Toronto UberEats drivers protest pay cuts
On Saturday afternoon, UberEats drivers protested this week's pay cuts — which hit driver pay from 25 to 50 per cent.
The protest, held in front of the downtown Toronto Uber office, included dozens of drivers.
"With this pay cut, the people who rely on this full time are not going to be able to pay their bills," said spokesman and UberEats driver David Heller.
The cut dropped delivery rates from a $6.50 flat rate per order picked up from a restaurant and $1.85 per kilometre travelled — of which UberEats would take a percentage — to $2.90 for each pick-up and $2.50 for each order delivered, Heller said.
Heller is pushing for rates to return to what they were before.
"We can take this to the Employment Tribunal. We can take this to the court system. We'll do what we have to do to make sure we're paid fairly," he said.
"Our rights are worth more than their capital."
Boost system introduced
In a statement, Uber said it wants to ensure a competitive income for all of its partners. It says its introduced a boost system, whereby drivers can get more money if they deliver food in certain areas.
However, many UberEats drivers say they don't think the boost will last long.
Driver Olivia Le Vihan said the boost still doesn't make up for all their lost income.
"Even when we do break even with the boost we're still getting I think about 70 cents less than what we were making per trip," she said.
Drivers say their next step is for restaurants to join their movement and hopefully have Uber reverse its decision.
