8th May, 2019

Susan Anderson
Uber Australia Pty Ltd
Level 30, 580 George Street,
Sydney NSW 2000

Dear Ms Andersen,

On behalf of Australian rideshare and delivery drivers, in conjunction with similar letters delivered by
drivers and delivery riders from across the world, we are delivering this letter to express our concern
about the lack of rights and standards that apply to transport workers in the gig economy.

Uber is a cutting edge company, with arguably a moral obligation to provide a positive, progressive
example in every aspect of their dealings and operations. Instead, Uber has re-labelled work to avoid
existing industrial classification and regulation, in order to offload operational costs and investment onto
drivers and riders. Any company with an oversubscribed initial private investment value worth over
$84billion, should treat the human backbone of its business with fairness and respect. Uber should
consider the benefit of taking pride in ethical treatment of drivers.

We request you consider our concerns as outlined below, and the attached log of claims. We urge you
to meet with a representative cross-section of drivers and passengers from around the world to discuss
how we might, as partners, address the uncertain future. Please email Emmett D’Urso at
emmett.durso@gmail.com to arrange that discussion. Uber should seize the moment to lead on good
workplace policies for drivers and passengers around the world.

Respectfully,
LIST OF CONCERNS

We are concerned about the underlying financial premise of Uber’s IPO.

 Several statements made by Uber, in the lead up to the IPO, indicate that Uber is not interested
in addressing the concerns of its driver and rider partners.
 Drivers’ capital investment
 Drivers contribute to operational capital by provision of 3 million cars on road on any given day.
This is a capital investment of at least $50 billion every 10 years.
 Business partnership should account for initial and ongoing capital contribution of all parties.

We are concerned that Uber has not provided fair and proper conditions of work or a living
income for working Australian driver partners.
 Two thirds of riders and drivers are solely reliant on Uber for their income.
 Driving Uber is not a flexible occupation. Work times must be tailored to times of high customer
demand.
 In order to maximise their earnings, drivers are forced to work split shifts and inflexible hours.
 Low rates ensure most full time drivers and riders work 60 to 80 hours per week and earn less
than the minimum wage.
 Drivers deserve better pay.
 Uber drivers are essentially funding diversification into a variety of product developments.
 Either fares are too low or Uber commission is too high to leave drivers with a reasonable return
for their financial output and their labour.

Health is a major concern for Uber drivers.

 Uber transport is shift work. The mental and physical costs of shift work are well documented
and damaging.
 Driving Uber can be dangerous. Assaults have been reported in the press, however many more
physical, emotional, verbal and sexual assaults occur than are reported.

We are concerned about the lack of proper communication and customer support.

 Customer support template responses often do not address the issue communicated
 Template responses do not properly address the concerns.
 There is no avenue for drivers to complain or provide feedback to Uber.
 There is no avenue for driver support on problems with app function
 The current limited provision of template support fosters a relationship of mistrust between the
contracted parties and is used by Uber employees to express contempt for driver concerns.
 Uber’s current customer support poses an occupational health and safety risk for drivers by
adding unnecessary stress to an already stressful occupation.

We are concerned about lack of transparency and inappropriate arbitration of rider and driver
complaints.

 Ratings are subjective and there is no uniform standard applied, making them arbitrary
 Passengers often make false reports about drivers to get free trips, or even as jokes.
 Drivers are often deactivated, cut-off from their only source of income, without notice, as a result
of passenger reports or high cancellation rates.
 Drivers are deactivated for a low star-rating that don’t reflect their job performance, attitude or
commitment to the work.

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  Internal arbitration of driver or passenger issues is subject to a fundamental conflict of interest
because all Uber employees are bound to consider the company financial interests that as their
prime motivation.

We are concerned about lack of fairness and transparency in allocation and cancellation of
work requests.

 Ride allocation is not location based. Uber has made it known that there are ‘’numerous factors’’
that determine job allocation. Uber should be transparent about these factors.
 The rider’s name associated with the ride should be their legal name. Destination should be
provided with the work request.
 Passengers should be educated to ensure they request rides from locations where it is legal for
drivers to stop.
 Cancellation parameters should be assessed and cancellation fees charged in a manner that
addresses the real financial cost already incurred by drivers prior to the cancellation.

LOG OF CLAIMS

We request and expect you consider the following claims.

1. We require the right to negotiate the terms and conditions of their work contracts.

2. We require Uber repay driver investment in the company by providing better pay, and by
decreasing the subscription commission percentage that drivers pay for the Uber product.

3. We require the right to negotiate acceptable rates of pay that provide them a reasonable return for
their financial output and their labour.

4. We require Uber provide workers with comprehensive income insurance to offset these
documented risks of real world driving practice.

5. We require Uber provide its rider and driver partners with adequately staffed, locally based live
customer support.

6. We require an independent tribunal to deal with driver and passenger complaints and the resulting
actions taken by Uber.

7. All incidents of a legal nature should be reported and independently dealt with by police.

8. We require transparency regarding the terms of allocation of work requests.

9. We require the right to negotiate financial terms of work request cancellations.