This Week In Rideshare: Pay, Law, and Safety.
The real winner of the Minneapolis deal, Uber takes a loss and PA drives up safety. LegalRideshare breaks it down.
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DRIVER WAGES IN MINNEAPOLIS
The new deal in Minneapolis may be a big win for Uber. The Guardian explains:
On 20 May, the city council heralded a compromise with the ride-hailing companies. Uber and Lyft would agree to an inflation-pegged wage floor matching Minnesota’s minimum wage of $15 an hour after expenses. Some lawmakers have hailed this as a 20% raise for drivers — however, the deal’s pay rates are lower than almost every proposal made over the past two years amid a bitter fight between Uber, Lyft, their drivers and lawmakers.
Moving away from data transparency creates a huge hole in the bill. Uber and Lyft reportedly lobbied to block any guarantee of minimum earnings on every trip. Instead, ride-hail firms will top off drivers whose average earnings are below the minimum during a two-week pay period. And while the bill codifies pay transparency on the driver’s end, it dropped the ordinance’s requirement that ride-hail firms make regular and unrestricted data disclosures to Minneapolis.
UBER LOSES CHALLENGE TO CA GIG WORK LAW
Uber takes an L over challenging California law. Reuters explains:
A U.S. appeals court on Monday rejected a bid by Uber and subsidiary Postmates to revive a challenge to a California law that could force the companies to treat drivers as employees rather than independent contractors who are typically less expensive.
An 11-judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco upheld a lower court ruling that said Uber failed to show that the 2020 state law known as AB5 unfairly singled out app-based transportation companies while exempting other industries.
Uber in a statement on Monday said the ruling would not change the status of its relationships with its drivers, who are considered to be contractors under a 2020 ballot initiative known as Proposition 22.
The fate of Prop 22 is being weighed in a separate case at the state’s top court, which last month heard arguments from a labor union and four drivers contending the ballot measure was unconstitutional.
NEW PROPOSAL IN PA REQUIRES EXTRA SAFETY
A new proposal in PA aims at increasing safety for passengers. CBS News reported:
According to the memo written by Rep. Tim Brennan (D-Bucks County), 50% of all 18-to-29-year-olds and 24% of adults aged 50 and older have used a rideshare service.
Under the new proposed legislation, drivers would need to take measures to properly identify themselves throughout their vehicle, including identification with their photo, name, and license plate number of the vehicle they are driving.
There are three main focuses of the proposed legislation; drivers will need to have the following:
Markers or signs that can be illuminated
Barcodes in the rear and passenger windows
Credential placards
The bill has yet to be introduced and Rep. Brennan is asking other members to support the proposed legislation.
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