More trouble for Uber: CEO's taped argument with driver highlights workers' concerns
Uber CEO Travis Kalanick may find it harder to get a ride, now that one of his company鈥檚 drivers, Fawzi Kamel, has given him a customer rating of one star.
After giving Mr. Kalanick a ride on Super Bowl Sunday, Mr. Kamel confronted him over the ridesharing company鈥檚 pricing models, telling him, 鈥淵ou鈥檙e raising the standards鈥� of the vehicles drivers must buy to qualify for the high-end Uber Black service, 鈥渁nd you鈥檙e dropping the prices.鈥�
Their discussion 鈥� 鈥� soon escalated, as Kamel told Kalanick, 鈥淚 lost $97,000 because of you. I'm bankrupt because of you.鈥� After another heated exchange, Kalanick blamed Kamel for his problems. 鈥淪ome people don't like to take responsibility,鈥� he said. 鈥淭hey blame everything in their life on somebody else. Good luck!鈥� He then slammed the door.
While Kalanick denied Kamel鈥檚 charges 鈥� and has since apologized for his behavior 鈥� the driver鈥檚 grievances echoed those raised by many of his colleagues in recent months.
Uber has more than 600,000 drivers in the United States alone, who are classified as independent contractors, without many of the benefits typically offered to employees. "And ,"听Bloomberg鈥檚 Eric Newcomer wrote on Tuesday. "In 2012, Uber Black cost riders $4.90 per mile or $1.25 per minute in San Francisco, according to an old version of Uber's website. Today, Uber charges $3.75 per mile and $0.65 per minute. Black car drivers get paid less and their business faces far more competition from other Uber services."
Financial problems drove many Uber drivers to join minimum-wage workers in a nationwide 鈥渄ay of disruption鈥� last November, protesting not only to raise their minimum wage, but also their status: drivers are currently categorized as contract workers, but many are pushing to be classified as Uber employees听鈥撎齛 change that would make them eligible for a wide range of protections and benefits.
鈥淚f Uber is a house of cards, this [driver-as-contractor designation] is a key part of the foundation that, once removed, would demolish the structure,鈥� Ryan Felton , a news and opinion website about the automotive industry.
As legal challenges , the company has faced a range of other problems in recent months, including federal charges that it misled drivers about potential earnings, a sexual-harassment scandal, and on President Trump鈥檚 economic advisory council.
On Tuesday, the video of its CEO arguing with its driver gave the company yet another PR crisis. Kalanick moved swiftly to contain the damage. 鈥淚 want to profoundly apologize to Fawzi, as well as the driver and rider community, and to the Uber team,鈥� .
鈥淭he criticism we鈥檝e received is a stark reminder that I must fundamentally change as a leader and grow up. This is the first time I鈥檝e been willing to admit that I need leadership help and I intend to get it.鈥�
