Source: Workers First Union
WHAT: Workers First Union Uber drivers will be rallying outside the Supreme Court on Tuesday morning as Uber’s appeal begins in Wellington over a 2022 Employment Court case that found four drivers had been misclassified as contractors rather than employees of the company.
WHEN: Tuesday 8 July, 09:00-09:30
WHERE: Outside the Supreme Court, 85 Lambton Quay, between Ballance & Whitmore Street, Wellington 6011
Dennis Maga, Workers First Union General Secretary, said that the Uber case, which had first been won by drivers in 2022, was the most significant employment case in recent New Zealand history and would have major ramifications for contractors and the ‘gig economy’.
“The Employment Court and the Court of Appeal have already ruled that Uber drivers should be entitled to real employment protections like a minimum wage, sick leave, and the right to bargain collectively with Uber over wages and conditions as they already have to do in many overseas jurisdictions,” said Mr Maga.
“Uber’s entire strategy is to misclassify themselves as a ‘tech company’ rather than a transport provider, to misclassify drivers as independent contractors, and to mislead politicians with bad faith arguments about “flexibility” to limit their responsibility to our country and economy.”
“Uber drivers deserve real employment protections, and we sincerely hope that the Supreme Court will scrutinise the company’s arguments carefully and reaffirm the standard set in the Employment Court’s original verdict.”
Mr Maga said hundreds of Uber drivers have joined Workers First since the Employment Court’s 2022 verdict and the union has lodged backpay claims for underpaid wages and leave on their behalf.
Background information
- A new report released this week by the Centre for International Corporate Tax Accountability and Research (CICTAR) and commissioned by Workers First Union, argues that Uber appears to be shifting hundreds of millions in misclassified profits out of New Zealand, costing the country millions in tax revenue.
- For a timeline of the judicial process following the original Employment Court verdict on the case of the four Uber drivers, please see the union’s past media release on the Court of Appeal’s dismissal of Uber’s appeal.
