In an attempt to collectively bargain with their employer, Uber drivers in Canada have joined one of the country’s largest union groups.
According to United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) officials, more than a hundred Uber drivers have signed union cards to join the 250,000 member trade union. "Drivers are fed up with the low pay, long hours, and lack of basic worker protections that shlepping strangers around entails," Bryan Menegus writes in Gizmodo. UFCW held a press conference last week announcing their intention to bargain with Uber and to encourage other drivers to join them.
Uber has yet to respond to the call to recognize the union. The company classifies its workers as independent contractors in Canada (and the United States as well) and they are unlikely to give up on that classification voluntarily. How Uber and Toronto handle this case is likely to have impact throughout the country.
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