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Profit Uber Alles ?

Profit Uber Alles ? “Ride-Sharing”, Virtual Capital and Impacts on Labour in Cape Town, South Africa. “It’s modern-day slavery. Its smart slavery”- Uber driver. Alicia Fortuin Researcher, PhD Candidate African Centre for Cities Digital Economy Africa Conference 2019

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Profit Uber Alles ?

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  1. Profit Uber Alles ? “Ride-Sharing”, Virtual Capital and Impacts on Labour in Cape Town, South Africa. “It’s modern-day slavery. Its smart slavery”- Uber driver. Alicia Fortuin Researcher, PhD Candidate African Centre for Cities Digital Economy Africa Conference 2019 Oxford Internet Institute University of Oxford

  2. Aims of research : • To examine the impacts of what has been termed “Uberisation” • To get a Global Southern perspective of this “Uberisation” on labour relations and employment conditions in Cape Town • We ask, what does this rise in the gig economy, the sharing economy mean for labour relations and employment conditions in Cape Town.

  3. ‘Uberisation’ • “Uberisation” refers to the informalisation, casualisation and virtual accumulation of capital. Characterized by increased job insecurity and increased flexibility. • Methods : • - semi structured interviews with 26 Uber and Taxify drivers. • Through a case study in Cape Town.

  4. Cape town Context

  5. Cape Town Context

  6. Key Findings • Commission charges to high compared to rate per kilometer that riders pay • Safety and Security of drivers (which has knock on effects) All or most losses incurred due to, injury, high jacking, medical cost is the burden of the driver Uber markets itself as a technology rather than a transport or taxi company • Gendered nature of work • Information Asymmetry and Differential Bargaining Power • - many drivers do not own their own cars and go into “partnership with owners” • Drivers also do not have their own Uber slots (takes up to two years) • Partners set targets too high • Self – exploitation – driving for over 16 hours a day • Drivers are not protected by a labour contract.

  7. Key findings • Uber imposes rules such as 12 hour limit, 25% commission, with Taxify only 15% commission (on every trip) no limit per day

  8. Key Findings Cont… • Transport in Cape Town • City of Cape Town – “there is a place for both Uber and Taxify in Cape Town’s transport system” (Interview, June 2018) • Diversifies transport and mobility in the city for those who can afford it. • Regulated by the issuance of Operating Licences and Professional Driving Permits

  9. In conclusion Technological solution rather than transport company – Uber and Taxify Discursively elide or deny employment relations with the drivers who use their systems. - This represents a form of “virtureal” accumulation, where the power relations and conditions involved in this “employment relation” become very difficult to contest. Drivers have begun to use Whatsapp platform and form groups to mobilise and air grievances- this has helped to organise a strike in Cape Town against Uber. – the sharing of information becomes a stepping stone to empowerment as drivers become privy to information they would not necessarily have access to, like certain Uber incentives. • Uberisations leads to a hollowing out of the formal sector, creating new forms of capital, virtual capital, • which extracts “value” from assets it doesn’t own, and labor it doesn’t manage.

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