The Assault on Rideshare Companies and Drivers
By Maggie Bird
Rideshare companies have created tools that enable drivers to earn money on their own terms. Millions of people have increased their standard of living and, with it, their happiness, self-esteem, and sense of control over their lives. Because of rideshare platforms, it is easier for these people to support themselves and their families and to save for the future. Every day, hundreds of thousands of drivers take advantage of this value as they log on to earn.
Despite this, rideshare companies are under attack by labor unions and politicians who claim that they exploit drivers. Recently, this campaign against rideshare companies entered the legal system and now threatens rideshare operations in California. What gave rise to these ideas, and how do their proponents justify them?
First consider how rideshare works. Drivers earn money based on the time and distance of rides they give. They get a base fare for every trip, and they often receive tips from riders—plus bonuses and increased fares during busy periods (surge pricing) from rideshare companies. For example, a driver in San Francisco currently earns a $4–5 base fare, $0.10 per minute, and $0.67 per mile. This means that during a typical ride from San Francisco to Silicon Valley, which is about sixty miles and takes sixty minutes on average, a driver earns roughly $50.20. A bonus or surge price may increase his earnings by as much as 100 percent or more.
Compared to other entry-level work, drivers have the opportunity to earn more money in less time. Although drivers are responsible for expenses and risks that most employees are not, an active driver can net double the income of a minimum-wage worker, thereby offsetting these increased risks and expenses.
Drivers’ incomes vary based on location, individual choice, and effort. Uber’s data indicates that “the median wage for an UberX driver working at least 40 hours a week in New York City is $90,766 a year,” and “in San Francisco, the median wage for an UberX driver working at least 40 hours a week is $74,191.”1 Beyond income, drivers enjoy tremendous freedom and discretion over their work. Drivers choose when and where to work and which rides to accept. They need not follow any set schedule, and rideshare companies don’t burden drivers with many limitations or obligations. Drivers can work for many platforms at once, or one at a time. Ultimately, they can fit the work around their lives rather than adjusting their lives to fit the work.
Just as drivers earn based on the rides they give, rideshare companies earn based on the rides they coordinate. This fee enables companies not only to profit, but to create, maintain, and improve their platforms, which includes paying employee salaries and other expenses.
Those behind the campaign against rideshare companies claim that their profits are theft and that they exploit drivers. “Rideshare Was Designed to Exploit Drivers,”2 one article tells us. “What these companies have created isn’t innovation, it’s exploitation,”3 says another. “For years, Uber and Lyft have been stealing wages and exploiting every legal loophole they can to avoid paying drivers what they deserve,” says John Samuelson, president of the Transport Workers Union.4 And an organizer with the labor group Rideshare Drivers United says, “The level of wage theft that Uber and Lyft have committed for years is an assault on the people of California. It has to stop.”5 In a protest outside the home of Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi, protestors blocked his driveway with a sign that read “A Thief Lives Here.”6 A handwritten note taped to the entrance of his home read, “today we come with cars. Tomorrow we come with PITCHFORKS.”7
Those making these claims and threats demand that the government force these companies to renounce their profits and divert this money toward guaranteed income and benefits for drivers. But if drivers earn based on the rides they give, what would a guaranteed income imply? And if drivers were forced to become normal employees, how would that impact the freedom they prize?
The claim that the profits of rideshare companies are theft implies that these companies have no right to earn from the tools they create. If drivers have a right to earn money, what about the companies that made this possible in the first place? It seems there is a double standard.
The argument that companies and executives earn at the expense of labor has been around since at least the 19th century. It is a tenet of Marxism: a set of ideas that gave rise to murderous revolutions and brought countries to their knees. In Soviet Russia, these ideas destroyed the lives of millions. An essential premise of Marxism is that government must control the means of production so that it may distribute proceeds “from each according to his ability, to each according to his needs.”
Anti-rideshare organizations have rallied the force of government to exert control over these companies—and the force of mobs to threaten company executives. They aim to deprive willing drivers and rideshare companies of their freely chosen relationships. By what right can one group dispose of the lives, choices, and property of another? These anti-rideshare organizers present drivers as victims, yet the organizers are the ones attempting to force others to act against their will. And if they get their way, then drivers certainly will be victims. Come November, Californians should vote to protect the rights of rideshare companies and drivers, and all should be wary of those who seek to trample these rights.