British drivers to defend employment rights at Uber tribunal
London — Two drivers were set to defend a British tribunal decision giving them workers’ rights at Uber on Thursday, the latest threat to the taxi app’s business model, which is battling to keep its licence in London. The pair successfully argued in 2016 that the Silicon Valley firm exerted significant control over them to provide an on-demand taxi service, and had responsibilities in terms of the working rights it provided. "Uber’s a transportation services company marketing itself to customers as giving a uniform experience and pricing of what it means ‘to take an Uber’," the general secretary of the Independent Workers’ Union of Great Britain, which is representing the drivers, Jason Moyer-Lee said. "In order to deliver their service it has to hire workers. They’re workers rather than in business on their own account," he said. Uber said at the tribunal on Wednesday that its drivers were self-employed, like those at long-standing rivals. The self-employed in Britain are entitled ...
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