Taxi Driver Online

Uber drivers begin landmark legal action over dynamic pay and algorithmic management

https://www.ier.org.uk/news/uber-driver ... anagement/



Worker Info Exchange International has filed a collective action at the Amsterdam District Court on behalf of drivers in the UK, Netherland, Belgium, France, Germany, Poland and Romania. The action is brought in the Netherlands, where Uber B.V., the joint controller responsible for Uber driver personal data across the EEA and UK, is established.

Worker Info Exchange International alleges that Uber’s dynamic pay and work allocation systems qualify as automated decisions that significantly affect drivers, in breach of the protections provided by Article 22 GDPR. The claim also challenges Uber’s processing of drivers’ personal data to develop and operate these AI and Machine Learning Systems. Further, the claim alleges that Uber unlawfully transferred driver personal data outside of the EU without the appropriate required safeguards in place to protect their rights.

Worker Info Exchange International is seeking compensation for harms caused to affected drivers by Uber’s unlawful conduct and injunctive relief to prevent the harms from continuing.

The harms suffered by affected Uber drivers

Since 2020, Uber gradually moved away from a pay model based on fixed rates for the time and distance of a trip. Instead, it introduced highly variable pay, dynamically determined in real time according to parameters that are neither disclosed to nor understood by drivers. Work allocation has similarly evolved from relatively simple matching based predominantly on location and estimated arrival time towards increasingly complex and opaque algorithmic allocation.

Worker Info Exchange International commissioned Oxera, a leading international economics consultancy, to provide an independent expert opinion on the damages caused to drivers by the introduction of dynamic pay. Based on driver data from the UK and the Netherlands Oxera found that:

On average, Uber drivers in the UK affected by dynamic pay saw their incomes reduced by £5,300 per annum to date since 2021. In real terms, hourly pay for affected drivers fell by £3.44 per hour.

On average, Uber drivers in the Netherlands affected by dynamic pay saw their incomes reduced by €7,500 per annum to date since 2022. In real terms, hourly pay for affected drivers fell by €7.15 per hour.

Dynamic pay technology and its impact on workers

As Uber progressively introduced new technologies using artificial intelligence and machine learning, workforce surveillance and the processing of personal data became more intensive while the information about it provided to drivers became ever more opaque.

Uber’s workforce surveillance and decision-making technologies seek not only to predict driver behaviour, but also to influence and manage it. At the same time, work and pay have become increasingly unpredictable for Uber drivers, with many having to work longer hours to make up for lost pay.

As workers in the so-called gig economy, Uber drivers already suffer from low pay and weak employment protections. The uncertainty, variability and reduced pay caused by dynamic pay has significantly worsened the conditions of gig workers in recent years.

James Farrar, Director of Worker Info Exchange International, said:

It’s bad enough that Uber’s dynamic pay algorithms have squeezed driver pay for years now, but the intrusive and underhanded way in which Uber uses its technology to monitor and influence drivers’ behaviour is an affront to their dignity as workers and as human beings.

By participating in this collective action for algorithmic justice, Uber drivers are not only protecting their own interests; they are also setting boundaries for big tech companies: the law must be obeyed, and workers and the communities that economically depend upon them must be respected.”

Next steps

The claim has been filed in the Amsterdam District Court under the Dutch collective action regime (WAMCA). Worker Info Exchange International will continue to work with Uber drivers, trade unions and worker organisations throughout the proceedings and Uber drivers are invited to continue to sign up to participate in the collective action at www.dynamicpay.org.

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