|
FACT CHECK!
Fact Check #1
IDG: “(Int 276)…threatens the hard-fought grievance process that protects drivers..”
TRUTH: Int. 276 does not require that IDG stop or even change whatever grievance process they may already have.
IDG - and any drivers who want to! - can still use it and all drivers will also get the benefits of notice before a deactivation and an explanation about why they were deactivated.
Fact Check #2
IDG: “(Int 276) is a direct attack on organized labor and the protections we’ve won..”
TRUTH: How was the “grievance process” won?
IDG has been “significantly funded” by Uber, which agreed to set up a driver appeal process back in 2016.
After eight years, there is very little public information about this process, and it is unclear what standard drivers have to meet to get reactivated.
Int. 276, on the other hand, includes clear, transparent standards the company must meet for a deactivation to be valid, and the companies must prove what they say happened.
Fact Check #3
IDG: “..current driver-led system…”
TRUTH: How is the IDG process driver-led? Uber’s website says Uber gets the final say about who can participate in IDG’s process.
Uber says that “determination of eligibility” to participate in the appeal process “will be determined by Uber on a case-by-case basis.”
Meanwhile, Int. 276 allows all deactivations to be challenged.
Fact Check #4
IDG: “80% of drivers deactivated by Uber or Lyft who come to us get back to work – most within a week.”
TRUTH: Unfortunately, every driver knows that a real firing doesn’t get resolved in a week, if it ever does. However, Uber says most of its deactivations are because of issues like expired paperwork, which can be resolved in a week, by simply uploading the right documents. Is that who is being counted in IDG’s email?
Fact Check #5
IDG: “The city bill would let Uber and Lyft off the hook and replace this with a weaker process run by a city agency that leaves drivers to fend for themselves.”
TRUTH: Int 276 does not let Uber or Lyft off the hook -- in fact, it puts the burden of proving they deactivated drivers for a fair reason on Uber and Lyft!
IDG doesn’t say anything about the details of their process or why it’s stronger than Int. 276, and information about IDG’s process and its legal standards are not public. For example, Uber often says safety-related or “zero-tolerance” deactivations are ineligible for appeal–but there is no clear guidance on what that means, and when drivers even have a right to begin this process.
What we do know is that Int. 276:
- Will require the companies to give you notice before they deactivate you in most cases, so you can try to resolve the issue before you get deactivated.
- Will require the companies to try to resolve the issue with you quickly, before the hearing process, if you choose.
- Creates a clear and transparent standard for what the companies have to do and prove before they fire you.
- Gives you several different ways to appeal the deactivation, through arbitration, going to court, or working with the city agency to file a complaint, so you can choose what works best for you.
- Has strong penalties, including backpay (getting paid back for money that you lost while you were deactivated if you win your case).
Fact Check #6
IDG: “Worse yet, the city bill has a loophole that would let Uber and Lyft force drivers to “opt out” of any appeals process at all!”
TRUTH: IDG is lying. There is no loophole where Uber and Lyft can “opt out” of an appeal.
The only way for the companies to avoid an appeal is for you to reach an agreement–like getting back to work on the app– with the companies before the appeal begins.
If you don’t like the agreement the company offers before the appeal, you just say no and go to the appeal process! Getting you back to work as soon as possible without waiting for an arbitration or a trial is not a loophole.
Fact Check #7
IDG: Drivers would be forced into a complex, two-tiered system run by the Department of Consumer and Worker Protection DCWP, leaving most without proper representation, especially those unfamiliar with city bureaucracy.
TRUTH: Drivers won’t be forced into anything–you will get to choose to deal with your deactivation however you want, including through whatever IDG’s current process is.
You will still have the right to representation, and there is simply no two-tiered system. Every driver has been subject to an unfair deactivation or knows someone who has been.
The current IDG process, whatever it is, is simply not enough to protect drivers.
Why would a group that says it advocates for drivers be spreading lies about a bill that will give more rights to drivers, while leaving whatever process they currently have untouched?
Click here to see Int 276
https://legistar.council.nyc.gov/LegislationDetail.aspx?ID=6557685&GUID=B1AD10BE-3B1B-4782-8AE8-65B9C1E20563
| 
