Seattle, in the northwest of the United States, on Tuesday decided to implement a minimum wage for Uber and Lyft drivers, a job-destroying policy according to the two leaders in the reservation of cars with driver ( VTC). It is the second American city to take this type of measure, after New York, where the minimum wage came into effect in 2019.
“The pandemic has exposed the flaws in our worker protection system, leaving many of them, especially frontline drivers, without a safety net.”Seattle mayor Jenny Durkan said in a statement. The decision of his municipality will allow “Ensure that drivers are properly paid and can take care of their families”, she added. As of January 2021, Seattle VTC drivers will need to earn at least $ 16.39 per hour.
Destroy jobs?
“It is a carbon copy of New York law”, commented a spokesperson for Uber, interviewed by AFP on Wednesday. In New York, this policy “Reduced job opportunities for drivers and raised prices for users”, notes a letter from Uber to the city of Seattle in mid-September. The company explains that it had to reduce the access of drivers to the platform in the event of low demand. Consequently, ” thousands of them have lost access to their jobs ”, assures the group. In parallel, “The average price of a ride in New York has gone up by 30% in one year” (between January 2019 and January 2020), according to Uber. “The number of trips continued to increase in rich communities but fell in poorer neighborhoods”, continues the company.
“The city plan is deeply problematic and will actually destroy jobs for thousands of people – up to 4,000 drivers just for Lyft – and push VTCs out of Seattle.”, reacted on his side a spokesperson for Lyft. Uber has no plans to challenge the new regulations in court at this time. It is already engaged in an arm wrestling with California, where the law requires since last January to the companies of VTC to give to their drivers the status of employees, and not of self-employed.
Uber and its American competitor Lyft see themselves as technological platforms, which connect drivers, self-employed, and passengers, and not as transport companies. California elected officials intend to force them to grant social benefits to their drivers, who often work in precarious conditions.
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