Speaker 1: It's night Side with Dan Ray. I'm WBZ Constans.
Speaker 2: Radio, delighted to be joined by Roxanna Rivera. Roxanna Rivera
Speaker 2: works as a union organizer. She is with the SEIU,
Speaker 2: which I think most of us are familiar with, and
Speaker 2: she is one of those who is very much in
Speaker 2: favor of ballot Question three, which would allow ride share
Speaker 2: drivers essentially, I mean, the two big ones are Uber
Speaker 2: and Lyft to unionize.
Speaker 3: So welcome to night Side, Roxanna. How are you tonight right?
Speaker 4: Thank you for having me in the cud.
Speaker 2: Are you on a speakerphone or a headset or something
Speaker 2: or what sort of phone are you on?
Speaker 5: Yeah?
Speaker 4: Can you hear me much better?
Speaker 2: Now?
Speaker 3: What did you do educate me? What did you do?
Speaker 4: Just stop putting it by my ear? Yes, thank you.
Speaker 2: Oh that's very and get that mouthpiece by your mouth
Speaker 2: so that we can hear you very clearly.
Speaker 3: Yeah. I didn't mean to embarrass you there.
Speaker 2: But when I'm here and you know a connection that
Speaker 2: that needs to be better for my audience. I want
Speaker 2: you to be able to to tell your story and
Speaker 2: also for people to understand what you say. So let's uh,
Speaker 2: let's talk us. Let's start with the story. So you
Speaker 2: would like your organization. Uh would love to see right
Speaker 2: share drivers. Uh, that's people that's that transport persons from
Speaker 2: point A to point B. So it's Uber Lift. Are
Speaker 2: there any other other ride shaer drivers you know who
Speaker 2: transport people who would be included in this assuming this
Speaker 2: this question.
Speaker 4: Passes no right now. It only has to do with
Speaker 4: the transportation network drivers that work for companies like Uber
Speaker 4: and lyft?
Speaker 2: Okay, are there just for curiosity? Are there other small
Speaker 2: I'm unfamiliar? Are there other smaller companies out there that
Speaker 2: that we don't think about the you know that that
Speaker 2: employ a lot fewer drivers that that are out there competing?
Speaker 3: Or is Uber and I and lifted?
Speaker 2: They pretty much have the the market of transporting people
Speaker 2: all to themselves.
Speaker 3: You know, in terms of ride share.
Speaker 4: Drivers, there's no other company at this point that would
Speaker 4: be covered under this.
Speaker 3: That's fine.
Speaker 2: And again we're not talking about taxi cab drivers. We're
Speaker 2: talking about people who drive who are now currently what's
Speaker 2: called independent contractors. Now, I had someone on last night,
Speaker 2: as I mentioned to you earlier today, a woman who
Speaker 2: is a union advocate, but she apparently feels, which is
Speaker 2: her right, that the piece of the initiative petition should
Speaker 2: cover more than just ride share drivers. And when I
Speaker 2: use the word ride share, I assume what I'm talking
Speaker 2: about is people who are calling Uber and Lift to
Speaker 2: take them or their you know, their family or whomever
Speaker 2: from point A to point B. You're you're transporting people,
Speaker 2: not pizzas and sub sandwiches.
Speaker 3: And that's the difference, right, Yes.
Speaker 2: Okay, give me a little amplification of that. Rucks in
Speaker 2: and so I don't want to make an assumption here,
Speaker 2: but what she was saying last night was that this
Speaker 2: legislation or this initiative petition would not cover people who
Speaker 2: are out kind of doing the same thing. They're they're
Speaker 2: picking up someone's chicken dinner order or picking up their pizza.
Speaker 2: And she said that that's why they're opposed to this,
Speaker 2: because it doesn't include everyone who is out there driving.
Speaker 2: And I know you want to respond to that. So
Speaker 2: that's why I'm kind of tee up the question for
Speaker 2: you to respond to it.
Speaker 4: Go ahead, thank you, Yes, no, Yes, those are drivers
Speaker 4: that do delivery, right, and so our balid initiative, the
Speaker 4: Yes on three, only covers those that are transporting supporting
Speaker 4: people and for a ballot initiative we have. We have
Speaker 4: to go with a single issue, and UH transportation is
Speaker 4: seen delivered different as delivery, and so we had to
Speaker 4: focus on the set of workers that are covered under
Speaker 4: transportation and so that's you know, we believe this is
Speaker 4: a start. We obviously fully support having additional UH workers
Speaker 4: that work for app companies be able to have a
Speaker 4: pathway to a union, but we believe this is start
Speaker 4: with the with the yes on three ballot initiative UH.
Speaker 4: And we know that sometimes it takes one set of
Speaker 4: workers to pave the way for other workers. That's how
Speaker 4: it's been for for our union in our experience, as
Speaker 4: we bought for more workers being able to improve their
Speaker 4: lives through a union.
Speaker 2: So what you're saying to me, if I'm understanding what
Speaker 2: you're saying to me, is that it's not inconceivable that
Speaker 2: somewhere down the line you might try to incorporate people
Speaker 2: who are delivery drivers who are not transporting people but
Speaker 2: also are transporting you know, food or important mail or
Speaker 2: letters or whatever, you know, would not be maybe maybe
Speaker 2: you want to grow the union. So if the commonality
Speaker 2: was people who are driving their car to transport something,
Speaker 2: whether it's a person.
Speaker 3: Or an item.
Speaker 2: Why not go a year from now, two years from now,
Speaker 2: three years from now, bringing them under the umbrella of
Speaker 2: the union, is what I'm hearing you.
Speaker 4: Say, right, Yes, not only here in Massachusetts among other drivers,
Speaker 4: but actually ride share drivers in other states are watching
Speaker 4: what happens here on number firs day. So ride share
Speaker 4: drivers from Minnesota, in California and Yellow Noise, they're watching
Speaker 4: closely because they are also want to do something similar
Speaker 4: in their states based on uh, you know, uh, the
Speaker 4: outcome of the elections here.
Speaker 2: Now, are there are there any states in the United
Speaker 2: States right now where ride share drivers.
Speaker 3: Have been able to form a union?
Speaker 2: Or would this be the first union of ride share
Speaker 2: drivers that would be formed or permitted to be formed
Speaker 2: more specifically by this ballot.
Speaker 4: Question, Yeah, this would Massachusetts would be first, so it
Speaker 4: would be historic. And that's why other states are watching
Speaker 4: what happens here because unfortunately, these rightshre drivers are not
Speaker 4: covered under federal laws, so they're not they don't have
Speaker 4: the ability to organize, like what is what is a
Speaker 4: right that's guaranteed to almost all Massachusetts workers. These workers
Speaker 4: don't have. So that's why we're asking the state to
Speaker 4: create that law.
Speaker 2: And so my understanding understanding, and if I'm wrong, feel
Speaker 2: free to correct, because I'm sure you know this issue
Speaker 2: better than I do. But my understand is that the
Speaker 2: reason that you had to do the hard work of
Speaker 2: getting an issue on the ballot, you had to gather
Speaker 2: signatures and all of that, or certain amounts of signatures
Speaker 2: over a certain period of time, is that the legislature
Speaker 2: did not act. You asked the legislature in Massachusetts of
Speaker 2: all places, to give rights your drivers, the right to unionize,
Speaker 2: and it went nowhere.
Speaker 3: What happened.
Speaker 4: Yeah, so we know from the start two years ago
Speaker 4: we started really organizing right here drivers in the state
Speaker 4: of Massachusetts, and we knew at the very beginning that
Speaker 4: only you know, even though there's thousands of proposed legislative built,
Speaker 4: only a handful pass each year. And so as we
Speaker 4: did our legislative efforts and had drivers actually going to
Speaker 4: the state House, going to hearings, going to meet with
Speaker 4: legislators to talk about, you know, the urgency in regards
Speaker 4: to them begin take care of the families, we also
Speaker 4: also started an effort to uh to move forward the
Speaker 4: ballot and is shud We said, one way or another,
Speaker 4: you know, uh, these workers are hurting now and they
Speaker 4: can't wait any longer.
Speaker 2: And so no, I get that, But why, you know,
Speaker 2: are you letting the legislative look the legislative leadership roxy
Speaker 2: in And I can tell you it worked for many
Speaker 2: years up there, covering the legislature whatever they.
Speaker 3: Want to get in front of the full House of Representatives,
Speaker 3: in front of the state Senate. You know, they get
Speaker 3: it there.
Speaker 2: Okay, they have an arcane system in which bills get
Speaker 2: referred to committee.
Speaker 3: And that's where they go to die.
Speaker 2: What I don't understand is why an overwhelmingly democratic legislature,
Speaker 2: which I think there's a lot of progressive members up
Speaker 2: there who would want to have ride share drivers receive
Speaker 2: union protection, which they have a right, in my opinion,
Speaker 2: to receive. I'm stunned that the legislature wouldn't do this
Speaker 2: for you.
Speaker 3: I really mean it.
Speaker 2: They're making you accomplish it the hard way, which seems
Speaker 2: to me to be unfair.
Speaker 4: There's a lot of priorities at the State House, a
Speaker 4: lot of good issues that don't don't.
Speaker 2: Okay, you're buying what they're telling you. Okay, that's fine,
Speaker 2: I don't need to You're you are basically telling me
Speaker 2: answering my question the same way, and you're letting them
Speaker 2: off the hook.
Speaker 3: But that's okay as far as I'm concerned.
Speaker 2: They they should have done it for you in my opinion,
Speaker 2: And you don't have to say that.
Speaker 3: If you want to say they're going to take a break,
Speaker 3: we'll get some more phone calls. Feel free.
Speaker 2: If you are a ride share driver out there and
Speaker 2: you have an opinion on question three, I think it
Speaker 2: should pass. I think the more I look at it,
Speaker 2: it seems to me it's a question of fairness to
Speaker 2: people who are trying to either make a living or
Speaker 2: add to their living. They use they do this as
Speaker 2: a second job or as a job that's that's a
Speaker 2: part time job. I still think they should have protections
Speaker 2: of a union. Six one, seven, two, five, four, ten
Speaker 2: thirty six one seven, nine three one ten thirty, triple
Speaker 2: eight nine to nine, ten thirty. We're coming right back
Speaker 2: on night Side.
Speaker 1: Now back to Dan ray Line from the Window World
Speaker 1: night Side Studios on WBZ News Radio.
Speaker 2: My guess is Roxanne Rivera. She's co chair of the
Speaker 2: Yes on three coalition and she works for SEIU Service
Speaker 2: Employees International Union SCIU. I think most of us are
Speaker 2: familiar with that. Roxanne, let me ask you. Let's assume
Speaker 2: this passes, okay, is what will it mean to the drivers?
Speaker 2: What are the advantages that drivers will receive if this passes?
Speaker 4: So the reality for these drivers is that eighty percent
Speaker 4: of all the trips are actually done by full time drivers.
Speaker 4: So that means that this is the primary source of income.
Speaker 4: And many have sied, and many of them have had
Speaker 4: found themselves having to work up to seventy hours a week.
Speaker 6: And so.
Speaker 4: Because the recent settlement from the AG, it with a
Speaker 4: start in setting basic standards, but it didn't address the reality,
Speaker 4: the full reality faced by these drivers and they it
Speaker 4: didn't account for all the hours that they work, you know,
Speaker 4: the wait time between rides. It didn't account for all that.
Speaker 2: What I'm really trying to figure out here because I
Speaker 2: feel like you're reading some talking points to me, and
Speaker 2: I'd prefer you to just talk to me. Let's assume
Speaker 2: I'm a driver and you're trying to convince me to
Speaker 2: vote yes on this. What will be the benefit for
Speaker 2: the drivers? I know this and benefits just tell me
Speaker 2: what they are, because I think it's important for people
Speaker 2: to understand that talk to me, talk to.
Speaker 3: Me, don't read.
Speaker 4: The drivers will be able to have to be able
Speaker 4: to talk to the companies and actually have a voice
Speaker 4: with the companies to talk around the issues they face
Speaker 4: daily because literally they are struggling, they are hurting, they
Speaker 4: don't have they don't make enough, you know, to bring
Speaker 4: food at the table to make sure that they're not
Speaker 4: facing eviction. These workers on the edge, they work paycheck
Speaker 4: to paycheck, and they have invested a lot of their
Speaker 4: own resources to even be able to start up working
Speaker 4: for these app companies, and so they have a lot invested,
Speaker 4: and yet they have a lot of insecurity because there's
Speaker 4: a lot of issues working aside from the low pay
Speaker 4: and the fact that these app companies have taken a
Speaker 4: bigger share of the rights. As each year has passed
Speaker 4: that they've been here in Massachusetts, drivers have been making
Speaker 4: less and less and they feel very unprotected.
Speaker 2: Because so let's asserve that a driver again, I think
Speaker 2: you're giving me. I think the simple answer to be
Speaker 2: honest with you, and a great selling point is for
Speaker 2: the driver's perspective in unity their strength. If you're an
Speaker 2: individual driver and you try to have a disagreement with
Speaker 2: the owner of the company or the head whoever owns
Speaker 2: uber or whatever. They're going to say, Hey, if you
Speaker 2: don't want to drive for us, no problem. But if
Speaker 2: they're united with a union, that's going to benefit all.
Speaker 2: So let's let's leave it at that for now. What
Speaker 2: does the average full time uber or lyft driver make
Speaker 2: in Massachusetts? What what do they bring home in terms
Speaker 2: of money? Give us an idea about that. Assuming they're
Speaker 2: working a regular, you know, regular job forty forty five
Speaker 2: hours a week, not crazy over time, what can they
Speaker 2: make by working you know, a forty hour week? Correct?
Speaker 6: But they don't.
Speaker 4: The reality is that many have to work sixty seventy
Speaker 4: eighty hours a week.
Speaker 3: Then the people who are working sixty or seventy hours,
Speaker 3: how much? How much? What? How many hours? What do
Speaker 3: they make? That's what I'm trying to understand. IM making one.
Speaker 4: Hundred thousands, and I appreciate your question. If it's the
Speaker 4: reality is that what we hear from drivers is that
Speaker 4: they're still at the end of the day, they're still
Speaker 4: not making enough.
Speaker 2: No, I understand that, but can you give let me
Speaker 2: ask you this, rock Sander, let me try this one. Okay,
Speaker 2: can you give me a figure as to what I
Speaker 2: can tell you that that you know what school teachers
Speaker 2: make and you know the general I just general ideas.
Speaker 2: I'm just curious if if someone wants to become a
Speaker 2: ride share driver, and if they work hard, in which
Speaker 2: they do okay, and they put a lot of expense,
Speaker 2: They have to buy their own gasoline, they have to
Speaker 2: buy their card, and no one gives them a card
Speaker 2: to ride, how much do they make or can or
Speaker 2: do you not want to tell me?
Speaker 4: No, it's just many of the drivers are still saying
Speaker 4: they make less minimum wage after all the outer pocket
Speaker 4: costs that they have to put in in order to
Speaker 4: basically work for these app companies. And that's why it
Speaker 4: is important, like you said, you made a good point about,
Speaker 4: you know, have them having a voice on a job
Speaker 4: collectively right to be able to improve their lives and
Speaker 4: be able to h reach an agreement with these companies
Speaker 4: that will lift up and improve their lives.
Speaker 3: How much of a turnover is there?
Speaker 2: Again this I assume that there are some people who
Speaker 2: have become a ride share driver and that it works
Speaker 2: for their schedule and they basically that's what they do
Speaker 2: full time, and whether it's a sixty hour week job,
Speaker 2: or you know, most people think people work very few
Speaker 2: people work forty hours in real life, as I'm sure
Speaker 2: you know, I'm sure you work more than forty hours.
Speaker 2: I know, I do, you know, it's I think the
Speaker 2: idea of a forty hour work week is kind of
Speaker 2: I don't know that it's there.
Speaker 3: There are some people who do. How much of a
Speaker 3: turnover is there in this job?
Speaker 2: But people sticking with it because it's because of its
Speaker 2: convenience even though it doesn't pay enough. Or are they
Speaker 2: basically trying it for a year or two and then
Speaker 2: saying I'm done with this, I'm going to go do
Speaker 2: something else. What is there a lot of turnover in
Speaker 2: this in this profession, in your in your experience.
Speaker 4: So the majority of driver, the majority rights are you know,
Speaker 4: done by what you know, you'd call an actor driver,
Speaker 4: not ones that are just doing it for a short
Speaker 4: amount of time.
Speaker 1: Right.
Speaker 4: And again, those that have been in this industry for years,
Speaker 4: they've you know, it started out as profitable, right, they
Speaker 4: were making enough to bring home, right, And then what's
Speaker 4: happened is that the companies have just taken a bigger,
Speaker 4: bigger share of divide and that's why they want you know,
Speaker 4: that's why they're asking for folks to vote yes on three,
Speaker 4: so that they have a pathway to a union. And
Speaker 4: the turnover is, you know, there's still a lot of
Speaker 4: turnover in an industry like this, because just right the
Speaker 4: Department of Public Utilities report seventy thousand right share drivers
Speaker 4: just in the state of Massachusetts, and so that is
Speaker 4: a huge number. And it is, you know, a hard
Speaker 4: industry in the sense of you're talking about there isn't
Speaker 4: a common work site, there's no set schedule, right, and
Speaker 4: so there's challenges to you know, workers coming together right
Speaker 4: to address these issues. And so there's.
Speaker 3: Also there's an independence to that.
Speaker 2: A lot of people who work in a factory and
Speaker 2: have to show up at seven thirty every morning and
Speaker 2: punch a clock and then they don't get up until
Speaker 2: you know, three point thirty in the afternoon. So there's
Speaker 2: some good things about being a right chaer driver. But
Speaker 2: you're saying, I think that in unity their strength, and
Speaker 2: if the right shaer drivers have the opportunity for a union,
Speaker 2: just like the hotel workers, we've just seen an example
Speaker 2: of the hotel workers strike here in Boston. They apparently
Speaker 2: seem to be pretty happy with the contract that they
Speaker 2: settled with some of the big hotels, some of the
Speaker 2: luxury hotels.
Speaker 3: So you know this. Unions are actually a good thing.
Speaker 2: And I know that not everyone agrees with that, Probably
Speaker 2: a lot of business owners don't, but unions are a
Speaker 2: good thing. It allows people to collectively bargaining. We'll take
Speaker 2: a break. We're going to go to phone calls Roxane.
Speaker 2: We'll get to some phone calls on the other side.
Speaker 2: If you'd like to join the conversation and ask a question,
Speaker 2: feel free. If you'd like to state how you feel.
Speaker 2: And if you are a ride share driver, an Uber driver,
Speaker 2: or a Lyft driver, this is an opportunity for you
Speaker 2: to argue your point and try to convince people who
Speaker 2: are in my listening audience to vote yes on question
Speaker 2: three six months. The only lines open right now are
Speaker 2: the six, one, seven, nine, three, one, ten thirty. I
Speaker 2: hope to carry this conversation with my guest who rocks
Speaker 2: in a rivera right through this hour up until ten o'clock,
Speaker 2: So stick with us. More conversation and questions, questions.
Speaker 3: I learned at this job.
Speaker 2: The best part about my job is that I get
Speaker 2: to meet different people, whether they're callers or listeners or
Speaker 2: or guests I can find out. I've never been a
Speaker 2: ride share driver, but with these two interviews last night
Speaker 2: and tonight, I feel that I understand the industry a
Speaker 2: lot better. And that's that's beneficial to me because the
Speaker 2: more that I know, the more that you're going to know,
Speaker 2: and the more the more considered your vote's going to
Speaker 2: be on these ballot issues this this November. We'll be
Speaker 2: right back on Nightside.
Speaker 1: Night Side with Dan on Boston's News Radio.
Speaker 2: All right, we're gonna take some phone calls. My guest
Speaker 2: is a union official with the s c i U,
Speaker 2: Roxanna Rivera, and she's co chair of the Yes on
Speaker 2: Question three committee. That question is headlined in that handy
Speaker 2: dandy summary that you have from the conwealtha Massachusetts law
Speaker 2: proposed by initiative petition Unionization for Transportation network Drivers.
Speaker 3: Let's head to the phone is going to go to
Speaker 3: Dwayne in Rossendale. Dwayne, you are first this hour on
Speaker 3: night Side with Roxanna Revera. Go right ahead, Dwayne.
Speaker 5: Hey, Dan, great to speak with it. Yeah. I'm a
Speaker 5: uber driver, left driver. I've been driving for a little
Speaker 5: close to ten years. I drive off and on. I
Speaker 5: don't drive a regular schedule.
Speaker 2: But is it Let me ask you, Dwayne, is it
Speaker 2: is it your full time job or do you do
Speaker 2: you work it as a side hustle, a side hustle.
Speaker 5: I'm seventy two years old, and I need you know.
Speaker 2: It sounds seventy two. You got you got a young voice. Congratulations.
Speaker 5: Well, well, I follow the Keith Richards program of Health,
Speaker 5: nutrition and Exercise.
Speaker 3: So yeah, I've heard about that program, right.
Speaker 5: Yeah, paid off in the end.
Speaker 3: Yeah yeah, okay, hope you know what I'm saying.
Speaker 5: Go ahead, yeah, yeah, yeah, so yeah, I uh and uh,
Speaker 5: you know, it's it's been changing. I suggest that if
Speaker 5: they were to put the rates and everything back to
Speaker 5: where it was in twenty fifteen, I think most people
Speaker 5: would be happy. And it's not just so what let
Speaker 5: me ask you this.
Speaker 2: Just give me a couple of round figures here. When
Speaker 2: you started working as a when they when they arrived
Speaker 2: on the scene and you were working you know, forty
Speaker 2: hours or whatever, it was. Okay, what were you making
Speaker 2: back then compared to what you're making now for the
Speaker 2: same amount of work. That's I just want to put
Speaker 2: it in some numbers that people will understand.
Speaker 3: Most of us.
Speaker 2: You work, you get a little raise. Maybe you don't
Speaker 2: get a raise, you get a little raise. I mean,
Speaker 2: inflation is killing all of us, no doubt about that.
Speaker 2: But just in terms of how much you would take
Speaker 2: it home back ten years ago versus today for the
Speaker 2: same amount of work, give me a rough idea.
Speaker 5: Well, back then I was driving black car and suv
Speaker 5: in the rates were three dollars and ninety five cents
Speaker 5: a mile. Now it's a little about a dollar fifty
Speaker 5: I could make.
Speaker 2: More than which is yeah, that's a good that's been
Speaker 2: cut more than fifty percent.
Speaker 3: It's been cut in half.
Speaker 5: Yeah, yeah, and everything else has been going down as well.
Speaker 5: Right now, I figure I make somewhere around thirty three
Speaker 5: dollars an hour. I work in the city. Because I
Speaker 5: live in the city, I work in the neighborhoods. There's not
Speaker 5: a lot of downtime between pickups.
Speaker 3: But not a lot of launch trips either.
Speaker 5: Oh, I avoid those. I avoid those right now are
Speaker 5: in front of me. I've got a receipt from the
Speaker 5: job I did the Manchester, New Hampshire. The passenger paid
Speaker 5: ninety dollars and three cents. I earned forty nine dollars
Speaker 5: and seventeen cents, So they took you know, forty dollars.
Speaker 3: And then you've got to drive back from Manchester.
Speaker 5: Yeah, at ten o'clock at night. So I drove back empty. Right, sure,
Speaker 5: it's one hundred figure, it's one hundred miles. I RS.
Speaker 5: Lets me right off sixty seven cents a mile. That's
Speaker 5: a loss. That's a that's a loss on paper. So
Speaker 5: not only am I not making any money, I'm not
Speaker 5: paying taxes either, you know, the communities. I mean, I
Speaker 5: appreciate all your taxes because they give me good roads
Speaker 5: to drive on in emergency services should they need them,
Speaker 5: because I'm.
Speaker 2: Not making so you like, So you like even though
Speaker 2: they're cutting you back from three ninety five a mile
Speaker 2: to a buck and a half a mile, you'd prefer
Speaker 2: to do a whole bunch of shot short runs as
Speaker 2: long as you stay within the one twenty eight area.
Speaker 2: And when you when you take a job up to
Speaker 2: New Hampshire, you think you said, oh beautiful, I'm going
Speaker 2: to make a lot of money. Actually that's going to
Speaker 2: be a loser for you.
Speaker 5: Absolutely, yeah, yeah, it's a big loser. In fact, they
Speaker 5: don't even publish their rates anymore. They make it up
Speaker 5: on the fly.
Speaker 3: I do understand they have surge price.
Speaker 2: I know the surge pricing deal and all of that,
Speaker 2: and it's a little bit, you know, a little bit
Speaker 2: crazy for those of us who do occasionally take it
Speaker 2: and over. But you know something, Dwayne, you explained the
Speaker 2: dilemma that you're facing really well, and I think that
Speaker 2: anybody who's out there will understand why you want to
Speaker 2: get into into a union of right share drivers.
Speaker 5: This has to be settled down. We need we need
Speaker 5: some we need some standardization of how much we're going
Speaker 5: to earn, what the rates are. There are no rates.
Speaker 5: If you're going to the airport, you're in no position
Speaker 5: to negotiate. You've got to get there. And I'm finding
Speaker 5: that my passengers who are going to the airport are
Speaker 5: paying a lot more than what I get paid. There's
Speaker 5: still a surge, but uber and Lyft are taking it.
Speaker 5: They're not advertising it. And I recommend to passengers talk
Speaker 5: to your driver, ask them how much they are getting
Speaker 5: paid for this job. And I think you'll be surprised
Speaker 5: that where the money's going.
Speaker 2: Well, what is so what is a normal middle of
Speaker 2: the day or whatever from downtown Boston to the airport.
Speaker 2: That's only probably five or six miles max.
Speaker 5: Right, yeah, yeah, something like that. Yeah, from downtown Boston.
Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, So how much and depending upon the day,
Speaker 2: it's going to cost take time, a lot of time
Speaker 2: or less time.
Speaker 3: What's the charge going to be? Roughly twenty bucks, twenty
Speaker 3: five bucks more?
Speaker 5: Oh no, no, it could be anything from eight to
Speaker 5: thirteen dollars from downtown back Bay, say back Bay, Cambridge,
Speaker 5: he's Cambridge.
Speaker 3: Okay, so that's a good deal.
Speaker 2: That is a good deal for the customer, but it's
Speaker 2: horrible for the drivers.
Speaker 5: Yeah. Well, well I'm not sure how much the customers paying. Yeah,
Speaker 5: we don't know.
Speaker 3: Oh you're saying you get anywhere between eight and thirteen.
Speaker 2: Okay, fine, So the customer could be paying two or
Speaker 2: three times that at least.
Speaker 5: Could be paying twice that maybe, Yeah, okay, yep.
Speaker 3: You know what's funny.
Speaker 2: When Uber came in back in whatever it was, twenty fifteen,
Speaker 2: twenty sixteen, I was amazed that they were able to
Speaker 2: come and basically we fled the city. The people who
Speaker 2: really took it in the chops with the taxi cab drivers,
Speaker 2: guys who had paid money, big money to have a
Speaker 2: medallion and Uber didn't care about them. They rolled right
Speaker 2: I was right, they rolled right over the What did
Speaker 2: you pay for you? Well, did you own a medallion
Speaker 2: or no?
Speaker 5: I did not know. I leased a cab, right, So what.
Speaker 2: I'm saying you when you leased it, you were still
Speaker 2: paying the person you know factored in there was how
Speaker 2: much the medallion costume. Uber just came in and they
Speaker 2: rolled over people, rolled over people. And the cabby's had
Speaker 2: no organization, The cabvis just they were They rolled over them.
Speaker 2: And now Uber is basically eating and you know, doing
Speaker 2: the same thing through through its most valuable employees. They're
Speaker 2: pretty they're pretty cutthroat.
Speaker 3: Man. That's that you got reunion?
Speaker 5: Ye we do? We do?
Speaker 3: You got a question or comment from my guest Roxanna.
Speaker 2: No.
Speaker 4: I think what Duena's talking about is the reality is
Speaker 4: so many drivers that we've talked through over the last
Speaker 4: two years that they've just you know, seen the the
Speaker 4: company is taking more and more of the share of
Speaker 4: the ride, and that you know, and and there's other
Speaker 4: issues that they have to also address. And being able
Speaker 4: to be able to directly negotiate with these companies and
Speaker 4: having drivers at the table is what's going to shape
Speaker 4: and change this industry for the better, not just for
Speaker 4: the drivers that I think for passengers too.
Speaker 2: Do you think fears will go up for passengers?
Speaker 4: So I think that, just like Dwayne was saying, how
Speaker 4: much of the share is right they've taken, you know,
Speaker 4: we believe that they can take less and they're going
Speaker 4: to want to remain competitive for their you know, to
Speaker 4: keep their customers happy. And we think that they can
Speaker 4: still pay drivers fairly given you know that they uphold
Speaker 4: this whole industry every day for these Yeah, without.
Speaker 2: Without the drivers, that there was no industry. You're right
Speaker 2: on that, Dwayne. Great call. Thank you so much. You
Speaker 2: gave us a lot of specifics. I'm sure you your
Speaker 2: call convinced a lot of people that maybe they want
Speaker 2: to vote yes on this.
Speaker 3: Thanks Dwayne, I hope so favor. Keep listening to the show,
Speaker 3: love to have you become a regular listener and regular caller.
Speaker 5: I will do that all right, Thank you, Dan.
Speaker 2: Thanks to We take quick break, coming right back on
Speaker 2: nice side, my guest Lexander Rivere.
Speaker 3: Dwayne was good. Dwayne was good. You could tell he
Speaker 3: was talking just from the heart. We'll take a quick break,
Speaker 3: coming back on nights side. We'll try to get everybody in.
Speaker 3: I promised there's one line that's open at six one,
Speaker 3: seven thirty. Back on night Side with Dan Ray.
Speaker 1: Now back to Dan Ray from the Window World night
Speaker 1: Side Studios on WBZ News Radio.
Speaker 2: Okay, folks, the lines are now packed and I have
Speaker 2: a guest coming up at ten o'clock, so I'm going
Speaker 2: to ask each of you to be as succinct as possible.
Speaker 2: I wish all of you had called nine thirty. I
Speaker 2: what it got you all in. Let's go right now too,
Speaker 2: kehob In framing him. Eab you are next on Nightsiger, right.
Speaker 6: Ahead, Yes, thank you so much for taking my call.
Speaker 6: I have been driver for a long time now eighty years,
Speaker 6: and our job really getting very difficult. All the expenses
Speaker 6: on the shoulder of the drivers. I would like to
Speaker 6: speak more about numbers. I have been listening to you,
Speaker 6: but your time is very limited. But Dan, our job
Speaker 6: is really extremely getting difficult. The drivers, they have no protection.
Speaker 6: They can stop any driver anytime they want. The activation
Speaker 6: is a nightmare for the drivers. And again with the insulation.
Speaker 6: I used to drive a highlander, you know, putting like
Speaker 6: four doughter gallen in my I reduce my car to
Speaker 6: a priers. I'm a tall guy. I'm a five a
Speaker 6: six five tall guy, So I reduce the prier just
Speaker 6: to cut my expenses. And they are so greedy. When
Speaker 6: I started, like eight years ago, they used to take
Speaker 6: twenty percent and just as do when the first caller said,
Speaker 6: they used to give good Baird mile and then we
Speaker 6: use work like forty fifteen minutes. You can make a
Speaker 6: living and bring the food in the table, put for
Speaker 6: your family. Now we work seventy eighty hours and the
Speaker 6: thing is done. This is a growth this is a
Speaker 6: gross So what they're talking about now the Attorney general
Speaker 6: lawsuit is the active hours. You know, to put active
Speaker 6: hours done, you need to put double time. So when
Speaker 6: they tell you like forty hours active hours, you put
Speaker 6: sixty seventy. They don't talk about that. They don't talk
Speaker 6: about your growth hours you're putting there down all the
Speaker 6: expenses on the drivers we put, God, I pave my insurance,
Speaker 6: my maintenance car, you name it, all of it. I
Speaker 6: can see how this declining in the last eight years
Speaker 6: is intense. The amount justice they're literally taken advantage of
Speaker 6: these drivers majority as people of color, immigrants, English the
Speaker 6: second language. Most of these drivers is my people, my community.
Speaker 6: I know them very well. I'm originally from Sudan, from Africa.
Speaker 6: I speak Arabic. I know the arm drivers, the Muslim driver,
Speaker 6: the African drivers, all all of them. They tell me
Speaker 6: the same thing. The Latin's drivers, the Chinese, they have
Speaker 6: been struggling, is getting worse and worse. And as you
Speaker 6: said at the beginning, done, I was listening to you,
Speaker 6: our lawmakers, they fell us miserably. We had a right
Speaker 6: shap driver, just as Bill. They could have just passed it.
Speaker 6: Then they did not pass it. They did not do
Speaker 6: the right things.
Speaker 7: And now.
Speaker 2: You that's why I was asking that question, because it
Speaker 2: would have been a lot easier on a lot of
Speaker 2: people if they had done the right thing quickly. They
Speaker 2: have your call. Your call is an outstanding call. I
Speaker 2: wish I had more time. I don't. I hope you
Speaker 2: call me and continue to continue to listen to programmed.
Speaker 6: Oh will I will task to the drivers to this
Speaker 6: intense tone, I will done.
Speaker 3: Thank you. We I hope to meet you someday. Thank you,
Speaker 3: my friend.
Speaker 6: Oh, thank you, Donki. We appreciate you.
Speaker 5: Don Kiyrosana.
Speaker 3: Thanks by all right, let me go to Rachel.
Speaker 2: Rachel, you gotta be I know you've been waiting a while, Rachel,
Speaker 2: but I got a whole bunch of folks here.
Speaker 3: You gotta be a little quicker, I.
Speaker 8: Know, all right, I'm gonna be really really really quick.
Speaker 2: One.
Speaker 8: When you ask that woman that you are with and
Speaker 8: ask what they make in hours, she did not answer.
Speaker 8: My whole thing, I manage your companies. That's union. My
Speaker 8: lineman went down and did whatever. So when you do
Speaker 8: union stuff, now you get into federal state, whatever. But
Speaker 8: if these guys or these drives are being hired by
Speaker 8: these companies and not being paid, she never even said, what,
Speaker 8: you know, the right is that they're being paid. But
Speaker 8: then she's gonna open the can of worms if she's
Speaker 8: gonna start union stuff.
Speaker 7: And I believe in union.
Speaker 6: I work for union companies.
Speaker 2: No, But I think I think that these drivers, Rachel,
Speaker 2: I think that they have a right to unionize.
Speaker 3: I think that they have no strength as an individual driver.
Speaker 2: You know.
Speaker 3: I I think it's Fairnish.
Speaker 2: You gotta you gotta make that negotiating table somewhat, you know, level.
Speaker 3: That's all that. I'm just trying to be fair, that's all.
Speaker 8: No, you listen, Dan, you know me and I'm trying
Speaker 8: to be fair as well. Okay, it's what happens you
Speaker 8: start unionizing. You gotta deal with the state. Oh and
Speaker 8: then you have to background check, you have to do this,
Speaker 8: and again you have you asked more than once what
Speaker 8: are these guys making?
Speaker 3: So that's okay, that's okay.
Speaker 2: Look, my my, you know, I don't hound the guests,
Speaker 2: but I but you know, I think she look I
Speaker 2: like to give people the benefits of the doubt, Rachel.
Speaker 2: And I think that Dwayne put it out there pretty clearly.
Speaker 2: He said that they used to make three ninety five
Speaker 2: a mile. Now they make a buck and a half
Speaker 2: a mile. That's a big cause.
Speaker 8: I understand that, but it should be something else. So
Speaker 8: if they're going traveling, it's it's a definitely unique situation.
Speaker 8: But Dan, you know, unions now you gotta pay into
Speaker 8: you start unionized.
Speaker 3: No, I'm a union member, Rachel. I know.
Speaker 2: I've been a union member for a long time. I
Speaker 2: was a shop steward and we we had tough negotiations.
Speaker 2: I you know you, I am not in any way,
Speaker 2: shape or form a post to unions.
Speaker 3: I'm a union person.
Speaker 2: So we can disagree on that you're in a management position.
Speaker 2: I'm not smart enough to be in management, Okay, Rachel.
Speaker 8: I am union. I want these guys to get I.
Speaker 2: Well, vote yes on three, vote yes on three, and
Speaker 2: and give them a chance.
Speaker 3: Okay. Uber's pretty cutthroat.
Speaker 2: It sounds to me like Uber and Lyft are kind
Speaker 2: of having their own way, and I like I like fairness. Rachel,
Speaker 2: I got a screwed. We did three minutes, which is
Speaker 2: much longer than I could. But because you were regular,
Speaker 2: you go a little longer.
Speaker 3: Now. No, No, it was always good at different point
Speaker 3: of view. Thanks so much. Okay, talk soon. Let me
Speaker 3: go to Alan Boston.
Speaker 2: Al, you gotta be quick for me so I can
Speaker 2: get Susan from Jamaica plane into go ahead.
Speaker 3: Al.
Speaker 7: Hey, damn hey, listen. One thing nobody's talking about is
Speaker 7: uh the insurance of these drivers. Most of these drivers
Speaker 7: only have regular auto insurance. There was an incident a
Speaker 7: few years ago on ninety three and heading into the
Speaker 7: city where a young girl was killed at college student
Speaker 7: and come to find out, the insurance company renegged on
Speaker 7: paying because it's a you know, higher higher come.
Speaker 3: Yeah.
Speaker 2: Basically they claimed that that the guy didn't buy commercial coverage.
Speaker 3: He had bought you know, regular personal insurance.
Speaker 7: Correct, and that that's tough.
Speaker 2: Yeah, well again, you know, people try to people try
Speaker 2: to cut corners, Okay, and I'm not saying it's right.
Speaker 3: Roxan, A quick comment on that.
Speaker 2: Do you think that that the drivers can maybe you know,
Speaker 2: pay a little bit more for insurance when when everything
Speaker 2: gets gets squared away here and they're getting a little
Speaker 2: bit more money on their jobs.
Speaker 4: We want Those are types of issues that we need
Speaker 4: to deal with right when we when when drivers actually
Speaker 4: get to the process of actually having the option to
Speaker 4: join the union and then being able to sit down
Speaker 4: with the companies and talk about this because because safety
Speaker 4: should be a priority, right. But the issue, the issue
Speaker 4: is that it's it's these these app companies have shifted
Speaker 4: the whole liability on the workers, right, and so that
Speaker 4: that needs to change in order for this insight.
Speaker 3: I hope, I hope it does. And I think that's
Speaker 3: concerned Command Dress. Now, I hate you to do this
Speaker 3: year called in really late. I want to give Susan
Speaker 3: about thirty seconds to Okay, thank you, my friend, thank you.
Speaker 2: Susan, and Jamaica Plan I forced to give you about
Speaker 2: forty seconds.
Speaker 3: Go ahead, Susan, what's.
Speaker 6: Your coming out?
Speaker 9: So I was confused by the ads, and then I
Speaker 9: got my red books and the legal women voilters, and
Speaker 9: I read the four and the against, and I read
Speaker 9: the against, and it's the same old anti union stuff.
Speaker 9: Oh you'll pay your money, you'll get nothing, blah blah
Speaker 9: blah blah blah. And then I realized, who's on the
Speaker 9: flour and Roxanne and the union she represents has ably
Speaker 9: represented the lowest paid service workers in this city, building
Speaker 9: cleaners and parking lot attendance, people who had nothing and
Speaker 9: no representation. And that union has proved itself. It has
Speaker 9: proved it can it can represent a low age, a
Speaker 9: low age immigrant work for.
Speaker 3: You've done Gil too. You made an interesting point.
Speaker 2: I would only ask you to call in earlier because
Speaker 2: because once ten o'clock comes along, I got to say
Speaker 2: good night, so we'll talk again, I hope. Okay, Thanks sir,
Speaker 2: Thank you, jam Thank you very much. We got you
Speaker 2: in at least a little bit. Roxana, thank you very much,
Speaker 2: Best of luck. On November fifth, Question three, I think
Speaker 2: that the driver should have right to unionize in my opinion,
Speaker 2: and maybe later on you bring the other people in
Speaker 2: as well. Thanks so much for being with us tonight
Speaker 2: and thanks for dusting your schedule so we can.
Speaker 3: Have you back to back with the other point of view.
Speaker 4: Thanks so much, Roxanna, thank you, thank you.
Speaker 3: Have a great night. Here comes to ten o'clock News.
Speaker 2: We're going to switch off focus, going to talk about
Speaker 2: Israel're going to talk with the Boston attorney who was
Speaker 2: there on October seventh and went back earlier this month
Speaker 2: and comes back with stories about what's going on in
Speaker 2: Israel right now. Israel under siege. It's a crazy situation
Speaker 2: over there. And Jason Greenberg will join us right after
Speaker 2: the ten o'clock News