Union outcry forces rejection of Uber ‘women’s jobs’ plan

An outcry raised by a coalition of trade unions and civil society groups has led UN Women to disassociate itself from a partnership with ‘ride booking’ app provider Uber just over a week after its announcement. The unions and NGOs had acted speedily to persuade the United Nations organisation to reconsider a strategic partnership with the company that would supposedly create ‘a million’ jobs for women drivers.

The executive director of UN Women has publicly confirmed its decision (see http://goo.gl/WpByQ2), including to a trade union delegation visiting UN headquarters. The organisation has asked Uber to remove the partnership announcement from the company’s website.

Brigitta Paas, ITF (International Transport Workers’ Federation) vice president, commented: “There was an immediate rejection by unions and NGOs of this idea of a million jobs that we knew were likely to be insecure, ill paid, and potentially unsafe.

“We informed UN Women that although Uber says it operates in 55 countries around the world, almost 40 percent of national or local governments in those countries have said ‘no’ to the company one way or another.”

“We are heartened to see that the groundswell of opinion has paid off. UN Women has listened to our arguments and moved to disassociate itself from Uber and its plans.