Uber Drivers Who Want Stock Should Protest at the SEC
Sure, the company could do more to help the people “at the heart” of their service. But the gig economy also needs a change in securities regulation.
Take the posters to Washington, too.
Photographer: Justin Sullivan/Getty ImagesUber Technologies Inc. is going public Friday, and the drivers are up in arms. In San Francisco, some 300 people — drivers and other protesters — gathered Wednesday in front of Uber’s headquarters. In London, many drivers went on a daylong strike. Atlanta, Chicago, New York and Melbourne, Australia, are among the cities that saw some form of driver protest ahead of Uber’s long-awaited IPO.
And really, can you blame them? On Friday, when the company begins offering shares to the public, there will be dozens — maybe hundreds — of Uber’s white-collar employees who will become instant millionaires, the result of owning pre-IPO stock or stock options. That stock was part of their compensation — a lure to join the company in the first place, and then a reward for all their hard work in making Uber a success. This pot of gold at the end of the rainbow is an important reason people go to work for startups.