The gig is up: America’s booming economy is built on hollow promises
Uber just filed its first quarterly report as a publicly traded company. Although it lost $1bn, investors may still do well because the losses appear to be declining.
Uber drivers, on the other hand, aren’t doing well. According to a recent study, about half of New York’s Uber drivers are supporting families with children, yet 40% depend on Medicaid and another 18% on food stamps.
Gig economy: California bill granting employee status passes assembly
The state assembly in California passed legislation on Wednesday that would require employers to recognize hundreds of thousands of gig workers as employees and could have far-reaching implications for contractors across the US.
In a win for labor advocates, Bill 5 passed 53-11 in the assembly and will now move to the senate. If signed by the governor, the legislation would put into action a decision made by the California state supreme court in May 2018 known as Dynamex, which uses a three-part test to determine if contractors qualify as employees entitled to protections and benefits.
Great fanfare as Uber gets its stock on the road, but app stalls in New York
Uber’s stock market debut came with all the usual razzmatazz of a big American technology IPO. The chief executive spent weeks making sweeping statements about how the business was “just getting started” and had new worlds to conquer – everything from pizza delivery to international freight. In the background, investment bankers whipped up buyers for the “transportation” stock of the 21st century.
The Uber drivers forced to sleep in parking lots to make a decent living
Every Saturday morning before the sun rises, 35-year-old Uber driver Sultan Arifi rolls up the sleeping bag in the front seat of his car, places it in the trunk, and prepares for another day of work.
He will spend the next 12 hours picking up as many passengers as he can on the streets of San Francisco before returning to a grocery store parking lot in the north of the city to sleep, often for six hours or less, rising as early as he can on Sunday to do it all again.
Compact between old and young at risk of breakdown, say peers
The tacit deal between young and old to support each other through life could break down because of major problems with housing, work and tax, a 12-month parliamentary inquiry has concluded.
The growth of the gig economy, soaring housing costs and fiscal giveaways for older people are driving a wedge between generations in Britain, according to a cross-party House of Lords inquiry into tackling intergenerational unfairness.
Uber drivers plan shutdown over ‘poverty wages’ as company goes public
Uber drivers in the US will stage a shutdown for 12 hours to protest against poor working conditions and low wages as the company goes public in May.
Drivers will log off the app in seven cities starting at noon on 8 May, the day Uber is expected to make its IPO. Drivers in San Francisco will also protest in front of the Uber headquarters. The action is backed by driver collectives including Gig Workers Rising in Northern California, Rideshare Drivers United in Los Angeles, and Chicago Rideshare Advocates.
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