Uber drivers on strike across the world

Uber drivers protested against the ride-hailing working conditions and pay practices in several cities around the world. The strike happened one day before the company’s initial public offering (IPO). Drivers in Britain, San Francisco, New York, Sao Paulo, Melbourne, and Chicago, alleged that despite the success of the company, they are treated unfairly and poorly paid. The drivers believe that they greatly contributed to the company’s growth by investing in comfortable cars for the clients and fuel but have little in return. They claim that even with their independent contractor status, they have little control over the wages because Uber set the fares and take a percentage of the fees they earn from the rides. In Australia, drivers held sings ‘on demand workers demand a living wage’. In the UK, they chanted ‘Uber sell off: billions to bosses, poverty pay for drivers’, and in New York ‘driver power! Union power’. The strikes were one of the major coordinated efforts by drivers to demonstrate their discontentment with the company. Uber plans to award a cash bonus to drivers in the United States.