As Uber public grips with the moral dilemma of having built a company that is a big ass around operating payroll practices, CEO Dara Khosrowshahi now says that if California forces the company to reclassify its contractors as full-time employees, Uber will temporarily close its home state. Handy it seems that this shutdown would take exactly as long as it would take for Uber to figure out if it could continue to be evil.
Earlier this week, a judge judged that Uber and Lyft should classify their drivers as employees, and ensure that those workers receive benefits such as normal pay and overtime – benefits that tech ghouls have claimed they would not cough. Now the head of Uber drunk threatens to temporarily stop operations in California until November when he is made to treat his workers like humans instead of taking a step toward the company automation violations.
‘If the court does not reconsider, then in California it is hard to believe that we can quickly switch our model to full employment. “I think Uber will shut down for a while,” Khosrowshahi said Wednesday interviewer with MSNBC’s Stephanie Ruhle.
The November deadline coincides with a vote on California Prop. 22. The company is counting on voters to support that vote – which companies such as Lyft, Uber, DoorDash, Instacart and Postmates have invested in. dumb amount of money support – which the key piece of state legislation designed to regulate these so-called ‘transport network companies.’ Prop 22, a sort of break for these types of app-based companies for gig economics, would allow workers to classify themselves as self-employed, albeit with additional labor and wage policies. However, it would not give these contractors all the protections afforded by full-time employee status. If that sounds familiar, it’s because it’s largely identical to Uber’s “Third way” manifesto which Khosrowshahi recently revealed in the pages of the op-ed section of the New York Times.
Khosrowshahi made it clear that Uber would close its business in the state until the vote, claiming that Uber needed time to hire and restructure operations. Yet he said, “Of course we would long for the law to be fulfilled.” This clarification makes it very difficult not to read a longer Uber blackout than anything other than corporate footprint–especially since (at least in pre-pandemic days) a quarter of their rides were booked in only five cities: London, Sao Paolo, New York City, San Francisco, and Los Angeles. Uber has since lost its ability to operate in London, while its future is in Latin America sorry at its highest. Two of its biggest brands for the good close is simply not an option for a company that, even with some creative math, a quarter loss of almost $ 2 billion.
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Asked for further comment on an apparent shutdown on Wednesday, an Uber spokesman told Gizmodo that Khosrowshahi’s comments were “consistent” with a motion the company filed in court Tuesday. In that motion, Uber argued that if the company were forced to reclassify workers, it would “almost certainly” force Uber to close its business in the state and “Uber and anyone who relies on their rides app to earn income” to generate for them and their families – especially in the midst of a pandemic. ”
If Uber wanted to continue operating – and again, it’s in Uber’s best interest to do so – it’s well in Uber’s power to make that happen. The company had a whole year to advise on this transition. So when push comes to shake and Uber pulls the rug among their own drivers and the communities depending on their service, you know exactly who you owe.
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