Iranian-American businessman Dara KhosrowshahiCEO of Uber, reassured investors concerned about the new European Union regulations, issued in December, and assured that his company can continue to prosper “even under rules that would force it to hire drivers as employees.”
During a private talk in December hosted by Swiss bank UBS, Khosrowshahi told bankers that recent decisions in Spain and the UK have not drastically hurt the company.
“We can make any model work,” Khosrowshahi said when asked about possible European Union legislation that would require Uber to designate drivers as employees or provide additional rights like vacation and pension.
As it is recalled, both countries enacted rules last year that oblige companies that take advantage of the ‘gig’ model (free market system consisting of a contract or independent work carried out temporarily or short-term) to provide more protection to employees. workers to drivers.
“Business in Spain has grown about 40% year-on-year, and Spain’s EBITDA margins are also very close to our long-term overall margins,” said Uber’s CEO, referring to the company’s cash flow before taxes and interest.
In the UK, for example, courts ruled last year that Uber must classify 70,000 drivers as “workers.” The worker classification, a technical distinction from an independent contractor or employee under British labor law, allows drivers to receive minimum wage, holidays and access to a pension plan. Uber promised to abide by the ruling.
“There is a great demand for our technology, our service, our brand, our security, our reliability. So, any model can work economically for us, “he added in a report collected by The Intercept.
Uber: labor rights in the US
However, Dara Khosrowshahi’s statements powerfully contradict Uber’s stance in the United States.
The classification of the drivers of the ‘gig’ economy has become one of the most contentious modern labor industry problems in the US, where an estimated 59 million workers work without benefits, guaranteed hours or protection. of a union.
Uber has been a leading force in preserving this structure, investing more than $ 190 million in a ballot measure in California alone to reverse the rules that gave most drivers employee status.
In 2020, as companies faced the law in California courts, Khosrowshahi slid the possibility of temporarily suspending services across the state. The law has now been partially repealed, keeping the transportation and delivery drivers it was designed for classified as independent contractors.
“Uber has always said that it could not fit into an employee model that provided its drivers with fundamental protections by law, such as a minimum wage and the right to form a union,” wrote Steve Smith, spokesman for the California Federation of Labor, in a statement to The Intercept.
While admitting defeat in the UK, Uber has continued to oppose Spain’s Passenger Law and has employed lobbyists in Brussels to prevent a similar statute from being enacted across the European Union.
“Dara Khosrowshahi’s recognition that the company can, and has adapted, to treat workers like employees in other countries is a slap in the face to all drivers in the US that Uber continues to exploit. It boils down to the sheer greed of wealthy executives who will do everything in their power to prevent workers from having a share of the profits generated by their work, ”Smith remarked.
.
Kingston is an accomplished author and journalist, known for his in-depth and engaging writing on sports. He currently works as a writer at 247 News Agency, where he has established himself as a respected voice in the sports industry.
