Taxi Driver Online

Uber driver 'threatened' by senior manager after establishing union

Leaked email appears to show company's UK general manager warning driver to 'avoid violating' partner terms

A senior manager of the taxi app Uber has threatened a British driver for establishing a union to fight for better treatment, a leaked email appears to show.

Uber drivers have been raising concerns over working conditions, including pay being cut and having to spend up to 30 minutes getting to passengers.

In what seems to be an email to one driver that has been posted online, Jo Bertram, the company’s general manager in the UK and Ireland, states: “Several drivers have brought to our attention that you may be organising another meeting to revisit some of these issues. I am again surprised that you would take this step, and concerned that it could undermine the progress being made.”

In the document, made available on thememo.com website yesterday, she adds: “I would advise you to review the partner terms, to avoid any risk of violating them, and, in doing so, invalidating your partner agreement.”

The email is dated October last year, during discussions with a group of Uber drivers who had formed the London Private Hire App-based Drivers Association (LPHADA) which has since become part of the GMB union.

Yaseen Aslam, a founding member of the LPHADA, said that anyone “can clearly assume it was a threat”.

He said: “It’s hard to get drivers to come out and speak out or attend meetings, because they’re already worried about losing their jobs.” He claims that the company removed him from its pool of drivers earlier this year, after he exposed a loophole which allowed individuals to register and drive uninsured.

Steve McNamara, general secretary of the Licensed Taxi Drivers’ Association, told The Independent: “Uber has a firm policy of getting rid of whistleblowers and what they term ‘troublemakers’.”

He added: “Any Uber drivers who question earning less than the minimum wage, or who discuss with customers their low earning potential, are also quickly removed.”

Uber said: “This email is over 12 months old and has been taken out of context, the comment was relating to social media activity that breached our partner terms.

“Uber has a good relationship with its partner-drivers and operates an open door policy so they can come and talk to us about any issues they may have.”

source: http://www.independent.co.uk/news/busin ... 20146.html

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George Carlin

Uber has an open door policy. It is always open for the drivers to walk out through. I don't quite see how a union can help the self-employed. A zero-hours contract or self-employed agreement is what it says; if you don't like the terms, don't work there.

Nonsense Drivers have a right to be members of a Union [human rights legislation}and if it were proved that Uber refused to allow a Driver who was a Union member on their books to work for them they would immediately qualify as NOT being FiT AND PROPER! SELF EMPLOYED OR ZERO HOURS CONTRACT IS IRRELEVANT !

gave Addy Lee plenty of headaches on that one

And this Group joined the GMB funny theres been no publicity about that a good recruiting tool i would have thought

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All posts by this contributor are made in a strictly personal capacity

I AM PROUD TO BE A CITIZEN NOBODY'S SUBJECT http://www.republic.org.u

F88K EM ALL WHAT GOES AROUND COMES AROUND

BOOZE BOOZE BOOZE

I wonder how non uber members would feel about the same union representing them and their biggest rivals

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lack of modern legislation is the iceberg sinking the titanic of the transport sector