Seattle Is First City To Let Uber Drivers Unionize

A portion of each convenience fee from every use of the app will go directly to MADD Canada.

Seattle’s governing body yesterday voted to allow drivers of ride-hailing companies such as Uber and Lyft to unionize over pay and working conditions. It also compares taxi and transit travel times and estimates the cost.

For members of carsharing sevices like Zipcar and Car2Go, the app allows users to find available cars near their location.

Users can “e-hail a cab”, booking close-by licensed and insured cabs and tracking their location along a built-in map similar to other ridesharing apps.

He says Uber has over 300,000 users and 15,000 drivers in Toronto, and it would not be practical to try to force the company to cease operations until new regulations are enacted. What customers can’t do is pay automatically through the app. But that’s in the works.

Uber, a mobile app service that lets people book rides, is already popular in Auckland and Wellington and the use of ride-sharing apps (an extension of vehicle pooling) is expected to become more widespread.

CellWand’s new app also provides real-time public transit schedules for 75 cities and communities across the country, with plans to rollout data on bike sharing services next year.

The complaint has been registered as a case and notices have been issued to the General Manager, Uber India Systems P. Ltd, Hyderabad, Dy Commissioner of Police, East Zone, Hyderabad and the Transport Commissioner, Government of Telangana and the matter is posted for hearing on January 4, 2016, the release added. “I think this is the type of app our politicians and regulators need to look at as an example of the right way of innovating within our industry”.

The question becomes, though: Is adopting Uber-like technology now too little, too late for Canada’s taxi industry? Under that scenario, Uber and others may argue that drivers banding together as independent contractors – and presumably raising the cost of their labor – amounts to illegal price-fixing.

The decision was taken by the Commission after it heard a petition filed by Syed Nizamuddin, President of Telangana State Cabs and Bus operators Association on Tuesday, according to a press release.

“Dynamic pricing helps bring demand and supply in line when necessary, by increasing prices it incentivizes more drivers to come onto the platform, remembering that driver partners keep a majority of the fare”.

They note that many ride-hailing drivers are attracted to the flexible hours that are possible under the agreements. There is a $1 charge for being connected to dispatch. Quain says part of that money is donated to Mothers Against Drunk Driving.

The first 30 days of e-hailing within the app are free. You will receive your first email shortly.