Uber Tries to Crowd-Source the Bike Messenger Business with UberRUSH

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Permalink Reply by Crazy David 84 Furlongs on April 9, 2014 at 11:01am

I hate this.   In order for society to succeed we have to pay workers to do the work.   If we don't pay them, then they can't buy anything and the economy grinds to a halt.  Bike messengers work hard.  Very Hard.  They are already underpaid and are forced to take risks that most of us would not take (and sadly also earn a lot of scorn for bicyclists because of these risks) in order to make something close to minimum wage.    If you need something delivered by a bike messenger, pay for it.  

Sadly, however, more and more organizations are looking for "volunteers" or "interns" because of poorly thought out business strategies.

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Permalink Reply by Thunder Snow on April 9, 2014 at 11:28am

Agreed, David.  I find it interesting that the Uber business model tries to swap professional cabdrivers to volunteer gypsy cabs.  And now, UberRUSH is attempting the same with bike messengers.  What's next?  Amateur Uberbartenders who pop into a bar for a half hour at a time to collect one or two tips?  Uber waiters and waitresses who serve your dinner as they're walking past the restaurant on their way to somewhere else?  Strange times we live in.

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Permalink Reply by David Barish on April 9, 2014 at 1:21pm

I was fascinated by the post and comments about volunteers. I am not sure where you get that Uber plans to use volunteers. That had me ask myself, "Gee, why would anybody do that? Why would they not want to get paid?"  I looked around. http://venturebeat.com/2014/04/07/uber-is-launching-an-on-demand-co... It seems they do plan to pay their messengers between $20 and $30 an hour. It is my understanding that messengers in Chicago are paid by the delivery and  this system is a bit different paying by the hour rather than by the delivery.  I wonder if that's true or if that is an estimate from a source of what they think messengers will average. Either way, they seem to exert enough control that I would deem the riders to be employees rather than independent contractors. That has been tried here and has failed. Injured messengers here have been found to be employees.  From what I could find it seems they are simply a new player in New York and its not like a bunch of volunteers or amateurs are being used.

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Permalink Reply by Michelle Milham on April 9, 2014 at 1:27pm

Ok so these are bikes right? I heard about this last night and thought they were doing it with cars. Which I thought was enormously stupid. If they are paying the messengers well, and it's a way to facilitate pick up/drop off through an app instead of website/by phone... I think it's great. I'd be much happier to be a paid messenger for Uber than for a smaller company that doesn't have resources behind it... 

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Permalink Reply by Thunder Snow on April 9, 2014 at 1:57pm

David B, I used the word "volunteer" as a snide way of representing nonprofessional amateur people-off-the-street doing work that at one time was reserved for skilled, experienced, possibly licensed and regulated professionals. Yes, Uber taxi drivers get paid, but I think they are classified as independent contractors, not necessarily trained or tested (as pro cabbies are), possibly lacking in commercial liability insurance.  The problem of having nonprofessional independent contractors performing work that used to be done by professional employees can be seen in the finger pointing by Uber, an Uber driver and his auto insurance company, in the tragedy of the death of 6-year-old Sophia Liu (in San Francisco):

http://www.insurancejournal.com/magazines/features/2014/02/10/31938...

In the Sophia Liu case, the driver who struck and killed her, while between Uber rides and with no Uber passenger in his SUV at the time, is claiming he was just driving, not working.  His insurance won't cover him if he was engaged in commercial activity, like driving for Uber.  Uber's commercial insurance won't cover time when no passenger is on board.  This is a problem.

It seems to me Uber-type independent bike messengers might not be eligible for workmen's compensation, if not employees of UberRUSH, and may not have commercial liability insurance as well.  Probably no health insurance, paid vacations or sick days, if not employees.

This amateurization of professions (charter schools, anyone?) can be seen from the Right as the market exerting its force, while from the Left can be seen as the gutting of the employment protections of the American worker.  If you call all your employees independent contractors, you have no responsibility for them.

Now, it's possible I don't understand the situation of current bike messenger employees.  I'm assuming they get benefits like other workers, but I don't know that for sure.  They may already be getting screwed by their employers, so the Uberization won't be too much of a change.

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