Second reading 18 Nov.
http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/bills/cbill/2016-2017/0019/17019.pdf
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Uber drivers are working up to 21 hours a day to make ends meet as the company increases its cut of fares and fights a ruling giving them employment rights.
Drivers in London and Manchester interviewed last week told of regularly working hours that Uber itself describes as “unsafe”. The Sunday Times has seen official Uber documentation proving one of the men worked a 91-hour week.
The disclosures come as new figures show a dramatic rise in casualties involving taxis and private hire vehicles in London.
In interviews with 12 Uber drivers waiting at Heathrow between 9pm and 10pm last Wednesday, The Sunday Times found three who admitted working 16 hours or more a day. Tom Bagaza, from High Wycombe, said: “On average every day [I work] 14 hours, and 16 is top whack. I had a colleague last week who said he had worked 19 hours. I know people who even sleep in the car, and they go crazy.”
Bagaza said he never worked more than 16 hours. However, he then added: “I can start at six o’clock in the morning and finish the following day at maybe two o’clock, three o’clock,” a 20 or 21-hour day.
A second driver, who declined to be named, said he had been driving since 5am, more than 16 hours before, though his first four hours were as a newspaper delivery driver, not for Uber. If allocated a long job from the airport he would clock up 19 hours’ driving that day, he said.
Corrado Mitzoni, another driver waiting at Heathrow, said he had started driving at 9.40am, 12 hours before. If the job he was allocated proved a long one his day would extend to around 14 hours. “This is one of the longest days I’ve done,” he said.
A fourth Uber driver, Kristian Vassilesko, said the longest day he had done was 16 hours. “I begin to feel tired,” he said. “We have no limits. If the tariff could be a bit higher, it would be better.” Three other drivers could not be interviewed because they were asleep in their cars. One had installed curtains in the vehicle.
Uber drivers in Manchester on Friday night told a similar story. One, Khaled, said: “We need to speak the truth. I work 70-80 hours a week and weekends it’s 14-16 hours a day. It’s very, very stressful but I don’t have a choice. I feel like I’m a slave; we work like slaves for this company.” The legal limit for a bus or lorry driver is 56 hours a week.
Figures published by Transport for London last week show there has been a 26% rise in casualties among taxi and minicab passengers in the past year. The number of passengers killed or seriously injured rose from 13 to 20, a 54% rise.
In New York, Uber recently banned drivers from working more than 12 hours a day. Its general manager in the city, Josh Mohrer, said: “It is unsafe to use the Uber app for more than 12 hours at a time.” Some London minicab companies, including Addison Lee, have also imposed a 12-hour limit.
However, Uber UK said it had no plans to follow suit. In London, for new drivers, it has increased the cut it takes on fares from 20% to 25%, forcing them to drive for longer to earn the same money.
The company suffered a blow last week when an employment tribunal ruled that Uber drivers were not self-employed, and were entitled to holiday pay, pensions and other workers’ rights. It is appealing. Official Uber documents from the case, seen by The Sunday Times, show one of the successful claimants, James Farrar, worked 91 hours in one week in June 2015.
Farrar said last night: “I felt like a zombie. It was pretty awful. But the only variable a driver has [to increase earnings] is to drive more.” An induction manual for drivers produced by Uber speaks of “typical earnings . . . based on [a] 55-65-hour week”.
Steve Garelick, of the professional drivers’ branch of the GMB union, said: “Through the app, Uber knows precisely how long everyone has been available. It and other operators could stop this overnight if they wanted to. They’ve made the effort to limit hours in New York, so what’s wrong with London?”
Tom Elvidge, general manager of Uber London, said that three-quarters of Uber drivers in the capital were logged in to the app for less than 40 hours a week. “We regularly advise drivers to take rest breaks,” he said. “We take this issue very seriously and are always looking into ways to improve the overall safety of the app.”
http://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/uber-squeeze-pushes-drivers-to-16-hour-day-8gmllwhk2
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Pam Anderson is afraid of getting raped, and afraid you could be too if you use those popular rideshare apps.
Check out Pammy playing "The Driving Game" ... it's a game show-styled PSA she shot which strongly suggests drivers for rideshare apps -- like Uber or Lyft -- aren't properly vetted, and are committing sexual assaults at alarming rates.
There are few hard stats on the matter, but fact is ... some police departments, like Boston's, have issued warnings about such services after alleged sexual assaults. Other cities, like Austin, have flat-out banned Uber and Lyft for refusing to submit drivers for fingerprints.
Reps for both companies insist all their drivers go through background checks. Lyft's rep also said the PSA "misleads consumers about the many safety benefits of ridesharing."
Besides rigorous vetting of drivers ... Lyft points out its app allows passengers to share their ETA with loved ones, so they'll know where you are at all times during a ride.
Comment; click on the link to video, it is pathetic and hilarious at the same time.
http://www.tmz.com/2016/11/02/pam-anderson-sexual-assaults-rideshare-apps/
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A specialist water taxi service has launched connecting Manchester city centre with Sale and Old Trafford along the Bridgewater Canal.
Waxi hits the waterways from Monday November 7 ferrying passengers from Dukes 92 in Castlefield to intu Trafford centre for Santa’s Grotto visits. It is the first water taxi service in operation in Greater Manchester.
http://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/business/business-news/aboard-water-taxi-service-launches-12134831?
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Irish taxi company Lynk is continuing its expansion across the Atlantic having secured a number of deals in the US over the past week with its international partner Riide.
The Lynk/Riide joint venture was launched last year after a €25m investment allowed the two firms to partner up in a bid to expand into the UK and US markets.
It operates under the Riide moniker in the US and in the UK.
The new agreements, signed this week, will result in Riide trebling the number of drivers operating in the US. The company currently has 5,000 drivers operating Stateside, but that figure will soon grow to 15,000 following successful negotiations between the company and US taxi firms in Phoenix, Arizona, this week.
Lynk was founded in 2015 in Dublin but the company has managed to carve out a major portion of the Irish taxi market in a short space of time.
http://www.independent.ie/business/irish/taxi-firm-lynk-secures-major-expansion-in-us-35189772.html?
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SEDGLEY
Two people have run away from the scene of a crash which saw a car and a taxi collide with a bus stop in Sedgley.
The crash happened at around 11.30 last night on Wolverhampton Road, near to The Crown pub.
The car and taxi involved in the collision were left severely damaged. Their windscreens and windows were shattered and bumpers were smashed in the collision.
http://www.expressandstar.com/news/emergency-services/2016/11/05/two-people-run-off-after-car-and-taxi-crash/?
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North Wales.
A TAXI driver who was found to be driving under the influence of drugs whilst engaged to transport children was arrested on Thursday (November 3.)
The 41-year-old driver tested positive for cannabis after failing a roadside drugs swipe test in the Llanrug area.
At the time, he was collecting children to take them to a school in Bangor. He had not moved his vehicle due to being spoken to by police.
http://www.northwaleschronicle.co.uk/news/168771/taxi-driver-failed-drugs-test-while-collecting-schoolchildren-in-llanrug.aspx?
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