I hope Uber can succeed in taking a stand on this. Tips are terrible for both consumers and workers; the only beneficiaries are the employers, who get away with underpaying their employees. And most of the world agrees. Why is North America so slow to realise this?
I don't understand why this is an issue for the courts rather than one for the market. If you can make more money not driving for Uber, don't drive for Uber?
I am amazed by the well, anti-union, line being taken here.<p>Über is just trying to break into a regulated industry - and that means breaking regulations.<p>Regulations are usually what is imposed after the fight is over - and taxis have gone thru a long period of controversy, legal disputes and often criminal behaviour to get where the regulations are now.<p>Über will cause some change (285m will guarantee that) but in the end there will be new regulations cementing the status quo. And since everyone realises there will be a new status quo, everyone who has a brain will pile in now and make sure their slice of the pie is as big as possible at the end.<p>Über does not deserve to win just because it started the fight.
People love Uber because it's disruptive and it's better than taxis. But, the future is not Uber. The future is any car owner becoming a taxi. I have a ride; you need a ride. Why shouldn't this be? There can be services that track reputations of both drivers and passengers and travel arrangements can be taken care of through a central service as well. Taxi monopolies are archaic and need to die. Uber is a transitional service but it is certainly not the final answer to the current way of things.
I have a lot of friends who work in the service industry. All of them complain about their tips being skimmed off credit card transactions by the owner. Every single one.<p>Tips = Commission. Stop conflating it with a bonus for kissing your ass. It's an incentive to hustle and get orders filled.
I've noticed many companies have this "tips included" built into the price which I think is a poor practice. Tips are supposed to be a way to reward excellent service and incentivize the employee to work hard. Having worked in a restaurant for 6 years I always tip well but I can say that honestly, I've had several experiences where the person didn't earn a tip. If you're going to include tips into the price, just pay them a flat salary and be done with because a mandatory tip isn't a tip at all, it's a surcharge.
The system seems completely transparent and unequivocal. If contractors sign up knowing that there are no tips, then there is no logical reason for them to expect tips.