To Brígida Pérez, the coronavirus lowered her income by 90-95% as the host of the shared service company UberBut he is also concerned that they do not give him protection equipment against the pandemic.
“I have stopped carrying passengers to dedicate myself to only food deliveries and supermarket purchases. I'm making half of what I was before the virus, ”says this mother of four, who has been working for Uber for two years.
It now provides the service for Ubereats and at least three more home grocery and grocery delivery companies that operate via apps.
"When I asked Uber if I could stay at home to avoid exposing my children, they told me that as independent contractors we don't qualify for unemployment.Brígida points out.
So the need to bring livelihood home has forced her to continue working 12 hours a day. "I am afraid to infect my children, but I have no other choice," he says.
Many times they have to wait up to an hour in line to buy the food they order to bring to families who cannot leave their homes. “My 14-year-old son tells me that I don't want it anymore. Why don't you hug me anymore? ”He asks me.
He also criticized Uber for not giving them masks and gloves to protect themselves. "You can ask for them but they don't come. I have had to buy them on Amazon, 50 masks for $ 25. ”
Drivers of carpooling companies like Brígida sent a letter to Los Angeles City Attorney Mike Feuer asking them to enforce the Worker Protection Order issued by Mayor Eric Garcetti, which requires provide employers with cloth masks, disinfectants, and access to toilets for essential service workers during the pandemic.
"Restaurant and supermarket food delivery drivers are essential”Said Coral Itzcalli, spokesperson for the Alliance of Mobile Workers (MWA).
He points out that workers like Brígida are exposed to contagion when they go shopping in supermarkets.
“There they bump into and rub against other people. These companies are taking advantage of the system that gives no benefits to independent contractors, and does not provide unemployment or face masks to protect themselves. ”
Brígida says she can earn between $ 12 and $ 15 in a period of one to two hours. “We are not making even the minimum hourly wage. Hence we have to put for gasoline, maintenance and insurance of the car. "
Coral adds that companies' failure to protect their workers and the general public by not complying with the Worker Protection Order occurs at critical moments in which California has faced the week with the highest number of deaths from the coronavirus. .
"Uber is not committed to guaranteeing masks for all drivers," he stresses.
Deborah Garcia, a full-time Uber driver, says most of her trips in the past few weeks have been to transport health professionals who are on the front line of care to COVID-19.
"I am incredibly vulnerable to infection. Carriers love to say that their drivers are heroes, but it infuriates me that they don't use even a small amount of their billions to keep their drivers safe and sound. ”
The opinion Awaits a response from Uber to requests and complaints from its drivers.
Less than half
Georgina Bernal González, who has been driving Uber for five years, acknowledges that she has been doing poorly since the pandemic began.
"Before the coronavirus, he earned an average of $ 100 for driving five hours a day. A week later, he took me $ 500 home. I was doing super well. Right now, it took me between $ 30 and $ 45. One day I earned just $ 11, ”he says.
"I am retired, I drive Uber to entertain myself, but for those who only have this income, it must be very difficult with the pandemic and without being able to receive unemployment."
Georgina says that with the COVID-19, travel has been reduced to transporting people over very short distances.
"The trips are to the supermarket, to collect food, and to the pharmacy. Now we have many passengers who are "kids" who work in fast food businesses, or people who work in factories. They are people who did not use Uber before. ”
Actually, consider that "no trip is worth it today. I say wow! when I earn seven dollars for taking someone"
Getting the coronavirus doesn't worry you. “He did give my Uber masks and gloves. They arrive a week after I order them; and almost all passengers get on well protected with masks and gloves. They open the rear window. People are aware. It also helps that the collective trips of several people have been suspended. ”
