The New Song from London on Uber Drivers

The Uber ruling in the UK where the Supreme Court noted that Uber drivers are indeed workers, not independent contractors, is a new opening for nations to arrest the challenge of workers’ casualization and gig economy. This should go beyond transportation to other sectors like banking, insurance and even technology where people are measured and expected to perform, but at the end, the safety net of livable wage is not there. 

Uber will have to treat its U.K. drivers as workers, meaning it will have to pay them minimum wage and give them paid leave, following a Supreme Court ruling that also said drivers are working whenever they’re logged into the app, not just when they’re driving passengers. The ruling will likely have major implications for the gig economy in the U.K. Uber’s share price fell 3.6% on the news. (Fortune newsletter)

Why we want affordable pick and drop cabs, we need to have this obligation that abstraction of living wages, to make the 1% richer will never advance communities. Yes, I believe that we cannot be minting millionaires at the back of men and women who cannot pay rents, health insurance, etc, even when working more than 40 hours a week. That economic virus needs a vaccine and that means make companies pay them better!

The United Kingdom’s Supreme Court has reaffirmed earlier rulings that the Uber drivers who brought the case — which dates back to 2016 — are workers, not independent contractors.

“Drivers are in a position of subordination and dependency in relation to Uber such that they have little or no ability to improve their economic position through professional or entrepreneurial skill,” the court said in a statement. “In practice the only way in which they can increase their earnings is by working longer hours while constantly meeting Uber’s measures of performance.”

Uber, while acknowledging the decision, emphasized that it applies to the specific group of drivers who brought the case, many of whom are no longer driving through the app. (Techcrunch newsletter)

This ruling is a right move and Nigeria needs to pick it to ensure our industries are not built on excessive casual workers. Aggregators cannot have it all ways – build empires on the strength of others, from news to driving to everything. 

London Court Ruled Uber Drivers Should be Classified as Workers

Register for Tekedia Mini-MBA (Feb 10 - May 3, 2025), and join Prof Ndubuisi Ekekwe and our global faculty; click here.