Uber should immediately bring in a £1 surcharge to help cover rising UK fuel costs says union
Updated: Apr 3, 2022
Uber should immediately bring in a £1 surcharge on all UK rides to cover the cost of rising inflation and fuel prices says Union.
In an email sent to Uber’s Regional Manager Jamie Heywood on 22 March 2022, the App Drivers & Couriers Union (ADCU) demanded the global operator extend its support to drivers in the UK to help cover out of control fuel bills.
James Farrar, ADCU General Secretary, said in the email: “As you know, drivers are facing unprecedented operating cost inflation with fuel prices up 36% and vehicle & maintenance costs up 29% on last year.
“During this time Uber has launched a massive recruitment campaign to flood the circuits and have failed to update the 45p cost calculation which was never correct in the first place. Consequently, Uber is leaving drivers to absorb the economic shock of dramatically escalating costs.
“We are writing to demand that you immediately introduce a £1.00 fuel surcharge on every trip in the UK which should be paid in full to the driver.
“If Uber does not protect drivers from the current economic crisis by increasing fares, the cost allowance and applying a £1.00 fuel surcharge per trip then we reserve the right to take further action.”
In the US passengers are now paying a surcharge of either $0.45 or $0.55 on each Uber trip and either $0.35 or $0.45 on each Uber Eats order, depending on their location—with 100% of that money going directly to workers’ pockets.
The surcharges are based off the average trip distance and the increase in fuel prices in each state. This is temporary for at least the next 60 days, when Uber will reassess.
Liza Winship, Head of Driver Operations for U.S. and Canada, said: “We know that prices have been going up across the economy, so we’ve done our best to help drivers and couriers without placing too much additional burden on consumers.
“Over the coming weeks we plan to listen closely to feedback from consumers, couriers and drivers. We’ll also continue to track gas price movements to determine if we need to make additional changes.”
