Uber drivers in Victoria got a union contract. What does it mean for rideshare workers across Canada?

Amninder Singh has been impulsive an Uber in queen victoria for deuce years and says it put up be a stressful endeavour. He has faced racialism from riders as well as false complaints.

But after unionizing last year, Singh and more than 1,000 drivers in the B.C. Capital approved a collective contract on April 28 between the United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) Local 1518 and ride-hailing giant Uber.

Uber drivers in Victoria now get signing and quarterly bonuses based on the number of rides completed, a five per cent yearly increase on some fees, $500 for health benefits and a formal dispute resolution process. The contract — which does not cover delivery workers, like Uber Eats drivers — will last for four years. 

For Singh, the new agreement contract is "kind of peace of mind."

The fight for an Uber union in Canada has been years in the making.

Drivers have reported working long hours but being paid less than minimum wage. They've also experienced harassment from riders and in some cases had their accounts mistakenly deactivated, leaving them without work. They have demanded higher wages, representation for labour disputes and better working conditions.

The new contract is "ground-breaking, because it is a very challenging sector to organize," said Michael Wright, a labour lawyer with Toronto-based Wright Henry LLP. 

Victoria's drivers are the first in Canada to get a union contract with Uber, but advocates say there's no guarantee it will pave the way for the broader unionization of rideshare workers across the country.

What it means now that Victoria's Uber drivers have voted to unionize | Hanomansing Tonight

"This is part of an ongoing process as we learn what works best for drivers, balancing flexibility with representation and tailored benefits," said Laura Miller, Uber Canada's head of public policy and communications.

The agreement has shown that Uber drivers have the "unambiguous" right to unionize, says Patrick Johnson, president of UFCW Local 1518, which represents Victoria drivers. 

"That alone sets a massive precedent." 

The collective agreement in Victoria echoes deals between Uber and unions in the United Kingdom and Australia.

Ridesharing services have been resistant to driver unionization because they present themselves as a platform for drivers, and not an employer, according to Fife Ogunde, a lawyer with the Saskatchewan government who has researched platform work in Canada.

Drivers who are unionized or considered employees would be entitled to employment rights and benefits.

"Someone would have to bear those costs," he said.

Johnson said he supports drivers around British Columbia and Canada looking to unionize but emphasized that the "big first step is making this work in Victoria."

Rideshare drivers' push for labour protections is far from over in most of Canada.

Victoria drivers were able to unionize because of a 2023 change in B.C.'s Employment Standards Act that considered online platform workers employees rather than independent contractors, according to Wright.

"The legislative change there was critical," he said.

Elsewhere in Canada, there have been "musings but little action" in amending legislation to classify rideshare workers as employees, he said. 

Without that legislation, it's possible to unionize but it's a longer and more costly process, said Wright, who has been representing Ontario Uber drivers arguing they are employees of the ridesharing app in a years-long class-action lawsuit.

He said that in many cases, including the Ontario class action, Uber has argued it does not employ the drivers and merely connects them to clients.

Organizing rideshare workers is hard because nobody knows exactly how many there are in a given city or where they are, said Singh, who was a member of the bargaining committee for Victoria's drivers.

To reach the city's Uber drivers, Singh said his team ultimately had to order Uber rides, send messages into a local WhatsApp group for drivers and visit places where Uber drivers congregate, like the airport, the ferry and Tesla charging stations.

Reaching union status could be even more difficult in bigger cities with more drivers, according to Earla Phillips, who drives for Uber in Toronto and is a co-founder of the advocacy group Rideshare Drivers Association of Ontario. 

There have been conversations about unionization among rideshare workers in Canada's largest city but there hasn't been a concerted push, because time spent organizing costs drivers precious earnings, said Phillips.

She is actually critical of the union contract in Victoria, saying that it "lacks substance" and that the bonuses are an "incentive" for drivers to move closer to full-time work. But Phillips sees small positives for rideshare workers seeking labour protections.

"The historic thing that stands out for me is that they managed to get Uber to sit at a bargaining table."

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