Food and Commercial Workers contracts new work with Uber
Is it a union application, or a service contract for UFCW?
United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) have announced that Uber drivers in Victoria, British Columbia have collected enough signatures to apply for certification. Language is the UFCW release is ambiguous enough to leave readers uncertain as to whether UFCW has applied for certification or not, as it indicates organizers “have secured enough card support for the B.C. Labour Relations Board to order a union certification vote.”
Taxi News has asked UFCW for a copy of the application to BC’s Labour Board and the date on which it was submitted.
Industry observers are skeptical of UFCW’s role in Uber/driver relations as a “union.” In fact, in 2022 the UFCW signed an agreement with Uber corporately which is not a “union” in any sense.
“The corporate agreement that they have is just to simply allow them to have a single entity managing disputes, so that drivers don’t have to run around and get their own lawyer to dispute a deactivation,” says George Wedge, president of the Rideshare Drivers Association of Ontario. “It makes the arbitration process less expensive for Uber, that’s all it does.
The corporate agreement between UFCW and Uber was announced with great fanfare in 2022, to the confusion of consumers and media who believe it meant Uber drivers had formed a union. In fact, the 2022 agreement allowed Uber to create a list of approved legal advocates who represent drivers who have been de-platformed by Uber in their fight to get reinstated.
Uber confirms this in a statement which reads, “Three years ago, UFCW Canada and Uber Canada came together to sign a landmark agreement that offers drivers and delivery people representation services and advocates for labour reforms across the country.”
“This is not a union. These are not unionized drivers,” Wedge emphasizes.
