Uber & Lift Must Be Regulated Or Be Made Illegal.

[TheMastersNemesis]

Uber and Lyft need to be required to follow the same regulations as Taxi services. Otherwise they should be put out of business as illegal enterprises. They are a danger to the public. And they pay unemployment and workman's comp taxes like any other business.

And labor laws must be passed to regulate "contract employment".

ADDENDUM - Any business that has employees should be required by law to pay ALL taxes like FICA, UI, & Workman's Comp. Even a contractor should be legally an employee. If the company pays money for labor the person is an employee and contracted employment is labor. Even management should fall under the Fair Labor Standards Act including overtime pay. And all salaried work should be for 40 hours with surcharge to the employer for overtime. And a standard work week should be 5 8 hour or 4 10 hour days.

[Fuddnik]

1. I agree.

I was one of Ubers first drivers in the Tampa Bay area. I drove a regular taxi for several months, and it sounded like a good deal. I didn't have to pay $100 per day to lease a gas guzzling Crown Vic, could drive my hybrid, and work just enough to make golf money. And only when I wanted. Then they started cutting rates to the bone, and taking 20% off the top of that.

They doubled and tripled your workload and expenses, but you earned the same money. You couldn't appeal or explain a bad driver rating from a drunk or an asshole. You were expected to supply beverages to your clients, out of your own pocket. You could not offer feedback for lousy software and company policies. You were just an income source for the CEO and company.

They treat their employees like shit. They're cheap, but get in an accident with one of their drivers, and you're screwed. Their insurance won't cover you.

FUCK UBER!!!!!!!!

[Initech]

2. [phone]

I got screwed by Uber, anything to keep them to getting from a paycheck.

[CoffeeCat]

3. My husband and I both have driven for Uber...

I drove for Uber for a few months. I was curious, and I thought it would be fun. When they first came to our city, the rates were decent and you could make decent money (as a part-time job). However, they cut rates.

I don't know why in the hell Uber does this. They've got a perfectly good business model. Why not pay people decently? Now, the rates are so low ($1.10 per mile). The only people attracted to this job are fools who don't realize that in most circumstances you are not making decent money, after expenses.

My husband stayed in the job and has continued to do it, but he's strategic about when he drives. He only drives on Friday and Saturday nights for a total of 12 hours. He makes between $250-$350 per weekend. That is decent.

However, when you factor in your gas, wear-and-tear and taxes--it's barely worth it.

Unfortunately, our family continues to enjoy the perils and trappings of the lovely "new economy". Laid off in 2008 for a year, we blew through savings. We're employed now (network engineer and freelance writer) but our income will never be what it was in 2008. Benefits have been cut. We're paying $550 per month for healthcare alone.

We have two teenaged daughters that want to go to college. So, this is why my husband Ubers. Yes, they have us by the balls, but we're not the one percent. So, we just work more.

Uber is like AirBnB and other "shared economy" situations. People need more money, or they fall behind (or they can't send their kids to college). You do what you have to do.

[msongs]

4. do you tell your insurance company you are using your car for uber work?

[Fuddnik]

5. No, and you better not. They'll drop you faster than you can say Uber.

[TheMastersNemesis]

6. The Uber, Lyft, And Other Schemes Are Just Vicious Exploitation Of Labor.

They should be heavily regulated. Otherwise they should be put out of business. They should be regulated like taxi services.

[TeamPooka]

7. start with high rates to lock in a labor force then cut pay. Exactly why they need oversight & reg.

[Kilgore]

11. If it's that bad, why is he still driving for them?

There must be other options for part time work

[randome]

13. Why does anyone work at McDonald's?

[hr][font color="blue"][center]Don't ever underestimate the long-term effects of a good night's sleep.[/center][/font][hr]

[Kilgore]

14. I have the same question

My daughter worked at a McD's for about a month while looking for a better job. Got it and split.

[randome]

17. I worked at a McDonald's for a year.

It was all I could manage while in college. And although now I'm a highly paid IT programmer, not everyone is meant to pursue ever-greater opportunities and responsibilities.

We should be working towards a more relaxed life experience. One that pays a living wage no matter what one does. Leaving time for creativity and simply living our lives for our own benefit and not for the benefit of corporations.

We should not be striving to make this a cookie-cutter world.
[hr][font color="blue"][center]Don't ever underestimate the long-term effects of a good night's sleep.[/center][/font][hr]

[CoffeeCat]

16. It's an extra $1,200 per month...

He makes $1,200 (on average) per month working only 12 hours per week. The flexibility is key. He can drive on his own time. If we've got something going on, he doesn't have to drive. Nice to set the hours yourself. We're making money-- just not as much since the rate decreases.

Part time work usually doesn't pay well either. I don't know of many part time jobs that enable you to make $300 working 12 hours on the weekends after your kids have gone to sleep. He also makes tips too--which pays for a good portion of the gas.

Desperate times call for desperate measures. I guess.

[FrodosPet]

18. Driving people around is a fun job

Not all the time, but quite often.

The pay in the current economy sux, but you get to have conversations with interesting people from all walks of life. You get to see places you normally would not, and while some passengers are rude and ungrateful, others are warm and thankful.

[former9thward]

8. Are you a taxi driver?

For one of the taxi monopolies? Those are the only people pissed at Uber. Afraid of competition.

[Recursion]

9. Taxi companies don't pay FICA or UI.

This is almost Rovian: every criticism made against Uber by defenders of the medallion oligopoly applies equally to cab companies. Cab drivers are contractors. They are underpaid. They don't get benefits. They don't have collective bargaining. They make money for rich medallion owners.

[randome]

12. I don't hear anyone defending the medallion system. It sucks.

Uber sucks, too. Maybe consistent criticism of both will benefit both sets of contractors.
[hr][font color="blue"][center]Don't ever underestimate the long-term effects of a good night's sleep.[/center][/font][hr]

[Recursion]

19. OMG I see it everywhere here. "Hard working cab drivers". As if its the drivers' oxen being gored.

Yes, I agree cab drivers are hard-working. They're as hard working as Uber drivers but they end up making slightly less. But from the way people here talk you would think cab drivers were unionized highly-paid actual employees with benefits and Uber drivers were scabbing them.

[UncleTomsEvilBrother]

10. As an African American male...

....who has been passed on several street corners by taxis, I couldn't care less if the taxi services are suffering.

[meaculpa2011]

15. I've been an independent contractor for 35 years...

precisely because I don not want to work under direct supervision at pay rates determined by the employer.

Statements such as "If the company pays money for labor the person is an employee" do not take into account that many of us do not fit into neat little bureaucratic pigeon holes.

There are thousands, possibly millions, like me who prefer to live our own lives, organize our own work processes, make our own hours and set our own pay rates.

I don't know anything about Uber, but regulating me out of business to get at them is arrogance at its lowest level.