Uber taxi drivers in London, Birmingham and Nottingham set to strike from tomorrow over worker rights

Drivers for the online taxi firm in London, Birmingham and Nottingham are due to stop working from 1pm on October 9 for 24 hours.

The strike has been called by the Independent Workers Union of Great Britain (IWGB) as the firm continues to fight a court battle since 2016.

Uber lost an employment tribunal two years ago when it ruled against the company over its classification of drivers as independent contractors – the company has appealed against the decision ever since.

Due to the appeals, the original ruling that Uber had to class its drivers as “limb b workers” – which means they are entitled to the minimum wage and holiday pay – has not been implemented.

James Farrar, the leader of union’s private hire drivers branch, has asked for public support for the striking drivers by asking customers not to use the app during the stoppage.

Uber has around 60,000 drivers in Britain and earlier this year won back its right to operate in London after it was stripped of its licence by the city's regulator.

Protests are also planned outside Uber’s offices.

A Court of Appeal hearing over workers' rights at the company is due later this month.

Uber drivers are not obliged to work particular hours by the firm and choose when to sign in and out of the app.

The Silicon Valley-based company said it had improved its offering to drivers in recent months.

"We’ve introduced dozens of new features, including sickness, injury, maternity and paternity protections," said a spokesman.

"We continue to look at ways to help drivers increase their earnings and our door is always open if anyone wants to speak to us about any issues they're having."

The strike on Tuesday will be the first time that a trade union has taken strike action against Uber.

The union is currently engaged in legal efforts to secure private hire drivers rights through the courts, and has cases against Uber, Green Tomato Cars and A2B Cars.

The drivers are demanding an increase in fairs to £2 per mile, up from £1.25 in London, as well as a 10% reduction in commissions paid by drivers to Uber.

They also ask for an end to "unfair app deactivations", which they argue amount to de facto dismissals.

Finally, the drivers request that Uber apply the employment tribunals' judgements and "immediately implement employment conditions that respect worker rights for drivers, including the payment of at least the minimum wage and paid holidays".



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