investments in owning a home or putting a child through college. Full benefits might have protected them from downturns that could suddenly cripple a family’s socioeconomic mobility, like an expensive medical condition.
Politico also mentions that Airbnb may be in the crosshairs. People renting out their own homes certainly doesn’t stably employ as many people as traditional hotels.
The news comes as Uber is opposing a class-action lawsuit in the district court of Northern California that would label all of its contractors as employees.
Last week, Uber’s lawyer Gibson Dunn Ted Boutrous, Jr. told TechCrunch:
“We have driver after driver explaining their unique circumstances, why freedom and autonomy are so important to them in their own words, in sworn testimony. All of that goes right to the heart of our argument why this can’t be a class because for there to be a class everyone must be similarly situated, they must have suffered the same injuries, allegedly. That is the opposite of what we have here.”
There are certainly issues with how certain “sharing economy” companies treat contractors. Some of these workers might prefer the option to become full-time with stability and benefits that are paid for by money taken out of their salary. However, others may prefer the flexibility and self-scheduling of part-time contracting, even if they work as many hours as full-timers.
Technologists are often weary of clumsy government regulation of fast-moving industries. [Update: Some in the sharing economy would like more regulatory clarity, though, as having to jam employees into either full-time or contractor classifications that don’t fit exposes them to liability.] Hopefully Clinton won’t just advance a rigid, “full-time is always better” policy. She may find more support by listening to what contractors themselves actually want as well as looking at what will permit rapid growth companies like Uber to keep innovating and providing affordable, convenient services.
One other point Clinton plans to touch on in her talk tomorrow is a push against short-term business planning and “quarterly capitalism”, Politico reports. Giving public reports on progress every three months is designed to protect shareholders.
But many tech companies loathe quarterly earnings calls because they force them to constantly scramble to meet immediate metric goals rather than doing what’s best for their company long-term.
[Update 7/12 7:45am PST: Regarding quarterly capitalism, Clinton said “Everything’s focused on the next earnings report or the short-term share price, and the result is too little attention on the sources of long term growth” which include research and talent.
Clinton stated “Some of our biggest companies have spent almost half their earnings to buy back their own stock, and another third or more to pay dividends. That doesn’t leave a lot left to raise pay or invest in the workers or make new investments to ensure a company’s future success. These trends need to change.”
A shift in investor mindset and the policy that fuels it could free public tech companies to build for the future rather than maintaining their status quo.
A driver for ride-sharing app Uber was arrested Monday night for allegedly masturbating while ferrying a 25-year-old woman through the eastern Indian city of Kolkata earlier this month.
News of the incident comes weeks after a female passenger in the Indian capital New Delhi made asimilar allegation against a driver working for TaxiForSure, one of Uber’s main competitors in the country.
In a statement regarding the Kolkata incident, Uber spokesman Karun Arya told TIME that, on getting word of the allegation, the company immediately contacted the passenger and suspended the driver, who was contracted to work for the online taxi service. Uber also helped the local authorities in Kolkata with their investigation.
“The rider was satisfied with our immediate assistance and action,” Arya said, adding that the passenger in question continues to use the taxi service.
Uber said the driver’s papers were in order, and he had cleared an independent background check. The incident took place on July 8, when the passenger noticed that the driver was “masturbating with one hand and driving with the other,” the Indian Expressreports.
Citing the passenger, the Times of Indiareported that the driver was constantly looking at her during the journey. She subsequently filed a police complaint, which led to the driver being put under surveillance for several days before he was arrested on Monday night. He has since been granted bail.
First we had the scandal where perfectly capable FX4s and TX1/2s were replaced by more polluting TX4s and Vito Taxis, now we are told the the all new Boris bus isn’t as clean as we’ve been led to believe.
Of course, every time Boris, Daniels or Emmerson talk about London’s air quality strategy, they stick to the TfL spin doctor’s script; “we’ve removed thousands of older, dirty Taxis and replaced with newer less polluting vehicles”.
This is of course a lie, exposed by the Kings report 3 years ago, a report buried by the Mayor and TfL.
The latest scandalous news broke over the weekend that Londoners have again been lied to and conned by TfL. Is it any wonder that two of TfL’s top brass have fled the sinking ship!
Author, journalist and Mayoral hopeful Christian Wolmar, broke the news on his personal blog:
The Boris Bus turns out not only to be an expensive scandal, but it is also a dangerous con.
As well as posing a safety risk, the buses are not operating in the environmentally friendly way that was promised because the batteries which are supposed to provide the vehicles’ hybrid power are frequently failing. Consequently, the Boris Buses are running as old-style diesel buses, with a high fuel consumption and high pollution output.
One driver has been sacked following his persistent refusal to take out what he felt were unsafe buses and he is taking the bus company to Employment Tribunal over unfair dismissal.
Another driver told me: “There is going to be an accident and someone will get seriously hurt. We want to stop that and that is why we are talking to you.”
The cost to Londoners of replacing the faulty batteries on the malfunctioning buses could be more than £20 million.
The Bus for London was introduced in 2012 after being commissioned by Boris Johnson following an election pledge to restore conductors and an open back door to London’s double-deckers. The bus was designed by Thomas Heatherwick, who is involved in another Boris vanity project, the equally controversial Garden Bridge.
Forty bus drivers at Holloway Garage have prepared a dossier – which I have seen – on the many faults of the new bus. The drivers report that because the batteries powering the hybrid system do not work, the buses operate on diesel for 90 per cent of the time.
Wolmar has called for an “urgent” review of the procurement process used to buy the buses and for their operation to be assessed “by an independent panel of experts.”
The No 24 route is operated by Metroline, a subsidiary of ComfortDelGro, a Singaporean conglomerate which operates nearly 50,000 buses across the world. The company has refused to address the drivers’ concerns and has ignored their attempts to explain the dangers.
Read Christian Wolmars Blog post in full: >click here< As we have come to expect, TfL have made a statement denying the Mayoral hopefuls claim.
Leon Daniels, Managing Director of Surface Transport at Transport for London, says bus operator Metroline, which operates the Holloway Garage, “are not aware of any issues arising from changes between electric and hybrid modes in service and they have had no such problems reported to them by their drivers.”
He added: “However, concerns have been raised previously about the performance of the batteries on the earlier vehicles.
So what is it Leon “NOT aware of any issues” or ” concerns HAVE been raised”.
The Unite union has also received complaints.
‘Wrong technology’
John Murphy, Unite’s regional officer, said: “The batteries just aren’t fit for purpose. It’s not that the technology isn’t there it’s just the wrong technology.
“Personally I think this stems from the rush to get through this vanity project.
“They’re not really a practical bus for London. The common practice now is to take the batteries out of the buses so effectively these very expensive environmentally friendly buses are just running on diesel.”
Too Expensive
The new Boris buses cost £354,000 – a normal hybrid off the peg costs about £300,000.
At the moment there are 500 operating on the roads. A further 300 will be on the road during 2016.
These buses have been bought by TfL, as bus companies thought them too expensive.
Leon Daniels has been widely featured in the trade news after giving out Jo Bertram’s private number to a City hall inquiry when asked for Uber’s public land line. One trade journalist said “it’s got to a point where we can’t believe one word that come from this man’s mouth”.
Many in the Taxi and Private Hire industry believe that Daniels days at TfL are seriously numbered.
London must choose between the chaotic Uber or its heavily-regulated but safe black cabs because the two cannot operate side by side, a Tory MP has warned.
MPs don’t seem too worried about the demise of the Licensed Taxi Trade, only 6 stayed behind for the debate. Only 4 stayed for whole debate.
MPs debating their 10%pay rise.Charles Walker said while cab drivers had to pass the Knowledge and undergo background and financial checks, technology start-up Uber was brazenly ignoring the rules and flooding the capital with mini-cab drivers.
He warned City Hall officials were having to deal with as many as 1,200 new mini-cab registrations every month, while Uber straightforwardly ignored most regulations.
Mr Walker said if Uber was preferred there should be a genuine free for all, releasing cab drivers from the current regulations on themselves and allowing them to put “any old piece of rubbish on the road”.
Taxi drivers went on strike last summer to protest “the inefficient manner in which TfL manages taxi and private hire in London”, said the LTDA’s Steve McNamara
Speaking in a late-night Commons adjournment debate, Mr Walker said: “For 400 years, London has recognised the need to have a properly-regulated and licensed taxi service. I suggest our illustrious predecessors were not fools in this matter.
“London can’t have it both ways: it can try but it will end in tears.”
Mr Walker said without the enforcement of regulations on all kinds of taxi, fares would rocket, cars would be unsafe, disability access would be hit and people would be less safe.
He said the enforcement officials had neither the resources nor the sanctions available to properly uphold the rules – telling MPs there should be the ability to get rule breakers off the roads for good.
The Broxbourne MP said there was currently no penalty for not meeting the rules.
“I want to be clear: I want to derive reassurance from a licensed and regulated black cab taxi trade. Of course, it’s not a perfect trade but it’s a very good one,” he said.
“I want to know when my children are out in London, they will always have the option of easily finding a black cab to take them home or back to the place they are staying.
“I want to know my children are being driven by a professional with four years’ training because my children’s safety is important to me.”
He continued: “Why shouldn’t fares be left to the discretion of the driver? Only the fools will be left to pay the higher rates and that’s their punishment for being stupid, weak, old or frail.
“This is not the London I want to live in but unless we take regulatory enforcement seriously, I fear it is the one we are going to get.”
He said: “London’s taxi service is recognised as one of the best in the world, with high vehicle standards – including disabled access and skilled drivers.
“By learning the world famous Knowledge of London, London taxi drivers therefore earn the unique right to ply for hire on the streets of the capital.
“Private hire vehicles offer a different service, also with high standard but allowing a customer to choose who they travel with.
“This combination of taxi and private hire ensures that the needs of as many Londoners as possible can be met.”
Mr Goodwill said “time does not stand still” for the iconic black cab, with the market changing due to new technology.
He noted the “industry must adapt” but change brings challenges, explaining TfL and other licensing authorities was faced with accommodating “21st-century technology in 19th-century legislation”.
Mr Goodwill said a consultation had been carried out in the capital which may deal with some of Mr Walker’s concerns, adding the results would be published later this year.
Read full transcript of last nights late debate. Fantastic support from MPs Victoria Borwick and Jim Shannon.
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