Our Meeting Guide

INTERNATIONAL DRIVER'S COMMUNITY

support@strikeon.org / (305) 766-2509

Topics to Discuss

Questions before the meeting about issues in Florida

-      Are any of you familiar with HB221-2017?

-      Do any of you have any knowledge of business operations and management?

-      What is the difference between taxis, limousine services, and rideshare drivers?

-      Would you know what could happen if taxis and limousines weren't properly regulated?

§  Do you know if Uber and Lyft display their phone numbers?

-      Accounts have been deactivated due to identity fraud since they began operating in this state. This information allows you to see the magnitude of the increase in fraud.

-      The number of car accidents in the state of Florida caused by drivers while offering their services. This information allows you to see the magnitude of the increase in risks.

-      Do any of you know how much these companies charge and how much they pay for commercial insurance?

-      Do any of you know if Uber and Lyft systems are audited to verify compliance with strict standards for protection against labor abuse and exploitation?

-      How can ride-share drivers protect themselves from any abuse by these companies?

-      The only support tools we have are the driver support department through the app. Who guarantees that this department is truly created and trained to help drivers? We have seen cases where they do not read and interpret emails and messages correctly. They use pre-written responses to address issues. Their decisions are almost always arbitrary.

-      We are almost certain that Uber uses artificial intelligence (AI) systems to study driver behavior and create profiles that allow them to manipulate those drivers. We believe this system can be used as a weapon against drivers and for the company's benefit. Who controls and prevents this from happening? Is this legal? Should it be allowed?

1.     The Problems

-      HB221-2017 gives them complete freedom to manipulate the market and workforce as they please and benefit.

-      Drivers have no protection.

-      They add risks to this business every day. The risks are the number of new drivers joining the platform, without limits. This affects the cost of commercial and personal auto insurance in every city and state.

-      95% of drivers do not have the ride-share endorsement added to their policies. By not adding the ride-share endorsement, insurance companies translate this into increased risk. This risk means that both commercial and personal insurance policies must increase their costs. Why, if the ride-share endorsement is mandatory for auto insurance companies, is it not required by companies like Uber, Lyft, or any other ride-share or delivery company?

-      There are absolutely no controls on alcohol and drug use while driving on Uber, Lyft, or any other ride-share platform.

-      There are absolutely no controls on the condition of cars on Uber, Lyft, or any other ride-share platform.

-      There are no strict controls on people trying to work for Uber, Lyft, DoorDash, Spark, or any other ride-share and food delivery platform. This leads to an increase in massive identity theft, which in turn increases the creation of fake accounts for temporary operation, where these companies profit from their own intentional failures.

-      How can Uber, Lyft, DoorDash, Grubhub, Spark, or any other ride-sharing and delivery company prevent people from providing their accounts to family, friends, or simply renting them out?

-      How can the government or any government entity know whether Uber, Lyft, DoorDash, and any other ride-sharing and delivery companies are stealing tips or not? There are many complaints from drivers in which customers have shown them that they leave tips and have never received them. Is there a government entity where we can complain about this problem?

-      Uber, Lyft, and the rest of the companies keep their doors open to new drivers. This leads many people to buy cars to drive for these companies, thinking they can get in on the money when the driver market is oversaturated. This only benefits those companies and greatly harms the local and personal economies of drivers.

-      Market oversaturation allows companies like Uber, Lyft, DoorDash, and many others to destroy the true value of this work. It also allows them to eliminate older generations of drivers and attract new generations who accept the low wages. This is because they take advantage of the lack of knowledge among many drivers.

-      Driver oversaturation is causing financial harm to many drivers, an increase in accidents, and even causing serious health problems and even leading to the death of some.

-      Who enforces compliance with Uber, Lyft, or any other company's policies? Uber, Lyft, and many other companies constantly violate their own policies by allowing drivers to use software tools such as bots, fake GPS devices, signal-blocking antennas, and others. These users' accounts are not deactivated as stipulated in their own regulations (they know perfectly well who is using these tools).

-      They manipulate all information about time, travel distance, and bonuses, all to deceive drivers.

-      They use coercive and psychological mechanisms against drivers to generate fear of losing access to their accounts.

§  95% of drivers don't know anything about:

-      The pros and cons of driving for ride-sharing and delivery services.

-      How insurance coverage works and that they have a $2,500 deductible in the event of an accident and damage caused by passengers.

-      What types of auto insurance coverage do they have?

-      What they can and cannot do without compromising their access to the system to be able to work. These companies use this as a manipulation mechanism for their own interests.

-      Drivers are not properly educated to know whether the work they are doing is financially beneficial to them or not. These companies take advantage of many people's ignorance and exploit them.

-      Companies like Uber, Lyft, DoorDash, and other ride-sharing and delivery companies are taking advantage of the large influx of immigration to work illegally for them. This creates serious security problems in all cities and states across the United States. Miami is one of the cities most affected by this issue. People who are not properly identified are transporting people and making home deliveries.

2.     Disadvantages

-      Companies like Uber, Lyft, DoorDash, and others, have direct connections with local government entities, legislators, politicians, and other city departments that they can easily influence. Meanwhile, drivers who are trying to create a balance to stop the abuse we are being subjected to are not receiving responses to our requests. How do we defend ourselves?

-      If we have any kind of concern with these companies, there's no way to fix it. We must stay with the issue.

-      Companies can suspend drivers' accounts at will, at their own discretion, and at their own interest. This greatly impacts the economy of many people. We know people who have bought new cars for work and have been unfairly suspended shortly after getting their cars. Their appeals service doesn't work.

-      If companies decide to increase the cost of commercial auto insurance, they are free to do so. How can we know that the cost of commercial auto insurance is actually increasing?

-      If Uber, Lyft, and any other ride-sharing or delivery company in the market decide to pay drivers $0.25 per mile and $0.00 per minute for service provided, they are free to do so. How can we prevent this from happening?

3. Our requests to correct the issues are:

· Amend HB221-2017

§ The amendment would be at the state level, granting limited powers to each city in the state of Florida to:

- Obtain a ride-share driver's license (each city should create this license)

- Pass a background check (like the one used for taxis and limousines)

- Take a drug and alcohol test (every 6 months, 1 year, or when a report is made on the ride-share app). We are aware of drivers whose accounts have been temporarily suspended due to reports made by customers. These drivers have not been sent by Uber, Lyft, or any other ride-share company to take a drug and alcohol test that proves the accusation is false. These accounts have been reactivated within 3 days without positive or negative evidence)

-      Carry out the proper inspection of the cars

-      Certification of cars for transportation and some form of identification on the cars so they can be properly identified and prove they are operating legally.

-      Verification of auto insurance with auto insurance companies.

-    Require ridesharing endorsement by ridesharing and delivery companies to obtain the license provided by the city and for its renewals.

-      Limit the number of ridesharing licenses in each city.

-    Limit the number of cars in each city to avoid market oversaturation through car rentals. The market should be studied, and a number of drivers assigned to meet the demand in each city should be guaranteed. Each driver should be guaranteed the ability to make a minimum number of trips. This allows for a fair distribution of work for all.

§ This process is intended to be carried out to:

-      Eliminate fraud by at least 95% and risk by at least 80%.

-      Eliminate the absolute power of Uber, Lyft, or any other company over drivers.

-      Stop abuse by deactivating and acquiring new drivers at will. We estimate that approximately 70% of each city is a potential driver market for these companies.

-      This business is for everyone, but not everyone can have free access to it. Regulations and limits must exist to prevent the value of the business from being harmed.

-      Provide protection for drivers.

-      Add value to the business.

-      Provide the ability for drivers to negotiate their contracts with these companies more honestly through driver-assigned representation.