GMB

Campaigns

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  Uber UK: Stop driving down workers' rights

  19 Uber drivers, with the backing of their union GMB, have won a landmark case against the app-enabled taxi firm, who have refused to give drivers basic employment rights. Uber have announced they will appeal the decision however, so this fight looks to have a long (and costly) way yet to go. This legal case has exposed the dark side of the so called 'gig economy'. For many the gig economy is a rigged economy, where bosses weasel out of paying living wages. Or providing basics like paid holiday time. If you are a ‘self-employed’ driver at Uber you are virtually a slave to app. Miss a job alert and you can be “deactivated” without appeal. Fail to keep up your rating and you can be cast aside at any moment. “I guarantee you one thing, Uber don’t see drivers as humans.” Driver Ruman Miah told the Guardian. Being kept on a leash of a self-serving app is not most people’s definition of self-employment. Genuinely self-employed contractors can refuse jobs, set their own hours and sub-contract work to others. But if you work for Uber you enjoy none of the freedoms of self-employment, and none of the security of regular employment - both ways you lose. It’s not surprising that many feel powerless and unable to speak out. Whilst Uber are denying workers some basic employment rights, they’re also ducking these drivers’ National Insurance contributions. It’s taking millions of pounds from the Exchequer, but it also means drivers lose access to many important benefits if they need them. Technological change should be a force for good. But increasingly it is being used to control and exploit workforces, and cheat them out of decent wages. Uber can’t have it both ways. They should accept the tribunal verdict, drop the appeal, and either give their workers decent employment rights, or give them the freedoms of genuine self-employment.

  7,284 of 8,000 Signatures

  Created by GMB Campaigns
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  Keep Uber’s drivers and passengers safe

  Last year GMB won a landmark employment tribunal against Uber, which ruled that its drivers were not self-employed contractors but employed workers - and were therefore entitled to the national minimum wage, sickness and holiday pay. This important case has major implications for more than 30,000 drivers across England and Wales. Many of our drivers are working long hours for less than national minimum wage in order to try and make ends meet. Drivers working excessive hours is bad for drivers, bad for passengers and bad for Londoners. Uber refuses to accept they're an employer and has appealed. That means they still refuse to pay their drivers a living wage, give paid rest breaks or abide by laws that limit the number of hours they work. It's wrong for Uber not to live up to its responsibilities, and none of us wants worn-out drivers on our roads. Transport for London (TfL) is in charge of renewing Uber’s 5 year license to operate in London, and they're going to make a decision on it this summer. Today, GMB, the union for Uber drivers, has called on TfL not to renew the license unless Uber guarantee safe working practices and basic employment rights. Together we can remind TfL of their obligations to all Londoners and not just to Uber's powerful lobbyists. Sign the petition to tell TfL to keep Uber drivers and passengers safe.

  9,779 of 10,000 Signatures

  Created by GMB Campaigns
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  Amazon.co.uk: Work with GMB to get temp workers a decent job

  Amazon offers "jobs of last resort" to the communities where they build their warehouses, currently Inverclyde, Dunfermline, Swansea, Rugeley, Bedford, Peterborough, Hemel Hempstead, Doncaster and Croydon. They employ tens of thousands of people, mostly on temporary contracts and at arm’s length through agencies. Most of the time, according to GMB members, Amazon is not helping people off benefits and into work permanently - their employment practices lock people into the revolving door of low paid temporary work and Job Seekers Allowance - making already hard hit towns and communities even poorer. In Amazon the National Minimum Wage (NMW) has become the maximum wage for most staff, who cannot get enough hours of work and live in fear of losing their job. Few Amazon staff can make ends meet without claiming ‘in work’ benefits while they work for Amazon. According to a survey of Amazon staff: 91% would not recommend working for Amazon to a friend. 70% of staff felt they were given disciplinary points unfairly. 89% felt exploited. 78% felt their breaks were too short 71% reported they walked more than 10 miles a day at work. GMB - the trade union for Amazon staff - is campaigning with local communities, tax justice groups and Amazon staff to make sure the company makes its full contribution to rebuilding the UK economy - both by paying wages its staff can live on and by paying its taxes. In the last three tax years for which information is known Amazon has paid only £4.24 million tax on £10.82 billion sales: a tax rate of less than 0.5%. Yet at the moment Amazon is heavily subsidised by taxpayers in three ways: 1. Through the Tax Credits and Housing Benefit their staff have to claim to make ends meet due to their low wages and short term jobs 2. Through the millions of pounds in grants they get from national and local government to build roads, street lighting and land clearance every time they build a new warehouse. 3. Through their exploitation of tax loopholes that means they pay Corporation Tax at a fraction of the rate their low paid staff pay. GMB say it's time to end the something for nothing culture - It's time Amazon paid their way. We urge all staff at Amazon to join GMB to protect their job, get back up when they need it and join our campaign for better pay, secure working hours and a safe workplace. We're campaigning to ensure Amazon: > Allows staff access to GMB where they work to get the employment advice and back up they need > Pays a fairer wage so that its staff don't have to claim ‘in work’ benefits > Provide more permanent contracts of employment with enough hours of work for families to have the security the need > Improves its approach to safety and long term health at work to protect employees from the effects of its work practices > Pays its taxes > Acts responsibly towards the local communities it disrupts with its activities

  9,745 of 10,000 Signatures

  Created by GMB campaigns