UFCW files ULP application at the labour board after latest Uber move detours Toronto-area union drive

Toronto – February 11, 2021 – After an about-face move that undermines the union drive by Toronto-area Uber limousine drivers, UFCW Canada has filed an Unfair Labour Practice (ULP) application with the Ontario Labour Relations Board. The ULP was filed on Monday, after Uber introduced a new service in the Toronto-area called Premier – competing with its own Uber Black limousine service and marginalizing, if not eliminating, the work at issue in the organizing campaign.

“This is a clear indication that Uber refuses to play by the rules while believing they are beyond reproach,” says Pablo Godoy, National Coordinator of Gig and Platform-Employer Initiatives at UFCW Canada. “Uber drivers chose to unionize precisely because decisions are made that affect their lives without their consultation, much less consent.

With the filing of the ULP, the drivers are optimistic that the labour board will use its powers to hold Uber accountable for its contravention of the law, and for Uber’s ongoing attempts to ignore the legitimacy of the drivers’ hard-fought organizing campaign.

“It does not surprise me that Uber continues to undermine our right to union recognition,” says Ejaz Butt, a Toronto-area Uber Black limousine driver and member of the union. “What does surprise me is our government’s failure to act. Hopefully that changes with our ULP filing.”

Since launching the Uber Divers United (www.ufcw.ca/uber ) campaign in 2019, UFCW has become the leading voice for ride-hailing drivers in Canada, signing up hundreds of Uber Black drivers in Toronto and spearheading organizing efforts in British Columbia, as well as other parts of the country. To learn more about the campaign to bring justice and fairness to Uber and other ride-hailing drivers, visit UFCW’s Uber Drivers United website (www.ufcw.ca/uber).