Cras wrote:
I ask every Uber I drive in what they think about the working conditions, and that's a lot of them. Absolutely without exception every single one says the flexibility they get from not being directly employed is the most attractive thing about the job. They want to be able to work as many or as few hours as they like, and most of them have not just Uber, but also Lyft or others, which they wouldn't be able to do if they were directly employed.
I appreciate that in somewhere like San Francisco, the pricing model is so brutal in order to steal the market that the drivers are painfully underpaid. In London, my experience is overwhelmingly that the model works for users and drivers.
Do you really think it's fair that Uber charges 25% of the cab fare, after being themselves who stipulate pricing conditions? With such conditions how can are argue that they are "self-employed"? Just because they chose their schedules, it doesn't necessarily mean they are self-employed.
When i do contractor work for someone, i have to pay something in taxes yes. It can be 25% or more if it adds VAT. Still, that money goes to the state and i get social benefits in return and also contribute to social services. It doesn't go to someone already filthy rich in california.