Uber, union reach settlement in Ontario unionization case: UFCW Canada
Published May 6, 2022 at 6:19 pm
Uber Technologies Inc. has fought off a unionization attempt from Toronto drivers for its premium Uber Black service with a settlement it signed with the private sector union trying to represent the workers.
The United Food and Commercial Workers Union Canada says the settlement includes commitments from Uber to work with the union on advocacy, explore new rates for commercial insurance, spend more on marketing airport rides and increasingly involve drivers in product development.
Debora De Angelis, the union’s regional director of Ontario, says the two sides reached a resolution in the case because they realized they could agree on several issues and help each other without a ruling from the Ontario Labour Relations Board.
The board held hearings in 2020 to determine whether the 300 workers the union pursued the case on behalf of met the threshold of support needed to become the drivers’ bargaining agents, but De Angelis says the board had yet to issue a ruling when the settlement was reached.
Uber Canada did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the settlement.
De Angelis and the union first started pursuing the case in 2018, when an Uber Black service driver was seeking representation after his account on the Uber app had been deactivated over a trip cancellation issue.
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Uber Black drivers ferry customers around in premium cars, often making trips to and from Toronto Pearson International Airport and downtown Toronto.
— The Canadian Press
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