Drivers with Uber, Official Super Bowl Partner, Plan Super Bowl Strike

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Source: SF Weekly

Super Bowl 50 arrives bearing gifts for San Francisco. Hometown hero Uber, for example, is an official partner of the Big Game — which, according to Super Bowl Host Committee spokesman Nathan Ballard, means that Uber drivers can use taxi stands when ferrying passengers to and from the various events in Super Bowl City, U.S.A., including the parties in San Francisco and the game itself at Levi's Stadium.

That's a nice perk for Uber drivers, some of whom are organizing to make sure no driver takes advantage of it. 

Some of the organizers of yesterday's protest of Uber HQ — demonstrated, but the first one to earn national press — in which 200 or so Uber drivers circled from City Hall to Uber's 1455 Market Street offices and back honking horns, are trying to get as many Uber drivers as possible off of the road before Sunday. 

It's an Uber Super Bowl strike, a show of driver solidarity in the months leading up to the pivotal court decision on whether Uber drivers are employees or contractors. Will it work? Can it work?

Uber drivers say that working conditions, in a word, suck. After the company takes its cut, and after drivers cover their costs including gas and maintenance on their cars, hourly wages fall as low as $8, they say.

To fix this, Uber drivers are presenting succinct demands: fair pay, good hours, and recognition that the $60 billion company is treating its people — or, of course, its contractors — poorly. 

To get the point across, a select cadre of drivers — some of the 200 who descended on Uber HQ and on City Hall — are vowing to shut down the service over Super Bowl weekend.

The timing is auspicious. If Uber shuts down with many famous and well-heeled visitors in town, it could go a long way to damaging the company's image — and perhaps could shame the company into addressing the clear issue with the working conditions for its contractors. 

Uber, meanwhile, appears to be taking note. According to one of the protest organizers, a man who gave his name as Mario, Uber has shut down his account and other accounts of "partners" organizing against the company.

But will it work? How many drivers will take part — and will users give a shit? 

Drivers did not respond to requests for comment from SF Weekly on Tuesday. Though in comments on social media posts, one self-identified Uber driver said he'd be happy to take the customers left hanging by his striking co-contractors.