Interview by Jonah Walters

On March 24, Anil Subba, a Nepalese immigrant in his forties living in Queens, died of coronavirus. Two weeks earlier, he had driven to John F. Kennedy airport in his capacity as an Uber driver, where he picked up a passenger who exhibited symptoms of the disease. Subba self-quarantined after that experience, receiving no assistance from Uber. But he was later hospitalized and, after being placed on a ventilator, Subba became the first Uber driver (that we know of) to die as a result of contracting coronavirus on the job.

On March 23, the day before Subba’s death, Uber sent an email to all of its drivers encouraging them to stay on the roads. “You’re getting essential workers to their shifts and home again,” the message said. “You’re getting food to people staying home. And you’re doing all this while trying to keep your own world together.” The email also included a letter Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi wrote to President Donald Trump, urging federal authorities to assume the cost of supporting drivers who, like Anil Subba, refuse to drive for fear of spreading the virus.

So far, Uber has been unwilling to shoulder any of that burden itself, despite announcing earlier this month that the company has cash reserves of $6 billion (plus a $2 billion revolver) to insulate it from the COVID-19 shock. On March 7, when worldwide coronavirus cases already exceeded a hundred thousand, Uber rolled out a new policy providing “financial assistance” to drivers who are formally diagnosed with COVID or “placed under quarantine by a public health authority.”

On March 15, the company released further details about the policy, but failed to elaborate about what kind of “financial assistance” ill drivers could expect. Still, sick drivers around the country report serious problems collecting even this meager assistance. To date, the company has not announced any plans to encourage drivers to get off the road, to support drivers who are at increased risk due to pre-existing medical conditions, or to offer any relief for the many thousands of drivers who have decided to quit working as a result of the virus.

On March 25, Jacobin’s Jonah Walters spoke to an Uber driver in Philadelphia about his decision to quit driving and Uber’s refusal to support its most vulnerable workers at this time. He has been granted anonymity to protect him from reprisal.