Markeshia Ricks Photo
A company that is changing the way people get around is teaming up with the local branch of the NAACP, The WorkPlace and the Workforce Alliance to connect people with a way to make an income.
Officials from the company, Uber Connecticut, and the state and local NAACP gathered at local NAACP headquarters on Whalley Avenue Tuesday to announce the launch of Uber’s Urban Partnership, also known as UberUP.
The tech company — which enables people to summon rides with a smartphone — will be working with the NAACP to offer information sessions, skill-building courses and workshops with potential drivers all across the state with hopes of increasing the number of people working with the company.
Scot X. Esdaile (pictured above), president of the Connecticut NAACP, said that many of the factory jobs that people moved to urban centers like New Haven for have disappeared, so people are in dire need of a way to put food on the table.
“I was a branch president for seven years, and I know what it’s like to get those calls from people looking for work,” he said. “We are striving to move the needle on employment for our people.”
Uber has announced similar programs in other cities including Boston, Pittsburgh and Raleigh, N.C.
The San Francisco-based company has a goal of attracting 50,000 new drivers, even as it faces challenges from states trying to figure out how to regulate the service that connects people who need a ride, to drivers that can provide it for a fee. (Read about how the company has fared in Connecticut here.)
It is yet to be seen how a recent California state court ruling that Uber drivers are employees of the company and entitled to certain benefits such as reimbursement for driving related expenses, rather than independent subcontractors, will impact how the company does business. (Read more about that here.)
Dori Dumas (pictured), Greater New Haven NAACP branch president, said that a joint report published earlier this year found that access to transportation is one of the contributing factors to chronic, long-term unemployment in New Haven. (Read about that report here.) She said the partnership and its potential for job creation was exciting.
Matt Powers (pictured), Uber’s general manager for the state, said that the tech company is looking to add 1,500 new drivers to its Connecticut driver rolls by the end of the year.
Uber currently has about 700 drivers in Greater New Haven. Powers said that the announcement was made in New Haven Tuesday because of the potential Uber sees in the city. He called the partnership with the NAACP ideal because of the number of chapters and community networks the organization has all over the state.
Snake-Oil and Three card monte being sold.The NAACP better do there home work on Uber
San Francisco, L.A. Sue Uber For Allegedly Misleading Consumers On Drivers' Safety, Other Issues
By Ashlee Kieler December 10, 2014
http://consumerist.com/2014/12/10/san-francisco-l-a-sue-uber-for-allegedly-misleading-consumers-on-drivers-safety-other-issues/
Portland Sues To Get Rid Of Uber Just Days After Car Service Arrives In The City
By Mary Beth Quirk December 9, 2014
http://consumerist.com/2014/12/09/portland-sues-to-get-rid-of-uber-just-days-after-car-service-arrives-in-the-city/
Uber must face lawsuit over 'gratuity' surcharge
Uber Technologies, the smartphone-summoned car service, must face a consumer lawsuit challenging its 20% gratuity surcharge on rides, handing the embattled company its latest setback as the nascent industry faces legal attack in the U.S. and Europe.
Uber retains "a substantial portion" of the gratuity as additional revenue rather than giving it to drivers, according to a complaint this year by an Illinois resident who accused the ride-share company of misleading customers about the true cost of its service. The lawsuit seeks group status on behalf of Uber users.Uber and Lyft were accused of racketeering in a May lawsuit filed in federal court in Connecticut by taxi and livery operators accusing the ride-share services of preying on established businesses and cutting legal corners to operate there. Spokeswomen from both companies said those allegations are without merit.
http://www.freep.com/story/money/cars/2014/09/19/uber-must-face-lawsuit-gratuity-surcharge/15848761/
Even across the gobal
An Uber Service Is Banned in Germany Again.
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/03/19/technology/germany-frankfurt-uber-ruling-taxi.html?_r=0
I am starting to Smell Mackreal.