New WIE research shows regulatory failure to secure public access to gig economy data masks £2 billion per annum in wage theft, safety violations and rampant emissions.
Calls for Secretary of State for Transport, Mayor of London & London Transport Commissioner to make public access to data a condition of Uber’s license renewal this month
London & UK have fallen behind international peers in failing to secure access to data as a regulatory requirement
Distorted gig economy business model results in £2 billion wage theft, unsafe working hours, runaway carbon emissions and worsening congestion
New research report:
Dying for data - how the gig economy public data deficit conceals £1.9 billion in wage theft, runaway carbon emissions and a health and safety catastrophe.
London lags international regulatory standards for gig economy public data access
As Uber’s license comes up for a renewal decision in London this month, the report calls on the Secretary of State for Transport, the Mayor of London and Transport for London to make public access to data and compliance with worker rights a condition of license.
UK regulatory authorities have fallen far behind international peers such as New York City, Chicago, the state of California, Seattle and many others who mandate that high volume food delivery and private hire passenger transport platforms must regularly provide journey data to local authorities.
This data is used by regulators there to ensure compliance with local transport, safety, environmental and employment laws. By having regular access to data, regulatory authorities can set capacity limits or tax operators who do not utilise their fleet efficiently. As proven in New York and Seattle unions, community groups and civil society can also make effective use of open public data access to more effectively hold platform operators to account for fair pay, economic justice, safety and environmental efficiency.
Inherent inefficiency causing driver fatigue risk
Because gig economy employers misclassify workers and do not pay them for waiting time, this has led to a distorting effect on the market. The business model optimises for instant market response with too many workers waiting unpaid for too little work. Workers may be paid for as little as 4 to 6 hours for every 10 hours worked. This leads to fatigued driving risk with Uber operating at lower fatigue management safety standards in the UK compared to their policy standards in the US, Australia and New Zealand. At least two UK coroners have raised concerns about industry safety standards after inquests into the deaths of workers.
Rampant emissions and congestion
The gig economy accounts for 5.1 billion vehicle miles travelled annually which is equal to all vehicle miles travelled in Manchester Bristol and Cardiff combined. But of this, 2 billion vehicle miles travelled by workers are wasted and uncompensated as they move around looking and waiting for work. Fleet utilisation is as low as 40% and London licensed private hire vehicles could fill all three lanes of the M4 from London to Bristol. Uber UK reported emissions were up 65% last year and, at current growth rates, are on course this year to exceed Transport for London emissions for all transport operations – bus, rail and underground.
James Farrar, Director of Worker Info Exchange said:
“In failing to secure public access to gig economy transport data, regulators in Britain have fallen far behind international regulatory norms. Gig economy platform companies now operate at such a surprisingly large scale on our public streets that we need to think of them more of as public utilities. High standards of data transparency are necessary so that all app-based transport services can be more effectively regulated to ensure safety and environmental compliance as well as for the fair treatment of workers, customers and host communities.”
Zamir Dreni, Chair of App Drivers and Couriers Union (ADCU) London said:
“ADCU welcomes this report and urges TFL and the Mayor to take on board its findings and implement its recommendations across all operators as their licences come up for renewal. The lack of transparency for ADCU and TFL over driver data is a double whammy for the industry and puts London to the back of the line compared to major cities across the globe when it comes to regulating this industry. It helps operators in their ongoing wage theft at the same time as concealing the data on congestion and emissions from TFL that stems from dangerous over working forced on drivers.”
Steve McNamara, General Secretary of the Licensed Taxi Drivers Association said:
“This report’s shocking findings are likely just the tip of the iceberg and underline the urgent need for proper public data sharing to ensure the gig economy’s operations are not having a detrimental impact on workers, public health and safety and the environment. In London we’ve repeatedly seen Uber in particular failing to be transparent with regulators about their operations and even actively concealing practices which compromised passenger safety in the past. Robust public data sharing should be a condition of any operator’s licence and TfL must make this a priority to address the serious issues laid bare in this report. Without access to this data, regulators are left working in the dark – unable to protect public interests and to design and implement effective policies to ensure the gig economy is not doing more harm than good.”
Grant Davis, Chairman of London Cab Drivers Club said:
“Since the introduction of app-based private hire services, the London Cab Drivers Club has raised concerns in relation to the model’s impact on drivers, public safety, and urban congestion. This document highlights those concerns, including exploitative working practices, the oversaturation of private hire vehicles leading to congestion, and worrying public safety issues. Furthermore, it recognises the benefits of data in shaping a more robust regulatory framework.”
Jim Kelly, Chair London & Eastern Cab Section, Unite the Union
"Uber’s ethos is to operate as a disruptive company driving the race to the bottom, both in terms of wages and terms & conditions. As a regulated TfL company it should have to adhere to much higher regulatory standards in order to ensure it meets its duties to its workforce. Clearly, despite many measures by the Mayor to clean up London’s air, more could be done and understanding how private hire vehicles impact air quality would be a useful piece of information. Unite the Union supports capping of numbers of private drivers and ending the abuse of X-Border hiring to start. Unite the Union would be in support of any measures which improve working conditions for private hire drivers in London. Unite has experience of the detrimental impact of the long hours culture, used to suppress wages and incomes in other sectors of the passenger and road transport sectors."
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