Uber-abuse: "The withholding economy"

It’s been a busy week for the so called sharing economy – which as far as I can see is based on the ethos that “we’ll share the spoils of your poorly paid labour with our shareholders”. Capitalism never fails to find a way to exploit new developments in human achievement, and mobile technology is certainly no exception.

The main culprit this week has been Deliveroo, which has backed down on a planned rollout of a per delivery pay rate for its riders in the face of successful industrial action by its sickeningly named Roomen and Roowomen. The knowledge that it’s founder worked as a ‘Rooman’ for 8 months to fully understand the realities of the business, is slightly undermined by the fact that the scooter he used to do so is now painted gold and installed in their headquarters.

Full disclosure – I have ordered a few Deilveroos in my time and even used the odd Uber (but only when I’ve got a voucher code – take that “the man”). I offset my lower middle class guilt over paying someone to drive me around, by interviewing Uber drivers about their experiences. The results are fascinating and depressing in equal measure.

One told me, “I don’t feel like part of the company”. He was muscled out of his regular driving job with a small firm by Uber, and then was forced to join the transportation juggernaut to make ends meet.  He described it as “working for the enemy”, and it’s not hard to see why.  

Meanwhile, in the world of more old fashioned abuses of worker’s rights Sports Direct, has been ordered to pay £1 million in back wages to its warehouse workers, after being accused of acting like a Victorian workhouse (albeit one with a much higher concentration of novelty sized mugs) and not treating their staff as humans.

No matter your employment status, you are able to seek representation from a union (http://www.unitetheunion.org/ is a good place to start) or indeed form their own. In these uncertain and increasingly troubled times, it is all the more important that stand together against injustice in the workplace, to ensure a fairer deal for everyone.