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Uber strikes historic deal allowing 70,000 drivers to join GMB union

Date: May 28, 2021 Nandita Bhardwaj Nandita Bhardwaj
Uber strikes historic deal allowing 70,000 drivers to join GMB union 
Uber, the US ride-hailing giant, has reportedly agreed to officially recognize the largest trade union GMB in the United Kingdom for its private hire drivers, representing the first agreement between a gig economy ride-hailing firm and a trade union.



Under the new recognition agreement, the trade union would have access to the meeting centers of the drivers to aid and support them. It would also be able to embody drivers if by any chance they mislay access to the Uber app. It would further meet quarterly with the management to talk about driver concerns and issues.



The drivers would not become members however would be able to sign up for to participate in collective bargaining.



The ride-hailing giant had signed the agreement two months after agreeing to assure its 70,000 drives in UK at least a hourly wage, pensions as well as holiday pay in March after a landmark supreme court case.



The union recognition deal, just like the pay deal, do not apply to delivery riders for the food service of Uber Eats, which works with as many as 30,000 couriers.



Among the problems likely to be taken up by the trade union is that the ride-hailing giant’s novel pay scheme overlooks the ruling of supreme court that the working time of the drivers must be calculated from the minute they log on to its app to work until they log out the app.



The ride-hailing app, like most of the courier and delivery groups, had stated that its drivers were self-employed partners not eligible to basic rights enjoyed by employees, including the officially enforceable minimum hourly wage as well as a workplace-related pension.



National officer, GMB, Mick Rix, stated that this pioneering deal between Uber and GMB can be the very first step to a much impartial working life for millions of individuals.



This deal is a much faster from the fist deal of gig economy recognition signed by the trade union with Hermes in 2019 in which the courier firm provided drivers guaranteed holiday pay and minimum wages.



Source credit: https://www.theguardian.com/business/2021/may/26/uber-agrees-historic-deal-allowing-drivers-to-join-gmb-union



 

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Nandita Bhardwaj

Nandita holds a management degree with specialization in marketing, and boasts of a short-term experience in the field of recruitment. Following her passion for writing however, she decided to pursue a career in the field of content development. Presently, Nandita pens down news pieces for newsorigins.com, spanning the verticals of business, finance, and technology.