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British Columbia UFCW and Taxi Associations Launch Legal Challenges Against Uber and LyftUber and Lyft are huge multinational ride-hailing corporations that have applied to the Passenger Transportation Board (PTB) for licences to operate in British Columbia. Uber, founded in 2009 in the U.S., has grown to global proportions. Its business model is described in Alberta Worker as "intended to wreck, not coexist with, the existing taxi industry. It is designed to prey on unemployed and under-employed workers, drive down the living standards of all workers and the service standards of a regulated industry, and seize value and remove it from the local economy."[1] With the goal of curtailing the exploitative practices of these two corporations, the United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) and the Vancouver Taxi Association (VTA) have filed legal applications to the BC Labour Relations Board (LRB) and to the Passenger Transportation Board (PTB), to force Uber and Lyft to adhere to the same regulations as other taxi companies in BC. Taxi associations in other parts of the province have taken similar actions. Legal Challenge by UFCWOn November 27, UFCW Local 1518 filed an application to the Labour Relations Board in Vancouver to have the LRB declare that drivers of Lyft and Uber are employees under the terms of the BC Labour Relations Code and thus have rights to protections under the Code like other workers in BC. (Uber and Lyft claim that their drivers are not employees, but are self-employed). UFWC further declared that Lyft and Uber are violating sections of the Code by requiring drivers to enter into an agreement to not be considered employees; and by requiring drivers to agree "that all claims regarding an alleged employment relationship between the company and a driver be governed by commercial arbitration." This, the UFCW points out, is an attempt to "contract out of the protections of the Code." Legal Challenge by Vancouver Taxi AssociationFor their part, the VTA filed an application on November 28 to the PTB in Victoria, stating that in view of the illegal conditions Uber and Lyft are imposing on their potential drivers, the PTB should not process the applications of these ride-hailing companies until the matter has been resolved. In the meantime, the VTA states that it does not oppose the PTB issuing ride-hailing licences to other applicants in December, as "none of the other applicants are imposing conditions on their drivers that interfere with their ability to collectively protect themselves from exploitative terms and conditions of employment." In September, the VTA filed a judicial review against the PTB over its decisions to exempt ride-hailing companies from regulations that restrict existing taxi companies: the PTB decisions sought to ensure that ride-hailing companies would not face restrictions on fleet size, would not have a price cap, and could operate within larger regional boundaries than existing taxi companies. The situation facing taxi drivers will worsen if Uber and Lyft are not curtailed. Workers' Forum interviewed Kulwant Sahota, a spokesperson for the Vancouver Taxi Association. He pointed out that the Insurance Corporation of British Columbia has an agreement with Uber and Lyft by which it intends to charge them a small fraction of the price to insure their vehicles as compared to what companies like Yellow Cab have to pay in insurance. They would pay just 19 cents per kilometre, whereas an operator of a regular taxicab must pay $40,000 per year for insurance. He said that VTA is not against other local ride-hailing companies, which could complement the present taxi companies by operating in peak hours. This would benefit everyone in the Lower Mainland, he added -- riders and drivers alike, as long as the same regulations apply to all with respect to fares, numbers of vehicles in the fleet, and the cost of insurance. Sahota said he has been driving for Yellow Cab for 25 years, 17 of those on night shift. He said he felt happy about the successful struggle of the transit workers recently, and noted that some transit workers also drive taxis part-time. He explained that if Uber and Lyft are allowed licences in BC under their own terms, the conditions for existing taxi drivers in Vancouver, as well as for those in ride-hailing companies, would become intolerable. If licences are to be issued to those companies, he said, it must be under the same terms under which present taxi companies are required to operate. Other local ride-hailing companies that have applied for licences from the PTB have agreed to abide by these same regulations. "Why should Uber and Lyft be exempt?" he asked. He pointed out that Uber "operates all over the world and has billions of dollars at its disposal. Thus if it is not restricted to a price cap, it will offer a much lower fare price and will wipe out all the existing taxi companies in the city. They would then charge whatever they want for fares, and they could pay drivers whatever they want." As noted in Alberta Worker, the Uber model is about seizing value from the workers who produce it and from their communities. Wherever Uber operates, it results in part-time precarious work, wages far below what has been established as the Canadian standard of wages, no predictable income, no regular hours of work, no benefits, pensions, or workers' compensation board coverage. It is the neo-liberal way, which is given deceptive names like "the sharing economy." The Need to Restrict Monopoly Right and Defend the Rights of AllNumerous organizations in BC are opposing the invasion by these giant ride-hailing corporations into the economy of this province. The provincial government and municipal councils need to be reminded that they are duty bound to protect workers and people from the destructive practices of these monopolies, and not collude with them. The working class and its allies in all sectors need to support the challenges by UFCW and the taxi associations to restrict the right of Uber and Lyft to act illegally to disrupt the taxi industry in BC. An injury to one is an injury to all! Support the legal challenges against Uber and Lyft, and work to develop the workers' movement into an effective opposition to the neo-liberal wrecking by corporations like these! Note1. "Restrict the Monopoly Uber! Defend the Rights of All Workers! Our Security Lies in the Defence of the Rights of All," Alberta Worker, February 10, 2016.
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