Drivers for Uber Black, the ride-sharing giant’s chauffeur service, have filed an application to unionize at the Ontario labour board — seeking better pay, protection from unjust dismissal and recognition as employees rather than independent contractors.

The move follows months of organizing with the United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) union, part of a growing effort across the continent to mobilize gig economy workers. The union hopes to hold a vote for more than 300 Uber Black drivers in the GTA this week.

“We are very happy and waiting for the day of voting because limousine drivers suffer too much,” said Ejaz Butt, a driver who has helped spearhead the union drive.

“I am one-hundred-and-one per cent sure we will win the vote.”

Uber classifies its drivers as independent contractors, a category of worker that has no protection under provincial employment legislation and cannot unionize. (UFCW will challenge that designation as part of its unionization efforts).

“Our platform enables drivers to earn money on their own terms; they control where and when they work, and are free to use other apps at the same time as they’re on Uber,” said an Uber spokesperson in an emailed statement to the Star.

“That’s why the vast majority of drivers say that flexibility is their number one reason for driving with Uber. We are constantly working to get feedback from drivers and improve their experience while maintaining the main thing they love about it, having flexible work.”

Pablo Godoy, a spokesperson for UFCW, said he expected the union effort to “be a fight.”

“(Uber) has fought tooth and nail to avoid having to label or accept that their drivers are in fact their employees.”

The debate over app-based workers’ employment status is attracting increasing scrutiny. The Canadian Union of Postal Workers is currently challenging Foodora’s claim that its Toronto-based couriers are independent contractors, arguing that the food delivery company exercises significant control over their daily working conditions and that the workers should be allowed to unionize.

“It’s important as a union that we set precedent and we don’t let these app employers get away with circumventing labour law,” said Godoy. “There has to be some level of accountability.”

Worker advocates have long called employee misclassification, which allows employers to evade minimum wage rates and other obligations by categorizing workers as contractors, an important feature of precarious work.

In 2017, an extensive report by two independent experts to the Ontario Ministry of Labour described employee misclassification as having a “significant adverse impact” on workers and recommended that the problem become “a priority enforcement issue” for government.

Uber Black drivers also face a unique challenge because the company’s employment contract requires them to travel to the Netherlands for mandatory arbitration over workplace disputes.

The Ontario Court of Appeal has already ruled Uber’s arbitration clause was an “unfair bargain” for workers and improperly denied drivers the protection of provincial employment laws. Uber has appealed the decision to the Supreme Court, where UFCW is an intervener in the ongoing case.

“The union drive is really about creating a due process for drivers to have access to some level of recourse, some level of respect,” Godoy said.

There are roughly 90,400 drivers working for ride-hailing services in Toronto, although some drive occasionally or for limited periods of time, according to a city report released last year. Of those, around 13,300 are taxi and limousine drivers.

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UFCW says it’s also launching an effort to unionize Uber Black drivers in British Columbia.

“Our main goal is that Uber recognize us,” Butt said. “And (that) they accept our union, and we get our rights.”

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