Speaker: Confessions of an Uber Driver II: How we doing?
615 Responses
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The NZTA has never been slow in the past to enforce the act, ask us long timers of the industry, we use to fear any of there staff when they tapped on the window of our cars or knocked on your front door at home, we knew we where in for it. Now because of the current situation everyone is just laugthing at them and the minister in charge of there department. Ben you have only been in the industry for about 4 months give a thought to the men and women who have keep the industry going for most of there working lives and there been some really hard times to cope with. Uber has just about stuffed up the small passenger transport industry and taken it back 100 years when it was a wild west show.
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BenWilson, in reply to
Are any or all of these companies affiliated with NZ’s Uber presence?
I would be amazed if any of them are. They are probably Uber drivers who registered companies for their own personal use, something that is not at all uncommon.
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BenWilson, in reply to
Ben they canned it because of the outcome of the review, they thought by the bribe they had given to a certain MP and his side kick was going to have the review favour tthere model.
Be very careful about making accusations of bribes to MPs. Thankfully you haven't named anyone here. This site's protection against libel suits is something I am very careful not to test. If you have proof of bribery, please contact me directly and immediately, on benedictwilson@hotmail.com
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BenWilson, in reply to
Is he in any way personally liable?
He is certainly putting his neck on the line a lot more than any other high up executive. I'm quite amazed that someone with legal training would be so incredibly indiscreet on the radio as to frankly admit to encouraging law breaking. To date, they have challenged the illegality of what they are doing. To be open about it is a very strange turn. As I say, it's establishing dominance. At this point, he is literally challenging the entire NZ criminal justice system to do a damned thing about his organization's blatant and large scale inducement into criminal activity of thousands of people.
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I wonder if he will find out soon what Uber standing by him 100% means. If it's anything like what it means for drivers, he's in for a rough time.
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BenWilson, in reply to
To what extent is this true?
Well my contract with Uber for providing the transport services that the so carefully distance themselves from before then completely taking over the entire operation with 4 pages of what reads like an employment contract, says that it's jurisdiction is the Netherlands. I'm presuming they mean the country, although given the way they named their company unwittingly with fascist overtones, I can't be sure that they don't think the Netherlands is some part of the internet and would be surprised to hear that it contains the Hague. I'm joking, of course.
ETA: For that matter, I'm not even sure that the fascist overtones are an accident. I would not be surprised to hear that the Uber Men who started the company are not at all displeased with the idea of being the Übermensch.
ETA2: I expect that they would argue that it is the anarchistic strain of Nietzschean philosophy, that the drivers themselves are the Übermensch: From Wikipedia
Bookchin says that "workers must see themselves as human beings, not as class beings; as creative personalities, not as 'proletarians,' as self-affirming individuals, not as 'masses'. . .(the) economic component must be humanized precisely by bringing an 'affinity of friendship' to the work process, by diminishing the role of onerous work in the lives of producers, indeed by a total 'transvaluation of values' (to use Nietzsche's phrase) as it applies to production and consumption as well as social and personal life."
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If this is what they think, then their organization could be viewed as a vast experiment in this philosophy, and the outcomes of it can be viewed directly in the disgusting lack of an "affinity of friendship" that they have ever displayed to their "driver partners", and the way in which they have made work for them much more onerous, and how "transvaluation" here is synonymous with "devaluation".
But lets not get philosophical here. If any director wants to wax philosophical with me they might find they've picked a farting match with a skunk.
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I guess we have to have these battles over and over. The giant experiment that was already conducted by people perverting Nietzsche godwins any debate, and Godwin has thus perhaps unwittingly released the cat among the pigeons (for so the Ubermensch see the Untermensch).
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BenWilson, in reply to
Ben you have only been in the industry for about 4 months give a thought to the men and women who have keep the industry going for most of there working lives and there been some really hard times to cope with.
It's quite a battle in the association I'm helping to build to convince members that the taxi industry is not our enemy, but in fact our friend, compatriots. It's hard because Uber have so effectively framed what is going on as an outright war against taxis. I don't see it as helpful to buy into this mentality. It is an old tool in the capitalist playbook to keep workers at odds with each other. I'm certain that the price drop was timed to coincide with the compliance drop for this exact reason. It was to tear worker cohesion apart. It has worked, to some degree. But with monolithic efforts by a small but growing group, there is at least some sense of common purpose being formed. It's extremely unfamiliar territory for me, but no one else was putting up their hand, and I became basically ashamed of my country, and decided that it had to be done, and despite it costing me dearly, it was a cost I was prepared to wear, at least for some time.
So have no doubt that I spare a thought for the taxi industry. I'm being assisted by it on a daily basis. Your contributions here are also coming from there and I'm hearing them. A very large body of the driver base are also taxi drivers. In the end, there is a common purpose.
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goforit, in reply to
Hi Ben, I am being careful, I actually did base those comments on comments made to me when we had meetings with Uber some time ago and we where told what the Uber tactics where going to be. When the blind eye was given to Uber it fitted the pattern we where informed on what was going to happen. I have to admit I am surprised you have not been deactivated by Uber, most of us earlier drivers got deactivated just telling them The Transport Act needed to be followed.
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The tactis past the point of bribery where also given and that explains why officals are still dragging the chain.
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BenWilson, in reply to
I have to admit I am surprised you have not been deactivated by Uber, most of us earlier drivers got deactivated just telling them The Transport Act needed to be followed.
I'm very highly rated, and have had exactly one complaint, which was just about navigation (the rider put in the wrong destination, but did verbally tell me to go to Mt Eden station. No one, not even Google, knows where Mt Eden station is :-)). They would have no excuse to deactivate me other than a deliberate assault on my freedom of speech. I think they're too smart for that, that they know that it would actually free me up to work on the association even more, and give me a martyr like hubris. Best to just ignore me.
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Also, goforit, I'm extremely personally resistant to the climate of fear that is encouraged by a corporation like Uber. The early formation of our association disgusted me even more than the changes did. We literally huddled like frightened children in the dark (I have photos), searching for spies and traitors, blocking people and turning on one another. We've managed to get past that. It's a long process, but I think in many ways, the slow build is the sustainable build. I doubt espionage/treachery is a serious threat for us, because open societies just don't give it anywhere to sink its teeth. Information is the enemy of all of that - such is my belief anyway, and more people are buying it every day.
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Sacha, in reply to
their organization could be viewed as a vast experiment in this philosophy
They're shameless libertarians like so many tech capitalists. To them, selfishness is normal and virtuous.
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What will eventually happen the government will have no choice when they realise that all this so called freedom of choice experiment has not worked will be to tighten up the regulations even more so the circle starts off all over again.
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Alfie, in reply to
the government will have no choice…
I’d like to believe that goforit, but this is the National Party we’re talking about. They’re more likely follow ideology and hold some sort of psuedo-review which recommends removing all restrictions on taxis. Expect phrases like "level playing field" and "benefits to the consumer" to be bandied around. And thousands of existing (legal) taxi drivers to go broke.
After all, this is a US multinational we’re talking about and in the Key government’s eyes, they can never be wrong. Let the market decide!
Of course once the TPP is signed (if ever), Uber will be able to sue the government in a closed kangaroo court run by american lawyers with no right of appeal. And guess who’d win that one?
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BenWilson, in reply to
They’re more likely follow ideology and hold some sort of psuedo-review which recommends removing all restrictions on taxis.
They already are doing a review. This is being done BY the National Government. Uber's submission is particularly interesting. It is brief, and it proposes a trial in Christchurch.
The summary paper has a useful index at the bottom to see what is recommended by the reviewers after this lengthy consultation with stakeholders and due process being followed. My summary is that very little changes regarding Uber drivers. They lose the annoying PSL requirement, and that's about it. They'll still need P Endorsement, COF, log books. As Uber required when I signed up (less the PSL).
So Uber decided that they'd just do the trial that they proposed. And in April they declared it a success and rolled it out for the whole nation.
In essence, they ignored the review's recommendations, initiated by National, run by National. They also are ignoring the fact that the review is still ongoing, and that the law has not yet changed. They're following their own laws, which don't even resemble what they laws will change to. And this is happening right under the nose of National, right in their face. On a massive scale, right now. In the three biggest cities, with thousands of drivers and millions of rides, and millions of dollars changing hands, flowing to people without the right to work in many cases, and the profits are all flowing out of the country.
It's possibly the biggest pisstake of National I've ever experienced. As I said before it's "National, come here! Sit! Stay! Good dog!"
ETA: I don't know if the dog is getting a tasty snack for being so good. I suspect that it's such a well trained dog that it doesn't even need that.
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but still the people whom carry out the passenger transport services need to show a profit otherwise the whole system just grinds to a holt.
I been at this game for a long time and the only way any of us to get on top of it is to unite under a common plan, thats is an impossible dream now as even within all the various groups there is sub groups even our imported drivers from the same asian country spend most of there time fighting groups from different regions within that country. Now I will be called a racist but as I am in the middle of it all I see it all. I have come to the conclusion that our own drivers whom I work hard for so they can earn from the taxi industry they work for actually work against the taxi industry by driving for Uber and so play one side against the other. Now with all the other apps about to break loose the situation going to get worse. -
The race to the bottom is on, Uber, Zoomy, Urban NZ and Ezygo. Get ready, get set, GO!
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I wonder how they're going to compete with a company that pays only 1% tax?
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goforit, in reply to
that tax situation is very interesting, think the government must be wondering why they let Uber break all the rules in the first place. Guess there another price cut coming from Uber.
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That million is profit, btw, not turnover, which is much, much higher. At an average of $500/week per driver, and around 2000 drivers, gives weekly turnover of a million. This organization could be churning 50 million in NZ annually, and paid around $10,000 in income tax and the drivers get far less than the minimum wage, and the organization encourages all of them to blatantly break the law. Not one law. More like 5 at a time, every trip.
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BenWilson, in reply to
think the government must be wondering why they let Uber break all the rules in the first place.
I'm surprised that they're not worried it will blow up in their faces. They're already extremely vulnerable in being seen to tolerate corporate malfeasance, and encouraging back room deals. This organization is openly crooked. Avowedly, even. It has to be incredibly embarrassing to admit to having been in constant dialog with them.
At this point, they could act decisively to reign Uber in, directly. Very directly, the way the NZ government can. To not be doing that is extremely weak. Indeed, considering that Uber's law violation is also anticompetitive to NZ based alternatives, several of which already exist, and several more are on the verge of launching. It's not even the vaunted Free Market Saves All in place here. It's corporate favouritism, and open tolerance of large scale law breaking.
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goforit, in reply to
Thinking back did Uber made a statement when they hit a million jobs I am sure the turn over on the that million jobs was 15 million dollars. Don;t know if that helps. Of course there is more than transport laws involved as well.
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Couple of Welli cab company drivers today were less concerned about Uber when I asked (cos public agencies still using them provides a buffer), but one observed that drivers who were bad enough to get kicked out of their company went straight onto driving for Uber.
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