Here’s the bottom line: Uber is charging passengers more and paying drivers less, while funneling our money to the Wall Street investors that helped it undercut competitors and corner the market. Read more about how Uber is taking us all for a ride (link in bio).
...
Video description: Our National Campaigns Director, Mariah Montgomery, walks outside in NYC, then is seated indoors at an office table while talking to camera. As she speaks, graphs from our newly released report appear on screen, in addition to news clips about Uber and videos of drivers organizing together.
Transcript:
Have you noticed Uber is getting way more expensive? Here's what's going on. And spoiler alert, it isn't to pay drivers more. We analyzed over a billion rides to find out what's going on. Here in New York City, the average cost of a trip jumped 36% over four years. Yet at the same time, driver after driver has shared a story of having to work more hours to take home less money.
And pretty much every time drivers demand better pay. Uber makes the same argument to pay drivers more, we'll have to jack up fares. We decided to test that claim. In New York, drivers won a law that set a minimum pay floor starting in February 2019. If you just look at this graph, it does seem like the fares go up every time the pay floor increases. But let's look at Chicago. It's the only other city in the U.S. that makes rideshare corporations report detailed trip data. And that's a great comparison. It's another big city, but currently it doesn't have any driver pay protections. Over the same time period, fares in Chicago went up 54%.
Transcript continued in comments 👇
3 years agostarcrib
I'm so sick of f- ucking Wall Street, it controls, Washington, politics, health care- Everything. 1776.
3 years agopowerswitchaction
Transcript continued: If fares went up more in a city without a driver pay floor, what's causing these big hikes? We looked at a bunch of possible factors, but only one seems to fit the data: pressure from Wall Street. For years, Uber used money from big investors to offer cheap rides and good pay. Now that Uber dominates the market, those investors are demanding their cut. Uber's jacking up fares and slicing driver pay, allowing it to send more money to Wall Street. Let's look at the timeline. In May 2019, Uber went public on the stock market, bringing more scrutiny from investors. In November of that year, Uber's CEO said they were aiming for profitability by November 2021. In February 2020, he told investors, “the era of growth at all costs is over.” Then the pandemic hit and Uber's plans got delayed. But by 2021, the company was facing increasing investor pressure as it kept losing money. And as it kept raising fares, in February 2022, Uber promised to be cash flow positive by the end of the year. In August 2023, Uber said, “we plan to be profitable for every quarter going forward.” This year, Uber reported an annual profit for the first time ever and promptly announced plans to give $7 billion back to investors. Put it all together and the picture is pretty clear. We’re all paying more while drivers are getting less so Uber can give our money to banks and billionaires. But Wall Street greed shouldn't determine the future of our transportation system. And all over the country, drivers are organizing. And sure, Uber will keep using their scare tactics. But now we have the data to show they're just crying wolf. Falsely claiming that wage protections drive up fares seems to be a tactic to pit passengers against drivers and obscure this massive transfer of wealth to Wall Street. The reality is Uber's predatory practices hurt customers and drivers, and we can fight back. Drivers are demanding a new route for the industry, one where workers are paid fairly, riders have affordable transportation options, and Uber can no longer take us all for a ride.
More posts
