'It's like something out of Charles Dickens': Uber drivers 'sleep in their cars' while earning 'poverty wages'https://www.mylondon.news/news/zone-1-n ... s-23113003Uber drivers are living on “poverty wages” despite winning a Supreme Court case that in theory ensures they are paid a minimum wage, a drivers' union has claimed.
Nader Awaad, chair of United Private Hire Drivers, a branch part of the IWGB union, told MyLondon that while drivers are now employees with holiday pay and pensions, the minimum wage only covers the trips - not the time needed to wait for jobs to come in.
He said: “It has backfired...We’ve lost money.” While prices at the firm did rise by 10 per cent last November, it followed Uber's share of the service fee being hiked from 20 to 25 per cent in July.
The firm has also introduced “fixed rates” to give upfront pricing for journeys, rather than the previous method which more closely took into account changing journey times. Mr Awaad claims this penalises drivers who hit traffic or diversions.
Drivers across all apps have also lost a huge chunk of their income through fuel price rises, he said: “Fuel prices went up by 40 per cent over the past couple of months. Our fares did not go up anywhere near enough. We are now subsidising customers.”
Mr Awaad added that drivers are rejecting a huge proportion of jobs due to low rates. He continued: “My acceptance rate is about 15 per cent, in other words, I reject about 85 per cent of my jobs. Short distances have no value. I have an XL car, a Mercedes. It cost me £50,000. When I get a job for £5, what do you want me to do with it?”
The drivers’ union leader is losing around £100 a week due to rising fuel costs, Mr Awaad said: “I used to fill in my tank with £60, three times a week. Now it’s £90 per full tank.” And he believes that many Uber drivers - including him - are not receiving the minimum wage when they take into account the hours they are on the road.
He said: “I did my tax return last month. I didn’t stop for a single day during the pandemic, working seven days a week. All I earned last year was £23,500, for 80-90 hours a week. Now, I will lose £5,000 a year through the fuel hike. How can we survive?”
A collapse in demand during the pandemic hit all cab and private hire drivers hard. Mr Awaad became a driver three years ago, after being made redundant as a manager at British Gas. He was unemployed for five years, and told he was overqualified for a series of jobs.
When his redundancy money ran out, he became a private hire driver. He told MyLondon: “I was excited at first. But within 10 weeks I realised it was s**t. It reminds me of reading Charles Dickens. The level of exploitation and deprivation in this industry is unbelievable.
“I meet dozens of drivers who sleep in their car to earn money. They have to do 12-15 hours a day to earn any reasonable income. It’s the only job you have to be at your best at all times. You can’t afford to go to work if you’re under the weather. In an office it’s different. I could not believe what I was seeing and living.”
Within months Uber is expected to have to start paying VAT, a cost it will likely pass on to customers. Nader said: “I hope they don’t pass the VAT rise onto drivers. We can’t take it anymore.” On 21 March the drivers’ union will hold a protest outside Parliament to “take our fight to the legislators.”
A spokesperson for Uber told MyLondon that since March 17 last year all UK drivers are guaranteed to earn at least the National Living Wage after accepting a trip request and after expenses. However, it does not include the time a driver is logged onto the app, only the time drivers are actively on trips.
The spokesperson added that most drivers now work on multiple apps, with none of the other firms offering holiday pay or pensions. The firm does not expect to pay drivers for their whole time logged onto multiple apps.
The firm also claim many drivers earn much more than the minimum wage, with drivers who earn below that able to have their income topped up automatically by Uber. Since March last year, Uber says it has paid more than £115 million in holiday pay to drivers, but almost nothing in minimum wage top ups as it has not been required due to "increased driver earnings".
Towards the end of last year Uber booking were higher than pre-pandemic levels by 20-40 per cent in cities across the country, MyLondon was told.
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