Uber is dead and so is rideshare

[Hater Eraser]

It's not a job like that. You work when you want

Don't matter




Uber and Lyft drivers demand better pay, workplace protections and driver-led unions
Megan Rose dikkey@meganrosedikkey / 4:26 pm PDT • July 18, 2019

Image Credits: TechCrunch/MRD

As Assembly Bill 5 makes its way through the California state legislature, Uber and Lyft drivers are voicing their demands for better pay, basic workplace protections and the right to organize through unions. Tomorrow, Lyft and Uber drivers will convene outside Uber’s San Francisco headquarters to make their voices heard.

As established in Dynamex Operations West, Inc. v Superior Court of Los Angeles, AB-5 seeks to codify the ruling. In that case, the court decided Dynamex wrongfully classified its workers as independent contractors. AB-5, which has already passed in the California State Assembly, would ensure gig economy workers are entitled to minimum wage, workers’ compensation and other benefits.

To fuel its mission, Gig Workers Rising and Mobile Workers Alliance took out an ad in the SF Chronicle, coming out tomorrow, that features an open letter to Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi, and Lyft co-founders Logan Green and John Zimmer. In it, the groups applauded both Lyft and Uber for saying they want to do better by their drivers.

“But the most important step in accomplishing that goal has yet to be taken: drivers need a seat at the table as equal partners to chart our pathforward,” Linda Valdivia of Mobile Workers Alliance and Rebecca Stack-Martinez of Gig Workers Rising wrote in the letter. “That is why we have been organizing, demonstrating, and speaking out to demand that you put your words into action.”

In short, drivers want to be part of the conversations around AB-5 and have their voices heard in the decision-making process. Additionally, drivers want California’s leaders to give them the ability to organize and bargain through a driver-led union, the letter states.

“It’s time for Uber, Lyft, and California state leaders to come together with drivers to chart the path forward,” organizers wrote. “It’s time for Uber and Lyft to do right by us. That means extending all drivers the living wages and basic workplace protections we deserve. It also means an end to putting the cost and the risk of doing your business on us.”


As noted in Uber and Lyft’s op-ed, neither company wants its drivers to be employees. It would be a very costly endeavor that would undoubtedly impact their bottom lines.


“Lyft is advocating for an approach in line with the interests of our driver community, by modernizing century old labor laws that make it difficult to provide both flexibility and benefits,” a Lyft spokesperson said in a statement. “That’s why we’ve been working with lawmakers and labor leaders on a different solution, so drivers can continue to control where, when, and how long they drive. It’s encouraging that more groups are joining the conversation to preserve flexibility for drivers while also providing new benefits and protections.”




Behind the scenes, Uber and Lyft have reportedly paid drivers to protest the legislation that would make them employees, according to the Los Angeles Times.




“We will continue to work collaboratively with our diverse community of drivers — and the legislators who represent them — to improve the quality and security of independent work,” an Uber spokesperson said in a statement.

 

[tuckgod]

I always wondered why no enterprising dopeboy started distributing and delivering drugs a la grubhub while working Uber and Lyft.

You really think that’s not happening now?

 

[7th Letter Specialist]

You're missing the point

Explain

 

[Atlrocafella]

Mismanaging money but they aren't dead and will be here for years to come.



Driver-less cars won't be here for another 10+ years. And none of us would get into one if they did debut one in 4-5 years.

Like I said. I’m not getting into a driverless car. Muthafukkas cannot account for the x-factor on these streets.

 

[-DMP-]

I’d buy, for long term.

 

[BlackBall]

They hired a lot of engineers for self driving vehicles , high salaries for higher ups & it was a pixie dust money grab by wallstreet .

Especially the private investors before it went public they did very well

 

[Mike Nasty]

Driverless cars & Taxi’s are ubers best hope.

Wouldn't fully automated cars cause Uber to have to purchase their own fleet of cars.

 

[Matt504]

Wouldn't fully automated cars cause Uber to have to purchase their own fleet of cars.

Yes, those cars would pay for themselves

 

[Cereal_Bowl_Assassin]

you mean like Weedmaps

weedmaps is going to be common for people in the bay area/california...it wont be common to an outsider lol

 

[Ohene]

Uber and Lyft are nowhere close to being dead. They are taking losses on the front end to make huge profits later, when they start rolling out driverless vehicles in a few years.

think about this though breh

as of right now, they are able to take whatever cut, while being able to pass on fuel costs and auto repairs/maintenance onto their workers. furthermore, they can save in terms of capex
despite all this, and their product being a web/mobile based one (meaning the margins should be even better)...the company isnt generating ANY cash out of its operations

it doesnt make sense

driverless cars = higher cut in terms of the ride fares. but also a higher costs with regards to fuel, repairs and maintenance.

the question then becomes, is fuel, yearly CAPEX and repairs and maintenance that much less than the average of lets say $20 an hour they pay uber drivers?

hmmmm...i guess it could be.

 

[Vandelay]

My company uses Uber Freight like crazy...it's not going anywhere.

 

[Hater Eraser]

weedmaps is going to be common for people in the bay area/california...it wont be common to and outsider lol

On that note .. Weedmaps may be dead in the water soon

Just saw this ..

Weedmaps Lays Off 100 Employees Amid Financial and Legal Struggles
The Irvine-based company had drawn scrutiny for allowing illegal pot shops on its platform
By
Brittany Martin
-
October 18, 2019
Share

Weedmaps, the popular online marketplace connecting marijuana shoppers with weed dispensaries and delivery services, had a bad week. The company announced it had laid off nearly 100 employees. Workers reported being surprised by the firings, and encountering security guards tasked with immediately escorting them out of the Irvine headquarters.

A number of factors appear to have lead to the decision to axe a quarter of the company’s workforce. Weedmaps executives have placed some of the blame on their own overestimation of the speed at which more states would liberalize marijuana laws. Even within California, the company’s home market, many cities and counties have enacted municipal regulations that block local marijuana sales, limiting where Weedmaps can operate.

Perhaps the bigger hit to the company, however, has been its slow disentanglement from black-market pot shops that sell and advertise on its platform. Weedmaps came online in 2008, eight years before California’s Prop 64 was passed, when many marijuana sales were conducted outside the medical framework of the time. Even once adult-use sales were allowed, Weedmaps continued to allow unlicensed sellers to use the platform for their products.

In early 2018, the Orange County Register notes, the California Bureau of Cannabis Control sent Weedmaps a cease-and-desist letter, stating that the company was in violation of state law for selling advertising to illicit pot shops. In July of 2019, Gavin Newsom signed a new law creating penalties of as much as $30,000 per day for continuing to allow the black-market vendors to operate. The following month, amid a national health crisis that appears linked directly to black-market marijuana vape products, Weedmaps at last announced they would attempt to phase out advertising for illegal operations by the end of 2019. Sources from the company suggest that the loss of revenue when those illicit shops are kicked off–and thus stop paying to advertise–is expected to be a significant hit to Weedmaps’ bottom line.

Some have also brought up Weedmaps’ backing of the splashy Museum of Weed in Los Angeles, an elaborate pop-up developed in collaboration with Vice. The museum, which occupies a large space in Hollywood, contains exhibits and programming about the history of marijuana in America. One ex-Weedmaps employee told the O.C. Register they believed the project was a cash drain on the already strapped company. Executives from Weedmaps contest the assertion that the museum is an issue for the firm’s overall financial health.

The layoffs also come as investors who were once eager to get in on cannabis-related startups begin to hedge their bets on the industry, Marijuana Business Daily reports. For Weedmaps, that has meant the pool of outside capital they’ve relied on since 2008 is beginning to dry, forcing the company to focus more on profitability.

Could this be a sign that the cannabis business bubble is starting to pop?

Chris Beals, CEO of Weedmaps, released a statement in which he attempts to paint an upbeat picture of the company’s financial outlook, and takes pains to position Weedmaps as a technology company that works with cannabis, rather than a “cannabis company.”

“This year represents one of the fastest years of growth ever for Weedmaps by almost any measure,” he writes. “The restructuring today will give us the nimbleness and dry powder to take advantage of the forthcoming increases in legalized markets and licenses by making us more nimble and focused. Weedmaps has always been a technology company first, and in this restructuring we are doubling down to grow our technological capabilities.”

 

[The Coochie Assassin]

Yes, those cars would pay for themselves

They would come with on-going costs just like drivers tho. With drivers, you don't have to pay for their car, gas, maintenance/repairs, insurance, car wash/ interior cleaning, etc. Uber and Lyft will have to pay employees to handle all that for their fleet of cars that will be in the thousands across the nation.

 

[Mike Nasty]

Yes, those cars would pay for themselves

So would cars with drivers, like every taxi company in the country. I wondering why does Uber who makes money off drivers and lets them own and worry about the car want to shift their model and own and maintain a whole nation wide fleet of cars. If they aren't doing well now by just having an app and taking 25% of the fare, how are they going to make it while having to own the cars themselves?

 

[Silky Johnson]

Rideshare is here to stay in this city since those yellow & green cab bytches never wanna stop for a nukka or go to the boroughs