IWGB

RACIST ASSAULT OF NOTTINGHAM DELIVEROO RIDER FOLLOWS MURDER OF TAKIEDDINE BOUDHANE IN LONDON
►https://iwgb.org.uk

· Delivery worker assaulted in Nottingham after he intervened to prevent an altercation between another delivery worker and two pedestrians on Monday 6 January.

· The assault comes days after the murder of UberEats and Deliveroo rider Takieddine Boudhane, fatally stabbed in Finsbury Park, north London on Friday.

· Mr. Boudhane’s death has led to renewed calls for better rights and protections for delivery drivers, who assume high risk for poverty pay at a time IWGB members report a rise in assaults.

· Delivery workers are routinely denied sick pay and holiday pay, meaning many cannot afford to take time off work following accidents or assaults.

08 January: The incident took place at approximately 20.00 on Upper Parliament Street in Nottingham. The injured party, whose last name is withheld for his safety, intervened in an altercation between two pedestrians and another delivery rider. Ibraheem witnessed one of the pedestrians kicking his colleague’s moped. Concerned for the driver’s safety, who was physically struck, Ibraheem tried to diffuse the situation and advised the other driver to leave the area. Once he did so, the pedestrians began directing racist abuse towards Ibraheem, calling him a “dirty brown bastard” and telling him to “go back to his country” before police attended the scene.

Ibraheem says: “It’s hard to express how it feels being told to go back to your country in the very city where you were born and bred. The other driver was hit and I was spat at for trying to help him. Delivery riders are being targeted and intimidated a lot, we’re in danger every day we go to work. I’ve got no entitlement to sick pay or holiday pay, so I’m going back out in the streets to work tonight because I can’t afford to stay home. I got no support from Deliveroo, only other drivers and the IWGB. Deliveroo just suggested I work outside my own city, somewhere I don’t know, which could be even more dangerous. We deserve better than that.”

Alex Marshall, courier and IWGB Couriers & Logistics Branch Chair, says: "We were appalled to learn of the murder of Takieddine Boudhane. His loved ones are in our thoughts and we send solidarity to everyone affected by his death, which has shaken the courier community. To hear just days later that one of our members in Nottingham has been physically assaulted and subjected to racist abuse at work has been devastating. Delivery workers are putting their lives on the line for poverty pay and BAME workers are among those most at risk.

The IWGB has seen a worrying rise in reports like this and in the event of an accident or assault at work, companies take no accountability. That is the gig economy culture. If these worker’s rights were respected by the companies they work for the picture would look very different and perhaps lives would be saved.”

Notes to Editors

The IWGB is the leading union for so-called “gig economy” workers. In November 2018 it organised the first UK nation-wide strike of Uber drivers, when drivers in London, Birmingham and Nottingham turned off their app in protest to unfair deactivations and low pay.

In December 2018, the IWGB has defeated Uber at the Court of Appeal, in a landmark decision over the employment rights of its drivers. The Court of Appeal upheld the previous decisions by the Employment Tribunal and Employment Appeal Tribunal, which ruled that Uber had unlawfully classified Uber drivers as independent contractors rather than workers, denying them basic rights such as a guaranteed minimum wage and holiday pay. However, the ruling only applies to Uber minicab drivers, not UberEats delivery workers.

The IWGB has also taken legal action against other gig economy companies such as Deliveroo, CitySprint and TDL. These include worker recognition cases and claims for backdated holiday pay worth over £1 million.

▻https://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/news/nhs-gig-economy-couriers-blood-transfusions-union-recognition-the-doc
▻https://iwgb.org.uk/post/5d09f070e04c2/nhs-medical-couriers-landmark-

@IWGBunion

#Großbritannien #Nottingham #Rassismus #Arbeit #Gigworking #disruption #Kriminalität

Uber Drivers in four UK cities to protest ahead of company’s IPO · IWGB
▻https://iwgb.org.uk/post/5cd28b1260b6f/uber-drivers-in-four-uk

https://cdn.iwgb.org.uk/post/5ccbee3362cd9.jpg

8 May 2019 - Uber drivers in London, Birmingham, Nottingham and Glasgow to log off app and protest outside Uber offices in each city
Drivers condemn Uber for large payouts to founder, venture capitalists and executives despite failure to resolve pay issues

Drivers call on public to not cross “digital picket line” on 8 May
8 May: Hundreds of Uber drivers will log off the app and stage protests in London, Birmingham, Nottingham and Glasgow today, as part of an international day of action taking place in dozens of cities around the world ahead of the company’s IPO.

UK drivers are expected to log off the app between 7am and 4pm and the United Private Hire Drivers (UPHD) branch of the Independent Workers Union of Great Britain (IWGB), is calling for drivers to protest outside of Uber’s offices in London, Birmingham, Nottingham and Glasgow.

The IWGB’s UPHD branch is asking the public to not cross the digital picket line by using the app to book Uber services during these times. Thousands of other drivers are expected to take action around the world, from the United States to Brazil, as part of an international day of action.

Drivers are protesting against the IPO, which will value the company at tens of billions of dollars and lead to massive payouts for investors, while driver pay continues to be cut.

Despite the expected massive payout for a few at the top, Uber’s business model is unsustainable in its dependence upon large scale worker exploitation. Since 2016, successive judgements from the UK’s Employment Tribunal, Employment Appeal Tribunal and Court of Appeal have all said Uber drivers are being unlawfully denied basic worker rights, such as the minimum wage and holiday pay. The IWGB is expected to face Uber at the Supreme Court later this year.

Uber’s own prospectus recently filed with the US Securities and Exchange Commission admits that being forced to respect worker rights and pay VAT as a result of the IWGB’s legal challenge would be a material risk to its business model. It also says that driver pay and job satisfaction will fall as Uber seeks to cut costs to become profitable.

Analysis by UPHD shows that Uber drivers currently earn on average £5 per hour and work as much as 30 hours per week before breaking even.

The drivers are demanding:

Fares be increased to £2 per mile

Commissions paid by drivers to Uber be reduced from 25% to 15%

An end to unfair dismissals*

Uber to respect the rulings of the Employment Tribunal, The Employment Appeal Tribunal and the Court of Appeal confirming ’worker’ status for drivers

IWGB UPHD branch secretary Yaseen Aslam said: “Since Uber arrived to the UK in 2012, it has progressively driven down pay and conditions in the minicab sector to the point where many drivers are now being pushed to work over 60 hours a week just to get by. Now, a handful of investors are expected to get filthy rich off the back of the exploitation of these drivers on poverty wages. We are protesting today demanding that the company pay drivers a decent wage and that government authorities tackle Uber’s chronic unlawful behaviour.”

IWGB UPHD branch chair James Farrar said: “Uber’s flotation is shaping up to be an unprecedented international orgy of greed as investors cash in on one of the most abusive business models ever to emerge from Silicon Valley. It is the drivers who have created this extraordinary wealth but they continue to be denied even the most basic workplace rights. We call on the public not to cross the digital picket line on 8 May but to stand in solidarity with impoverished drivers across the world who have made Uber so successful.”

The protests are expected to take place at:

London 1pm - Uber UK Head Office,1 Aldgate Tower, 2 Leman St, London E1 8FA

Birmingham 1pm -100 Broad St, Birmingham B15 1AE

Nottingham 1pm - King Edward Court Unit C, Nottingham NG1 1EL

Glasgow 2pm - 69 Buchanan St, Glasgow G1 3HL

#Uber #Streik #London #Birmingham #Nottingham #Glasgow

Uber strike: Drivers around the world turn off app ahead of IPO - CNN
▻https://www.cnn.com/2019/05/08/tech/uber-strike/index.html

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Uber drivers around the world are logging out of the company’s app to protest its compensation policies ahead of a blockbuster public offering.

Strikes are scheduled for Wednesday in major US cities, as well as parts of the United Kingdom, Australia and South America. The message from participants: Uber needs to offer its drivers job security and higher wages.
Uber is expected to go public Friday on the New York Stock Exchange. The debut could raise roughly $10 billion for the ride-hailing company.
Uber and its rival Lyft (LYFT) have long argued their drivers are independent contractors. That status means workers in many countries don’t get the same rights as employees.

“Drivers are at the heart of our service — we can’t succeed without them,” Uber said in a statement.

“Whether it’s more consistent earnings, stronger insurance protections or fully-funded four-year degrees for drivers or their families, we’ll continue working to improve the experience for and with drivers,” it added.
The strike action kicked off in London at 7 a.m. local time and will last until 4 p.m., according to James Farrar, a spokesperson for the Independent Workers Union of Great Britain, which advocates for people working in the gig economy.

Uber and Lyft drivers strike for better pay

The union wants UK drivers and customers to avoid the Uber app during the protest. It expects thousands of drivers to participate, based on the numbers that have joined its private drivers’ branch, Farrar said.

One driver on strike in London, Muhumed Ali, said he wants Uber to boost fares and take a smaller cut of sales.

“The drivers are the ones who are running the business,” said Ali, who’s been driving for Uber for four years and says it’s his primary source of income. “We are collecting pennies.”

Backing from politicians in Britain’s Labour Party, including opposition leader Jeremy Corbyn, could help encourage customers to stay away, according to Farrar.

Uber cannot be allowed to get away with huge payouts for their CEOs while refusing to pay drivers a decent wage and respect their rights at work. Stand with these workers on strike today, across the UK and the world, asking you not to use Uber between 7am and 4pm. #UberShutDown
— Jeremy Corbyn (@jeremycorbyn) May 8, 2019

Other cities are expected to join the protests. Drivers are pushing for better treatment and improved conditions, but the specific demands vary by organizing group.

Uber drivers protest outside the Uber offices in London.
In San Diego and Los Angeles, drivers are slated to cease working for 24 hours. In Atlanta, workers plan to log off for 12 hours. And in New York City, a two-hour strike was planned for the morning commute.
In addition to powering off their apps, drivers will hold rallies held in strategic locations such as outside local Uber offices.
In the United Kingdom, protests are scheduled to take place outside Uber offices in London, Birmingham, Nottingham and Glasgow.

Independent Workers Union of Great Britain
►https://iwgb.org.uk

#Uber #Streik #London #USA