In mid-January, four out of seven unions signed a first agreement with the platforms to establish a minimum income but only per race, i.e. 7.65 euros net (the price for the customer is higher and includes commissions and taxes). Beginnings that are still too timid for the Union-Indépendants union, which wants to open a more global dialogue on the question of income.
He claims ” a guaranteed income that would allow VTCs to live with dignity “. It must go through “ the revaluation of horokilometric pricing “, insists Fabian Tosolini, national delegate of the Union-Indépendants union. This measurement makes it possible to calculate the price of a race according to the time spent and the kilometers traveled. Currently, the platforms pay between 1.05 euro and 1.20 euro per kilometer.
A first initiative that is not unanimous among drivers
« To reach a break-even point, we should be at 1.40 euros per kilometer on an eco range, for a sedan at 1.95 and for the van range, we should be at 2.50 », Estimates Brahim Ben Ali, general secretary of the union INV. He and his organization, which says it has 4,700 drivers, refuse to participate in union discussions because they dispute the terms.
Independent VTC drivers deserve better, he protests because ” the waste oil exploded by 40%, the tires the same thing, everything increased, how do we do it? “. He evokes there an initiativee of Le Cab which, since February 1, guarantees an income of 35 euros net per hour to drivers VTC using his app. “This is what allows a driver to earn a decent living “Once the charges, the price of gasoline and the vehicle have been deducted, estimates Yves Weisselberger, president of the platform.
« It would have been nice if we talked about it among ourselves rather than using this announcement as a com effect. “, lamented Fabian Tosolini, who explains that 35 euros are not enough to cover the costs in certain cases such as long waits at Roissy airport.
Working time difficult to assess
The general manager of Uber France Laureline Seyries recognizes that it is ” probable » that the question of income be “among the very next topics” addressed.
But there are many technical challenges in evaluating working time. ” When you’re in wait time on Uber, you may very well be taking a ride to another platform “, underlines the general manager of Uber France Seyries, making it impossible to take into account the waiting time. Uber has 32,000 drivers on its platform but estimates that three-quarters of them also use other apps.
Fabian Tosolini would like to see other parameters taken into account, such as ” the invoicing of additional services, for example baby seats, and above all, a fair compensation for the value of the data created by the races “, which only benefit the platforms for the moment.
For Uber, robust demand must reduce “drivers’ concern about the high cost of living”
Uber announced much better-than-expected results for the fourth quarter of 2022 last week, notably posting a profit at the end of the year. From October to December, the Californian company made a net profit of $595 million.
Commenting on these results, Dara Khosrowshahi, the boss of Uber, insisted that the still robust demand helped to reduce the anxiety of drivers over the high cost of living. ” Our drivers have told us that inflation is a factor they take into account “Assured the boss during a conference call with Wall Street analysts. ” About 70% of them come to the platform to earn more money so they can afford to live in an inflationary environment “, he added.
For Dan Ives, analyst at Wedbush Securities, “ Uber continues to see healthy growth as the supply of drivers appears stable, while the business continues to benefit from the resumption of travel, the return to the office and other post-pandemic trends that continue in major cities ».
(With AFP)