Toronto drivers for Uber Technologies Inc.’s premium Black service are fighting to bring themselves one stop closer to unionization.
The United Food and Commercial Workers Union is representing Uber Black limousine and SUV drivers working in and out of Toronto Pearson International Airport and downtown Toronto at a virtual Ontario Labour Relations Board hearing.
The union applied for unionization in January on behalf of 300 of those workers and believes it has met the threshold of support needed to gain certification as the official bargaining agent of the drivers.
Uber told the Canadian Press that the benchmark is 40 per cent of the Black service drivers, a number which it disputes has been met.
The union believes the board’s decision could help gig workers driving for Uber get recognized as employees of the popular ride-hailing app.
Their battle comes after Foodora shut down in Canada in May, months after the board ruled the food delivery app’s workers more closely resemble employees than independent contractors.
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