WEBVTT 1 00:00:03.279 --> 00:00:06.120 It's nine pm on a Saturday night in Highland Park, 2 00:00:06.640 --> 00:00:10.840 a neighborhood in northeast Los Angeles. It's the summertime and 3 00:00:10.920 --> 00:00:13.960 the nearby bars are buzzing with people. I'm at a 4 00:00:13.960 --> 00:00:17.239 gas station of York Boulevard, one of the busiest streets 5 00:00:17.280 --> 00:00:19.040 in the area. 6 00:00:22.000 --> 00:00:24.119 If I want to like put like a full tank, 7 00:00:24.200 --> 00:00:27.320 it will be probably like close to eighty dollars. 8 00:00:28.160 --> 00:00:31.360 I'm here with Alvaro volainis a driver with the right 9 00:00:31.400 --> 00:00:34.680 hailing company Lift, and he's about to start his shift. 10 00:00:35.960 --> 00:00:38.640 Saturdays are the busiest nights of the week for right 11 00:00:38.680 --> 00:00:42.160 hailing drivers, more clients and less traffic on the road. 12 00:00:43.080 --> 00:00:45.919 It costs Alvado about eighty dollars to fill up the 13 00:00:45.960 --> 00:00:49.400 tank of his black suv, and sometimes that's not enough 14 00:00:49.440 --> 00:00:52.599 to make it through the night. This money comes out 15 00:00:52.600 --> 00:00:55.520 of his own pocket because Uber and Lyft drivers have 16 00:00:55.600 --> 00:00:58.600 to pay for all of their expenses such as gas, 17 00:00:58.800 --> 00:01:00.880 car maintenance, and car insurance. 18 00:01:01.320 --> 00:01:03.720 So I got a call it, so I gotta drive 19 00:01:04.800 --> 00:01:06.560 all the way to South Pasadena. 20 00:01:07.120 --> 00:01:11.160 Albardo gets his first call of the night. For privacy reasons, 21 00:01:11.200 --> 00:01:15.240 we can't record inside Albardo's car while he's driving clients around, 22 00:01:15.800 --> 00:01:18.520 so we asked him to send us voice memos throughout 23 00:01:18.520 --> 00:01:21.280 the evening. Okay, al, I'm gonna let you go. I 24 00:01:21.360 --> 00:01:23.640 wish you the best of nights. I hope you make 25 00:01:23.680 --> 00:01:24.360 a lot of money. 26 00:01:24.480 --> 00:01:25.280 Oh, I hope so. 27 00:01:25.280 --> 00:01:33.720 So my first ride took me to Alhambra. It was 28 00:01:33.800 --> 00:01:37.480 really slow there. I waited like forty minutes and I 29 00:01:37.520 --> 00:01:40.200 didn't get no call, so I decided to drive to 30 00:01:40.720 --> 00:01:43.000 downtown La. 31 00:01:43.160 --> 00:01:47.039 Alvardo compares driving for Uber and Lyft to gambling at 32 00:01:47.040 --> 00:01:52.840 a casino. Drivers can't manage passenger demand, and when Alvado 33 00:01:52.960 --> 00:01:55.960 accepts a ride with Lyft, he cannot see where the 34 00:01:56.000 --> 00:01:58.680 passenger is going or how much money he will make 35 00:01:58.680 --> 00:02:00.080 from the ride. 36 00:02:00.440 --> 00:02:02.760 Right now, I'm in downtown a La, waiting for pretty 37 00:02:02.800 --> 00:02:04.640 much for the right call because I'm getting a lot 38 00:02:04.640 --> 00:02:08.400 of calls, but I have to drive eighteen minutes and 39 00:02:08.480 --> 00:02:11.639 they're only like three minutes right, So those are not proferable. 40 00:02:12.720 --> 00:02:16.400 Drivers only get paid for the time between accepting a 41 00:02:16.440 --> 00:02:20.440 request and completing it, so Alvardo has to do the math. 42 00:02:21.200 --> 00:02:23.840 He's not getting paid for all of the burnt gas 43 00:02:24.000 --> 00:02:27.600 and time he's driving on the streets between calls. If 44 00:02:27.639 --> 00:02:31.120 it's not diligent about it. Alvado could actually lose money 45 00:02:31.200 --> 00:02:31.800 on a drive. 46 00:02:32.840 --> 00:02:36.760 I just completed my second right off the night, and 47 00:02:36.800 --> 00:02:39.480 he pays me twenty dollars, but I almost got into 48 00:02:39.480 --> 00:02:40.079 an accident. 49 00:02:40.840 --> 00:02:44.080 If Alvardo gets into an accident, some of the costs 50 00:02:44.080 --> 00:02:48.280 could fall on him. Uber and Lyft don't classify drivers 51 00:02:48.320 --> 00:02:51.600 as employees, so they have to cover their own health 52 00:02:51.639 --> 00:02:57.280 care and car insurance. App based drivers also use their 53 00:02:57.280 --> 00:03:01.480 own cars for the job. After where out two preasess, 54 00:03:01.919 --> 00:03:05.840 Alvado decided to invest sixty thousand dollars in an suv 55 00:03:06.520 --> 00:03:09.519 so that he could drive for Lift Lucks, the company's 56 00:03:09.600 --> 00:03:13.160 hire and service, But he says that not every driver 57 00:03:13.280 --> 00:03:14.840 can make this kind of investment. 58 00:03:15.520 --> 00:03:19.119 It's almost one am in the morning and I'm kind 59 00:03:19.160 --> 00:03:22.639 of sleepy, so I will go to McDonald get myself 60 00:03:22.680 --> 00:03:26.960 like a cheeseburger and a large coffee that will keep 61 00:03:27.000 --> 00:03:30.440 me away during the bar closing time, which is like 62 00:03:30.520 --> 00:03:32.600 two AM, and it gets really busy, so I need 63 00:03:32.639 --> 00:03:33.480 to be awake. 64 00:03:33.440 --> 00:03:36.800 Even on a busy Saturday night. Even with his fancy car, 65 00:03:37.400 --> 00:03:40.200 Alvado says is only making a small fraction of what 66 00:03:40.280 --> 00:03:42.640 he used to make when he first started driving for 67 00:03:42.720 --> 00:03:46.520 the company back in twenty twelve. In that same period 68 00:03:46.560 --> 00:03:50.000 of time, Uber and Lyft have ballooned into companies that 69 00:03:50.040 --> 00:03:52.640 are valued at billions of dollars. 70 00:03:54.400 --> 00:03:58.360 It's four in the morning and I'm getting well we 71 00:03:58.480 --> 00:04:03.520 it is that means laziness, And I didn't get no 72 00:04:03.600 --> 00:04:08.640 more calls. I was pretty much online six hours and 73 00:04:08.720 --> 00:04:12.760 thirty five minutes and I make one hundred and fifty 74 00:04:12.800 --> 00:04:15.360 one dollars with four rice. 75 00:04:15.280 --> 00:04:17.760 And I mean it was like a kind of like 76 00:04:17.800 --> 00:04:18.960 a bad naive for me. 77 00:04:24.839 --> 00:04:28.039 From Futuro Media, it's let you know Usay by Maria 78 00:04:28.120 --> 00:04:32.240 Nojosa Today inside the labor battle against big tech in 79 00:04:32.240 --> 00:04:39.960 California that could change the future of work. When was 80 00:04:40.000 --> 00:04:45.400 the last time you used an app based service? As consumers, 81 00:04:45.440 --> 00:04:48.719 we often take these apps for granted, kind of a 82 00:04:48.800 --> 00:04:52.080 part of our everyday lives, even more so during the 83 00:04:52.080 --> 00:04:55.599 COVID nineteen pandemic, when a lot of these so called 84 00:04:55.800 --> 00:05:00.960 gig workers became essential. They're the people green food and 85 00:05:01.040 --> 00:05:04.840 packages to our doors, or sitting in the driver's seat 86 00:05:04.960 --> 00:05:10.800 when we order car rides to avoid public transportation. It 87 00:05:10.960 --> 00:05:16.360 might seem longer, but it hasn't even been fifteen years 88 00:05:16.440 --> 00:05:20.360 since app based companies like Uber and Lyft were founded, 89 00:05:21.040 --> 00:05:23.560 but in the time that they've been around, they've changed 90 00:05:23.560 --> 00:05:28.000 the face of several industries and of labor as a whole. 91 00:05:29.480 --> 00:05:32.640 Uber and Lyft were some of the first companies to 92 00:05:32.839 --> 00:05:38.720 institute gigwork as their primary business model. This means that 93 00:05:38.880 --> 00:05:44.120 the drivers are not employees or rather independent contractors, so 94 00:05:44.360 --> 00:05:48.280 workers are not afforded basic rights like a minimum wage, 95 00:05:48.839 --> 00:05:54.240 overtime pay, sick or maternal leave, health insurance, or compensation 96 00:05:54.640 --> 00:05:55.880 in case of injured. 97 00:05:56.279 --> 00:05:58.640 Every day when I go out, I drive in fear 98 00:05:58.640 --> 00:06:00.400 that somebody's going to hit me, the I'm going to 99 00:06:00.400 --> 00:06:02.240 get deactivated, and I'm not going to be able to 100 00:06:02.279 --> 00:06:03.440 feed my children this week. 101 00:06:03.839 --> 00:06:07.680 And the drivers are mostly immigrants and people of color. 102 00:06:08.120 --> 00:06:11.400 According to a twenty twenty one report from Lyft, seventy 103 00:06:11.560 --> 00:06:15.800 six percent of California drivers identify as people of color 104 00:06:16.400 --> 00:06:24.040 and forty four percent are Latino or Latina. California has 105 00:06:24.080 --> 00:06:29.279 been ground zero for cementing the gigwork business model into 106 00:06:29.680 --> 00:06:33.640 law a year ago. This month, the state passed Proposition 107 00:06:33.720 --> 00:06:37.160 twenty two to allow app based companies like Uber and 108 00:06:37.240 --> 00:06:43.360 Lyft to classify their drivers as contractors instead of as employees. 109 00:06:44.800 --> 00:06:53.480 The law also prevents workers from unionizing. But California drivers 110 00:06:53.680 --> 00:06:57.279 and other gig workers affected by Prop twenty two, many 111 00:06:57.360 --> 00:07:00.000 of whom rely on app based companies as their main 112 00:07:00.360 --> 00:07:04.800 source of income, say this labor model is unsustainable, and 113 00:07:04.880 --> 00:07:10.200 many of them, like Alvaro Boliniz, are fighting back. The 114 00:07:10.240 --> 00:07:13.320 battle is still far from over. Prop twenty two was 115 00:07:13.360 --> 00:07:17.920 recently ruled unconstitutional by a California judge, while in other 116 00:07:17.960 --> 00:07:22.080 states there have been attempts of introducing similar measures. Today, 117 00:07:22.320 --> 00:07:24.840 we're going to follow a group of drivers who are 118 00:07:24.880 --> 00:07:30.240 mobilizing across California and using their own technology to take 119 00:07:30.280 --> 00:07:33.640 on big tech. Their fight is not only about their 120 00:07:33.680 --> 00:07:37.520 own labor protections as drivers, but about what it means 121 00:07:37.560 --> 00:07:39.560 to be an employee in this country. 122 00:07:39.560 --> 00:07:39.920 Today. 123 00:07:40.600 --> 00:07:44.440 Producers Batrisias Ubaran and Julia Rocha will be reporting this 124 00:07:44.560 --> 00:07:48.360 story together. We're going to start with Patricia. We heard 125 00:07:48.440 --> 00:07:50.280 at the beginning of this episode. 126 00:07:52.000 --> 00:07:55.239 Albaro Blinis has a love hate relationship with La. 127 00:07:55.760 --> 00:07:58.920 La is a city that requires you to be like 128 00:07:59.040 --> 00:08:00.560 hastling every day. 129 00:08:01.080 --> 00:08:04.280 Albado came to Los Angeles from El Salvador in two thousand, 130 00:08:04.520 --> 00:08:07.440 when he was fifteen years old, looking for better access 131 00:08:07.480 --> 00:08:11.560 to education and opportunity. He remembers that although he had 132 00:08:11.560 --> 00:08:14.200 only gone to primary school for four years in his 133 00:08:14.280 --> 00:08:17.560 home country, his dad sent him straight to high school 134 00:08:17.560 --> 00:08:18.360 when he got to the. 135 00:08:18.400 --> 00:08:20.680 US, and I would sit down on my table and 136 00:08:20.720 --> 00:08:24.160 now I start crying because I didn't know what the 137 00:08:24.200 --> 00:08:27.480 home work was about it because I didn't know the language. 138 00:08:27.680 --> 00:08:32.000 But Alberto cut up fast. English even became his favorite subject. 139 00:08:32.559 --> 00:08:36.679 After school, Alberta worked the night shift offloading merchandise at 140 00:08:36.679 --> 00:08:40.120 a warehouse. He would work from eight pm until four 141 00:08:40.160 --> 00:08:42.959 in the morning, sometimes coming home to sleep for a 142 00:08:43.000 --> 00:08:46.760 few hours before heading to school in the morning. His 143 00:08:46.960 --> 00:08:50.280 work ethic was a mirror image of his dad's, who 144 00:08:50.320 --> 00:08:54.120 worked in construction, but Alberto saw that was a tough 145 00:08:54.200 --> 00:08:55.160 path to follow. 146 00:08:55.559 --> 00:08:59.320 You see how much he works, and he barely have enough, 147 00:08:59.440 --> 00:09:01.720 you know, to feed you and to pay the rent. 148 00:09:01.960 --> 00:09:04.719 If I don't sacrifice myself, I'm not going to end 149 00:09:04.800 --> 00:09:05.880 up exactly like him. 150 00:09:06.559 --> 00:09:09.319 Albado went on to work at a car dealership after 151 00:09:09.480 --> 00:09:14.199 high school. He started by working in maintenance, cleaning bathrooms, sweeping, 152 00:09:14.880 --> 00:09:17.040 but he managed to work his way up the ladder, 153 00:09:17.200 --> 00:09:22.560 becoming a supervisor in a few years. Although Alberto took 154 00:09:22.600 --> 00:09:26.080 pride in his work, his job had one big downside. 155 00:09:26.679 --> 00:09:30.000 It was a two hour, sometimes three hour commute from 156 00:09:30.000 --> 00:09:34.240 his house. After ten years working at the dealership, he 157 00:09:34.400 --> 00:09:37.000 noticed something unusual on the way to work. 158 00:09:37.880 --> 00:09:40.000 And then I turn around and I see this car 159 00:09:40.360 --> 00:09:43.439 with the big pink mustache. 160 00:09:42.720 --> 00:09:46.360 A big fuzzy pink mustache on the front bumper of 161 00:09:46.400 --> 00:09:49.200 a car. He soon found out that they were a 162 00:09:49.240 --> 00:09:52.360 marketing tool for a brand new company called Lift. 163 00:09:52.880 --> 00:09:55.199 I got home and I googled it, and then he 164 00:09:55.280 --> 00:09:59.480 says like, live, You're gonna make money by driving your 165 00:09:59.520 --> 00:10:04.120 own car. And I'm like, I'm already driving three hours, 166 00:10:04.160 --> 00:10:05.440 you know, and I'm making no money. 167 00:10:05.480 --> 00:10:07.120 I'm actually wasting money, you know. 168 00:10:07.679 --> 00:10:11.440 So then Alberto thought, why not. It was easy enough 169 00:10:11.440 --> 00:10:13.800 to sign up to drive or lift, and then easy 170 00:10:13.920 --> 00:10:17.120 enough to learn how the job worked. You download the app, 171 00:10:17.240 --> 00:10:21.120 hop in the car, and boom, you're making money. Alberto 172 00:10:21.240 --> 00:10:25.760 became a lift driver in twenty twelve. At this point, 173 00:10:26.000 --> 00:10:30.240 right hailing companies were just starting out. Unemployment numbers were 174 00:10:30.240 --> 00:10:33.160 still high after the Great Recession, and there was a 175 00:10:33.200 --> 00:10:36.840 general optimism in the air that technology could forge the 176 00:10:36.880 --> 00:10:38.440 way to economic recovery. 177 00:10:38.720 --> 00:10:41.440 It was a time when people were filled with hope 178 00:10:41.520 --> 00:10:45.080 about the promise of our phones to fix our problems. 179 00:10:45.720 --> 00:10:49.520 That's Vienna Dubal, a law professor at UC Hastings in 180 00:10:49.559 --> 00:10:54.040 California who focuses on the intersection of law, technology and 181 00:10:54.080 --> 00:10:58.560 precarious work. Verna was writing her dissertation on taxi worker 182 00:10:58.760 --> 00:11:02.040 organizing efforts when Uber and lyft were just starting out 183 00:11:02.320 --> 00:11:04.640 in twenty twelve and twenty thirteen. 184 00:11:04.559 --> 00:11:06.720 And I sort of at the time wrote it off 185 00:11:06.880 --> 00:11:09.120 because I thought it was so silly, you know, who 186 00:11:09.200 --> 00:11:12.960 was going to get into a taxi that wasn't regulated, 187 00:11:13.000 --> 00:11:14.920 Like who was going to get into someone else's car? 188 00:11:15.040 --> 00:11:18.560 That just seemed like a phenomenon that couldn't possibly spread. 189 00:11:19.200 --> 00:11:21.480 And I was really wrong about that. 190 00:11:23.520 --> 00:11:28.200 The apps took cough fast within three years of its launch, 191 00:11:28.520 --> 00:11:32.920 uber x Uber's most popular service, which nearly half a 192 00:11:33.000 --> 00:11:36.200 million active drivers in one hundred and fifty cities in 193 00:11:36.240 --> 00:11:40.480 the United States. At the beginning, the business model seemed 194 00:11:40.480 --> 00:11:44.440 to be benefiting both drivers and users. Alvardo was making 195 00:11:44.480 --> 00:11:48.120 good money driving his first prius, picking up passengers around 196 00:11:48.120 --> 00:11:52.240 the city at events, nightclubs, and festivals. He says he 197 00:11:52.400 --> 00:11:55.079 used to make up to two thousand dollars a week, 198 00:11:55.800 --> 00:11:58.400 and that he got to keep eighty percent of the profits, 199 00:11:58.520 --> 00:12:03.559 while Lift took a twenty percent and cut. But experts 200 00:12:03.640 --> 00:12:07.160 like Vina had doubts about the shiny new company. She 201 00:12:07.240 --> 00:12:10.520 had been studying the taxi industry for years and knew 202 00:12:10.520 --> 00:12:13.439 how precarious they had gotten for workers over the past 203 00:12:13.440 --> 00:12:17.600 few decades after they went from being employees with unionized 204 00:12:17.640 --> 00:12:22.360 wages and benefits to independent contractors in the nineteen seventies. 205 00:12:23.040 --> 00:12:27.559 She worried that Uber and Lyft's model would burden workers 206 00:12:27.640 --> 00:12:28.200 even more. 207 00:12:28.559 --> 00:12:30.760 Uber and Lyft drivers were paying for their own cars, 208 00:12:30.800 --> 00:12:32.680 they were paying for their own gas, they were paying 209 00:12:32.720 --> 00:12:35.360 for their own upkeep. I realized that this was one 210 00:12:35.440 --> 00:12:38.640 step even more exploitaive than the taxi industry. 211 00:12:39.320 --> 00:12:43.640 She explains that even though taxiicab drivers became contractors, they 212 00:12:43.640 --> 00:12:46.440 didn't have to use their own cars to work, and 213 00:12:46.559 --> 00:12:51.720 taxi companies would cover the maintenance. Uber and Lyft changed that, 214 00:12:52.600 --> 00:12:56.360 adding a new dimension to what an independent contractor could be. 215 00:12:56.679 --> 00:13:00.400 There was no regulation over prices, no regulation over the 216 00:13:00.480 --> 00:13:02.760 number of cars in the street that were competing with 217 00:13:02.800 --> 00:13:06.840 one another. It just was so clearly a recipe for exploitation. 218 00:13:06.960 --> 00:13:10.920 But concerns from Vienna and other industry experts didn't stop 219 00:13:10.960 --> 00:13:14.440 these companies from raising millions of dollars in funding or 220 00:13:14.480 --> 00:13:18.600 growing their user bases. In their first few years of business, 221 00:13:18.960 --> 00:13:21.920 Uber and Lyft were running promotions like giving out free 222 00:13:22.000 --> 00:13:26.840 rides for new customers. Alvao help recruit customers by handing 223 00:13:26.840 --> 00:13:29.160 out free right coupons to his passengers. 224 00:13:29.720 --> 00:13:32.560 I pretty much helped an alvertise, you know their company, 225 00:13:33.000 --> 00:13:35.640 leave what they did, They will give me pre business 226 00:13:35.640 --> 00:13:38.480 card we might call, so that call was good for 227 00:13:38.640 --> 00:13:41.120 twenty dollars free ride for customers. 228 00:13:41.480 --> 00:13:44.679 At the same time, Uber and Lyft were setting their 229 00:13:44.760 --> 00:13:48.280 sights on the state legislature. When they first hit the 230 00:13:48.280 --> 00:13:51.960 streets of California, they weren't following many of the existing 231 00:13:52.040 --> 00:13:54.160 regulations for the taxi industry. 232 00:13:54.600 --> 00:13:58.559 Uber and Lyft when they first started operating in San 233 00:13:58.559 --> 00:14:01.720 Francisco in two thousand two, well, they were operating illegally. 234 00:14:02.200 --> 00:14:06.480 They didn't have evidence of appropriate insurance for drivers or passengers. 235 00:14:06.840 --> 00:14:11.439 They were arguably operating as taxis, but without the regulations 236 00:14:11.480 --> 00:14:16.160 of taxis. So this California Public Utilities Commission actually stepped 237 00:14:16.200 --> 00:14:18.480 in and issued a cease and desist order. 238 00:14:19.240 --> 00:14:22.160 Vienna refers to a notice that was issued in November 239 00:14:22.200 --> 00:14:26.360 of twenty twelve. The Commission levied twenty thousand dollars fines 240 00:14:26.400 --> 00:14:30.080 on the startup companies, but their platforms continued to operate 241 00:14:30.160 --> 00:14:33.880 while they were in conversations with a commission. That same year, 242 00:14:34.360 --> 00:14:37.880 Uber had received around forty four million dollars from investors 243 00:14:38.360 --> 00:14:39.720 and was expanding globally. 244 00:14:40.040 --> 00:14:42.920 There was a massive outcry from the tech community, and 245 00:14:43.200 --> 00:14:45.880 later the cease and desist order and the citations were 246 00:14:45.920 --> 00:14:47.320 inexplicably lifted. 247 00:14:50.360 --> 00:14:53.000 About a month after issuing the cease and desist order, 248 00:14:53.120 --> 00:14:56.520 in January of twenty thirteen, the Commission dropped the fines. 249 00:14:57.280 --> 00:15:00.360 The state signed an agreement with Uber and Lyft that 250 00:15:00.480 --> 00:15:03.840 authorized them to operate throughout California as long as they 251 00:15:03.880 --> 00:15:07.880 follow some safety requirements, like performing background checks on drivers 252 00:15:08.160 --> 00:15:13.080 and having continued proof of insurance. Vena says both companies 253 00:15:13.200 --> 00:15:17.160 hire lobbyists and US government connections to challenge the cease 254 00:15:17.240 --> 00:15:21.480 and desist order and reach this new agreement. She says 255 00:15:21.840 --> 00:15:25.960 there was fear in state government that passing quote unquote 256 00:15:26.080 --> 00:15:30.680 anti tech legislation would coust the state jobs and opportunities. 257 00:15:30.960 --> 00:15:31.920 There was so much. 258 00:15:31.800 --> 00:15:35.520 Talk about innovation and technology in a real sense that 259 00:15:35.560 --> 00:15:38.520 if they were to do anything more than lightly regulate 260 00:15:38.560 --> 00:15:41.920 these companies, that they would be pushing back against innovation. 261 00:15:42.800 --> 00:15:46.520 Then, in September of that same year, California became the 262 00:15:46.640 --> 00:15:49.000 first state in the US to come up with new 263 00:15:49.080 --> 00:15:54.040 regulations for these app based right hailing services. The California 264 00:15:54.080 --> 00:15:59.440 Public Utilities Commission created an entirely new business category for them. 265 00:15:59.640 --> 00:16:03.280 They said, but these were transportation network companies. They created 266 00:16:03.320 --> 00:16:07.600 the sort of fiction of a new category of work 267 00:16:07.760 --> 00:16:11.280 based on the idea that you summoned the cars with 268 00:16:11.360 --> 00:16:15.600 an app, and they outsourced safety requirements to the companies, 269 00:16:15.720 --> 00:16:18.480 leaving them virtually to regulate themselves. 270 00:16:19.520 --> 00:16:22.680 Right hailing companies were able to keep drivers working as 271 00:16:22.720 --> 00:16:26.800 independent contractors, the spy drivers not being able to set 272 00:16:26.840 --> 00:16:30.320 their own wages, which contractors are usually supposed to be 273 00:16:30.360 --> 00:16:30.760 able to. 274 00:16:30.800 --> 00:16:30.880 Do. 275 00:16:32.120 --> 00:16:37.840 Instead, these companies secret ever changing algorithms determine driver's earnings. 276 00:16:38.440 --> 00:16:41.600 According to Venus Research, in just three years following the 277 00:16:41.640 --> 00:16:46.680 California Public Utilities Commission's decision, similar legislation cropped up in 278 00:16:46.760 --> 00:16:50.480 twenty states across the country, making it harder for local 279 00:16:50.520 --> 00:16:54.520 governments to regulate these companies and for workers to advocate 280 00:16:54.600 --> 00:16:59.920 for better working conditions. After working as a lift driver 281 00:17:00.160 --> 00:17:03.560 for just six months, Alvardo decided to quit his job 282 00:17:03.720 --> 00:17:04.879 at the car dealership. 283 00:17:05.200 --> 00:17:07.960 I was making more money driving for Live than working 284 00:17:07.960 --> 00:17:10.280 at the dealer, so I was like, why not just 285 00:17:10.320 --> 00:17:11.120 do this full time? 286 00:17:11.680 --> 00:17:15.720 Alvado was working twelve hour days, sometimes making between five 287 00:17:15.800 --> 00:17:20.639 hundred to six hundred dollars a day. In just four years, 288 00:17:20.920 --> 00:17:25.000 Alvado had saved one hundred and fifty thousand dollars. He 289 00:17:25.040 --> 00:17:28.399 invested the money and started his own car wash business. 290 00:17:28.560 --> 00:17:30.400 When I opened up the car watch, I feel proud 291 00:17:30.440 --> 00:17:32.680 of myself. I'm like, Okay, finally am I going to 292 00:17:32.720 --> 00:17:33.600 have my own business. 293 00:17:33.840 --> 00:17:37.679 Although Albado's car wash was going well, he continued driving 294 00:17:37.720 --> 00:17:41.520 on the weekends to cover his car expenses, But around 295 00:17:41.520 --> 00:17:45.200 twenty fourteen, he noticed that things started to change. 296 00:17:45.440 --> 00:17:48.520 When I started with Live, I was getting paid one 297 00:17:48.600 --> 00:17:51.920 dollar and sixty five cents poor mile, and. 298 00:17:51.840 --> 00:17:54.120 Then they lowered it to one dollar. 299 00:17:53.880 --> 00:17:56.639 And thirty five cents, and then they lowered it to 300 00:17:57.119 --> 00:17:59.360 one dollar, and then they lower it to eighty cents. 301 00:17:59.480 --> 00:18:02.680 Alvados says that he went from earning five hundred dollars 302 00:18:02.720 --> 00:18:05.720 after twelve hours of work back in twenty twelve to 303 00:18:05.800 --> 00:18:09.680 one hundred and fifty dollars four years later. He noticed 304 00:18:09.720 --> 00:18:12.719 that around that time a lot more drivers started joining 305 00:18:12.760 --> 00:18:17.119 the apps. Alberto had to deal with the same opkeep 306 00:18:17.640 --> 00:18:22.600 leads and insurance expenses, now with fewer wages. And it 307 00:18:22.680 --> 00:18:25.720 was also around that time that right prices for customers 308 00:18:25.760 --> 00:18:30.680 went up as Uber started introducing as searge pricing algorithm. 309 00:18:31.280 --> 00:18:34.240 Uber and Lyft began to take a larger commission for 310 00:18:34.280 --> 00:18:39.119 the driver's pay. Previously, it had been set at twenty percent, 311 00:18:39.640 --> 00:18:42.879 and sometimes it even reached zero to attract more drivers. 312 00:18:43.680 --> 00:18:46.680 But the new policy hit part time drivers the hardest 313 00:18:47.040 --> 00:18:49.520 because the companies would take more money from people who 314 00:18:49.520 --> 00:18:54.880 completed less than twenty rides in a week. And Alberto 315 00:18:55.000 --> 00:18:59.200 says he noticed another change. The app no longer let 316 00:18:59.240 --> 00:19:02.760 him identify by other drivers. He says that when he 317 00:19:02.880 --> 00:19:06.280 started with Lyft, drivers could see each other's first name 318 00:19:06.320 --> 00:19:09.639 and location on the app itself, but as the years 319 00:19:09.680 --> 00:19:12.320 went on, he says, the company began to see this 320 00:19:12.440 --> 00:19:16.960 function as a threat. Alberta said that if drivers could communicate, 321 00:19:17.240 --> 00:19:20.320 they would start talking about the wage cuts and start 322 00:19:20.359 --> 00:19:25.240 banding together. We asked Lyft about this and they said 323 00:19:25.280 --> 00:19:28.160 that in the early days of the company, drivers could 324 00:19:28.160 --> 00:19:31.840 see each other's cars on the platform alongside drivers first 325 00:19:31.920 --> 00:19:35.080 names too, so this made it easier for them to 326 00:19:35.080 --> 00:19:40.200 meet up spontaneously, but Lift discontinued that feature by twenty fifteen. 327 00:19:41.440 --> 00:19:44.240 The company didn't publicly explain why. 328 00:19:44.640 --> 00:19:49.280 So I'm like, why not create a Facebook group? But everybody, can, 329 00:19:49.400 --> 00:19:50.720 you know, stay together? 330 00:19:51.240 --> 00:19:54.639 Alberta says he's never been a shy person. He'd always 331 00:19:54.680 --> 00:19:57.520 talk to other drivers waiting for rides in parking lots 332 00:19:57.560 --> 00:19:58.760 and add them on Facebook. 333 00:19:58.880 --> 00:20:01.080 So I give them the link join my group and 334 00:20:01.119 --> 00:20:02.480 in buy other friends. 335 00:20:02.840 --> 00:20:05.600 At first, the group was like a forum where drivers 336 00:20:05.600 --> 00:20:08.800 could share tips and ask questions. If a driver knew 337 00:20:08.800 --> 00:20:11.280 of an event in the city where people would need rights, 338 00:20:11.320 --> 00:20:14.520 they could share it in the group. Drivers could ask 339 00:20:14.600 --> 00:20:17.160 questions like how do I cancel a ride or how 340 00:20:17.200 --> 00:20:18.359 do I call the passenger? 341 00:20:18.760 --> 00:20:20.800 When it's funny because I opened up the Facebook group 342 00:20:20.880 --> 00:20:24.520 and I started to do live videos telling drivers, Hey, listen, 343 00:20:24.520 --> 00:20:26.520 we've got to get together. We gotta fight with this 344 00:20:26.600 --> 00:20:28.320 company because they keep lowering their rate. 345 00:20:30.840 --> 00:20:34.199 As fairs started going down, the group became a space 346 00:20:34.240 --> 00:20:36.800 where drivers could talk about what they were going through. 347 00:20:37.520 --> 00:20:39.159 All school drivers like me. 348 00:20:40.000 --> 00:20:43.880 We put the time and money and effort to make 349 00:20:44.680 --> 00:20:46.520 Uber and Leave who they are right now. 350 00:20:47.240 --> 00:20:50.160 Without us Uber and Left, who wouldn't be there. 351 00:20:51.920 --> 00:20:55.720 Albody remembers doing video calls with fellow drivers and. 352 00:20:55.680 --> 00:20:59.080 You can hear on their boys that they're really mad drivers, 353 00:20:59.080 --> 00:21:01.560 that they spend so much money that they bought a 354 00:21:01.640 --> 00:21:04.520 brand new car just to drive for Lyft and Nuber 355 00:21:04.640 --> 00:21:08.200 and they're not making no money. I mean, that makes 356 00:21:08.280 --> 00:21:11.080 you feel sad, but at the same time, it's like, Okay, 357 00:21:11.119 --> 00:21:13.120 we need more people like this person, you know, who 358 00:21:13.160 --> 00:21:16.280 are like super passionate, you know, picking up and about 359 00:21:16.520 --> 00:21:17.440 fighting against this. 360 00:21:17.440 --> 00:21:25.680 Company coming up on Latin USA. While Albaro and other 361 00:21:25.840 --> 00:21:30.400 ride haling drivers see their wages slashed across the country, 362 00:21:30.840 --> 00:21:35.840 Uber and Lyft continue to grow, changing transportation habits across 363 00:21:35.880 --> 00:21:39.359 the country, and in order to fight for better working conditions, 364 00:21:39.880 --> 00:21:44.360 drivers create an app of their own. Stay with us, 365 00:21:44.480 --> 00:22:34.400 not us, Hey, we're back. Before the break, we met 366 00:22:34.400 --> 00:22:37.560 Alberto Bolinez, who has been driving for the Right Hail 367 00:22:37.640 --> 00:22:42.119 company lived since twenty twelve in Los Angeles. Money was 368 00:22:42.160 --> 00:22:44.200 good and he turned it into a full time job. 369 00:22:44.680 --> 00:22:48.320 But by twenty fifteen, Albaro and drivers across the nation 370 00:22:49.080 --> 00:22:53.280 began to see their wages slashed, so they started to 371 00:22:53.400 --> 00:22:59.800 organize and mobilize behind new pro worker legislation. Producer Juetro 372 00:23:00.440 --> 00:23:02.200 picks up the story from here. 373 00:23:05.680 --> 00:23:10.119 By twenty fifteen, Uber and Lyft had changed transportation across 374 00:23:10.160 --> 00:23:14.359 the country. That year, Uber doubled the number of active 375 00:23:14.440 --> 00:23:17.680 drivers on its platform in the US to over three 376 00:23:17.800 --> 00:23:21.880 hundred thousand, and it made one point seven billion dollars 377 00:23:21.880 --> 00:23:26.000 in revenue. The company also expanded their business to major 378 00:23:26.080 --> 00:23:32.400 cities in France, Canada, the UK, Mexico, several African countries, India, 379 00:23:32.440 --> 00:23:37.840 and China. Lyft, though smaller and only operating in the US, 380 00:23:38.320 --> 00:23:41.639 grew fivefold in rides in revenue from twenty fourteen to 381 00:23:41.720 --> 00:23:45.600 twenty fifteen. That year, the company was valued at five 382 00:23:45.640 --> 00:23:48.840 point five billion dollars and on track to make one 383 00:23:48.920 --> 00:23:53.960 billion dollars in gross revenue. Beyond even that, Uber and 384 00:23:54.000 --> 00:23:57.639 Lyft's success in deploying labor through an app had changed 385 00:23:57.640 --> 00:23:59.320 the face of several industries. 386 00:24:00.200 --> 00:24:03.680 Was the Uber of everything emerging? Everyone in Silicon Valley 387 00:24:03.720 --> 00:24:06.159 wanted to be the next Uber for their sectors. So 388 00:24:06.200 --> 00:24:10.000 there were companies that were the Uber of housekeeping, the 389 00:24:10.080 --> 00:24:13.960 Uber of babysitting, the Uber of warehouse work. 390 00:24:14.760 --> 00:24:18.239 Vina, the law professor we heard from earlier, says, all 391 00:24:18.280 --> 00:24:21.040 of these companies were following in the footsteps of the 392 00:24:21.119 --> 00:24:22.720 rideshare business model. 393 00:24:22.720 --> 00:24:25.720 And it was the same phenomenon. High wages at the beginning, 394 00:24:25.800 --> 00:24:29.119 and then we just were lowered low prices for consumers 395 00:24:29.160 --> 00:24:31.800 at the beginning, and then hidden fees started to appear 396 00:24:31.840 --> 00:24:32.840 and prices went up. 397 00:24:36.280 --> 00:24:39.880 Although Alvaro and many lift drivers were surprised when fair 398 00:24:39.960 --> 00:24:43.840 started to go down. Ivan Barro, a software developer from 399 00:24:43.840 --> 00:24:47.480 southern California who worked with startups in the tech industry, 400 00:24:47.760 --> 00:24:50.680 saw this coming and he wanted to do something about it. 401 00:24:51.520 --> 00:24:55.920