This Week In Rideshare: Drivers Banned, Driver Assaulted and Uber Agreement.
Drivers banned from the airport, a brutal attack and Uber works with unions. LegalRideshare breaks it down.
DRIVERS BANNED FROM NASHVILLE AIRPORT
Drivers protesting at the Nashville airport have been banned. Common Dreams adds:
A Tennessee union announced Monday that 34 Uber and Lyft drivers received messages “informing them that they had been permanently banned” from working at Nashville’s airport after joining scores of workers for a peaceful caravan there last month to support a state bill that would impact the companies.
The Tennessee Drivers Union (TDU) said in a statement that some participants, “including those in the passenger’s seat not driving,” were banned from providing rides at Nashville International Airport following the February 14 action, during which “participating Uber and Lyft drivers had their apps turned off."
TDU said Monday that “this retaliation isn’t a mistake,” arguing that “Uber and Lyft are threatened” by Tennessee House Bill 879/Senate Bill 818, introduced last month by state Rep. Rush Bricken (R-47) and Sen. Joey Hensley (R-28).
DRIVER ASSAULTED AND ROBBED
A Chicago rideshare driver who was assaulted and robbed demands better rider verification. CBS News reported:
A grandmother from Chicago’s northern suburbs is recovering from a brutal attack while she was on the job for Uber.
Melissa, who asked to be identified only by her first name, said her passengers, four young men, violently attacked her before stealing her car. She said attack could have been avoided with a simple setting change in the Uber app.
It’s a setting she and many other rideshare drivers said puts them in danger, where they have no idea who is entering their car, because passengers don’t need to verify their identity.
In this case Melissa picked up the passengers in the early hours of Friday in Highland Park and headed to North Chicago.
It’s a ride she has done thousands of times, being on the job for Uber for nearly four years.
UBER SIGNS NEUTRALITY AGREEMENT
Uber is working with a union. CBS News reported:
Negotiations over a proposed Chicago ordinance for better pay and protections for rideshare drivers could be upended.
Uber confirmed it signed a “neutrality agreement” with the International Union of Operating Engineers Local 150. The deal creates another path to better pay benefits, but workers would still be classified as “independent contractors.”
A spokesperson for Uber said, on Friday, the agreement means that “the company will not interfere with the union’s campaign to organize drivers.”
They also would not have the same labor law protections as full-time employees.
Uber confirmed the deal, but didn’t comment on the deal.
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