Good morning. Uber drivers in Victoria scored a historic contract, but the fight over wages continues – more on that below, along with generic Ozempic’s long-awaited arrival and the murder charges against Cuba’s former president Raúl Castro. But first:
Today’s headlines
- The family of a plasma donor who died calls for an investigation over inconsistencies in government reports and her autopsy record
- Search intensifies for missing 14-year-old Toronto girl
- UCP bid to add secession question to Alberta’s fall referendum stalls amid procedural dispute
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In Toronto, there are now nearly 33,000 rideshare drivers on the road.Laura Proctor/The Globe and Mail
Labour
Along for the ride
Uber drivers in Victoria have something now that no other gig workers in North America do: an honest-to-goodness collective agreement, nine months after they successfully voted to unionize.
It took much bargaining between the ride-hailing giant and United Food and Commercial Workers, which represents more than 1,000 Uber drivers across Greater Victoria. But on April 28, the drivers ratified their first union contract, a four-year agreement that provides extra cash plus a wellness fund. After 50 rides, drivers can claim a $250 signing bonus; after 750, they’ll receive quarterly bonuses of $600. UFCW also negotiated an annual 5-per-cent bump in the fees drivers get whenever passengers are late or cancel, along with $500 each year for sick days and benefits.
“This is a really big deal,” Vanmala Subramaniam, The Globe’s future of work reporter, told me. Gig workers in Canada fall into a sort of employment grey area: not quite independent contractors, who can set their own rates and terms, but not full employees, either, with workplace standards and rights. “So the fact that these Uber drivers have formed a union, where they have UFCW representation, and where there’s an actual contract that lays out the terms for any dispute – it gives them an advantage over non-unionized gig workers.”
Ruled in
In large part, Subramaniam said, the Victoria drivers benefited from B.C.’s more progressive rules about gig workers, including legislation that essentially classifies them as semi-employees. Under the province’s 2024 Employment Standards Act, rideshare and food-delivery drivers are entitled to basic labour protections, as well as compensation for their expenses and a higher-than-standard minimum wage. “Those laws really help when you’re negotiating with companies like Uber, because they know that the government is pushing for more rights.”
But the whole business about minimum wage comes with a major catch: It only applies to what Uber calls “engaged time,” which starts when drivers accept a trip and ends the moment their passengers exit the car. It doesn’t include the time waiting around for a fare, or heading to a busier part of the city, or filling up their vehicles with gas that suddenly costs a mint – stuff that takes up a good chunk of an Uber driver’s day. In Toronto, where provincial laws also guarantee gig workers a minimum wage, rideshare drivers spend half their time on the road without any passengers.
The Globe and Mail
Still, let’s say the engaged time for a trip is 15 minutes. In B.C., a driver should make $5.22 for the ride – $4.40 in Ontario – and if that doesn’t happen, Subramaniam said Uber is supposed to top drivers up. But she’s asked provinces for data, and so far, it’s been crickets. “We don’t know whether Uber is complying, or how provinces will make it comply,” she told me. “There’s no transparency around this, because Uber drivers don’t even get pay stubs any more.”
Priced out
Until recently in Canada, an Uber driver’s rate functioned generally like a cab meter, tallied through a combination of time, distance and base fare, with bonuses for driving often or in busy periods. “It was fairly predictable,” Subramaniam said, “and after the trip, drivers would get a receipt that broke down how they were paid.” But in late 2024, Uber dispensed with that breakdown and instead showed drivers, upfront, their take-home pay for a ride. They choose whether to accept it, and they have no clue how it’s calculated – wages are now entirely determined by an algorithm.
Uber contends that dynamic pricing helps “better balance the marketplace” and ensure there are enough drivers on the road to meet rider demand. But drivers insist their overall income has decreased, and the research backs them up. Last year, a University of Oxford study found that, under algorithmic pay, British drivers earned substantially less while Uber took a much higher cut of the fare, sometimes clawing back as much as 50 per cent. The researchers also discovered that passengers were shelling out more in fees.
During bargaining for Victoria’s drivers, the union tried to address dynamic pricing, but UFCW leader Pablo Godoy conceded the talks didn’t go far. For all the collective agreement’s virtues, it remains silent on wages, and Subramaniam told me Uber won’t ever budge on that. “It’s how the company makes money,” she said. “Uber takes as much as they can from drivers, and then relies on customers to tip those drivers to make up the difference. They’re passing on the costs to everyone except themselves.”
The Shot
‘With FIFA, basically, the hosts get nothing.’
BC Place had to follow FIFA’s meticulous instructions before installing its grass pitch.Ethan Cairns/The Canadian Press
Most of the cities hosting 2026 World Cup games have worked hard to keep their contracts hidden – perhaps because FIFA controls the competition and harvests most of the revenue, while governments assume the bulk of the risk and costs. Read more about this lopsided arrangement here.
The Wrap
What else we’re following
At home: Speaking of the World Cup, the Parliamentary Budget Officer found that public funding to support the 13 games in Canada will exceed $1-billion.
Abroad: The U.S. announced murder charges against former Cuban president Raúl Castro – a major escalation of the Trump administration’s campaign to oust the country’s communist regime.
Cost: As the war in Iran drives food inflation higher, British government officials are urging grocery stores to cap the prices of bread, milk and other goods.
Kit: The Canadian army is asking military personnel to return their tactical vests and backpacks, citing “critical equipment shortages” of gear needed for deployed troops.
Health: Two generic versions of Ozempic finally hit Canadian pharmacies this week, though availability will vary across the country.
Wealth: In a deal worth more than US$300-million, James Murdoch bought three Vox Media divisions, including my beloved New York magazine.