Belgian taxi drivers demand a public app to solve the Uber problem
The General Federation of Trade Unions of Belgium (ABVV) says that when the Brussels government meets to discuss the issue, the conversation should focus not on the measure itself, but on what drove it in the first place: the business model of Uber.
“The taxi sector needs to make use of new technologies and modern applications, but not at the expense of working conditions and drivers’ salaries. With the economic model of the American company, this is exactly what is happening, ”said Frank Moreels, president of the union.
He also expressed disappointment at Belgian politicians who came out in support of the American corporate giant, such as MP Sven Gatz and Secretary of State Pascal Smet, saying that instead they should ‘support the development of a taxi app in Brussels to ensure that working and salary conditions are respected and drivers have a fair employment situation ”.
Uber drivers do not work directly for the company as employees, but instead are classified as self-employed, a designation that affects taxes, working hours and employment benefits, which unions say is out of step with European labor practices. progressive.
Uber, whose revenue was estimated at $ 14 billion in 2019, has been taken to court multiple times in various countries for its treatment of drivers. A 2019 lawsuit in the U.S. forced the company to pay $ 649 million in back taxes for unemployment and disability insurance.
The president of the Belgian union Moreels cited a Limburg initiative as a model. Called ‘Wave a Cab’, it focuses on businesses and taxi drivers and combines them with modern technologies and applications.
On Monday, around a hundred Uber drivers gathered at the official residence of the minister and president of Brussels, Rudi Vervoort, to protest the ban on using phones, according to Fernando Redondo, president of the Belgian Association of Limousine Drivers. . (ABCL). Uber designates itself as a limousine service to circumvent regulations that would prohibit it from operating in the Belgian capital.
Belgian taxi drivers demand a public app to solve the Uber problem
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