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RE: Uber Was Just Sued Over Lack of Wheelchair-Accessible Cars
I drive part time for Uber and I don't consider myself a defacto employee nor do I feel I am treated poorly....I have all the freedom in stopping and starting when I want...as any independent contractor does. "We as a society" you're pulling the social contract card out and pushing it on a private entity where the public option already provides for this group satisfactorily...The taxi companies are happy Uber does not cater to this part of society because their government protected racket is looking pretty crap right now
I'm glad that you manage to feel freedom and that your relationship with Uber is that of an independent contractor, but I think that is not the reality for many people that drive for them.
There are many people who drive full-time for Uber, who have taken out loans to pay for their cars, etc., and whose livelihoods depend completely on their ability to work for Uber. Those people have a lot wrapped up in that, and their situation is fairly precarious -- if Uber decides to kick them off the platform (which they can do arbitrarily, for reasons like "they're too black" or "they're too female") or change the rate structure, those people could be completely screwed.
Uber, for those people, is effectively an employer, whether or not their lawyers have managed to convince some municipalities that this is the case. Uber knows exactly what they are doing, which is to cynically pretend as if they are running a marketplace in order to avoid having to deal with labor laws.