Uber : the drivers to suspend their movement – ladepeche.fr

The drivers of VTC decided yesterday, after a day of mobilization, to suspend their movement during the weekend of Christmas and are now waiting for concrete proposals of the booking platform Uber, which they deem the prices “outrageous”.

This truce will last “until Uber clarifies its position”, said a union official, in reference to the statements of the director general of the u.s. platform for the Western Europe, Thibaud Simphal. The latter said that Uber was “open to discussions as long as they relate to the sector as a whole”, and in this case, he assured, “we are ready to trim our profit margins.”

The drivers of VTC in asking that the u.s. platform accepts a return to the rates prior to October 2015 : 8 euros minimum for the race, compared to 6 currently, and 20% commission instead of 25% today. They also wish to bring the case to court in order to obtain a “reclassification of their contracts as Uber contracts of labour”.

After the failure on Tuesday of talks with Uber, the government has appointed a mediator to lead by 31 January to negotiate on four issues : the pricing, charges, social protection and the conditions of disconnection of the platforms.

To drop Uber, organizations of drivers have also called the VTC to disconnect heavily the platform and to join other applications.

Uber focused criticism because of its position very the majority on the market of applications involving the VTC and customers, and because, according to the unions, it “pulls the price down”. On Tuesday, Uber had refused to give way on prices, announcing in consideration the creation of a relief fund of two million euros, but no other information.

In a press release published yesterday, the French Federation of transport of people on a booking (FFTPR), which includes several other platforms such as private Driver, or Marcel, ensures “to consider concrete solutions in order to continue to offer drivers VTC working conditions and profitability to be satisfactory”, according to its president, Yves Weisselberger.