The Stranger, 9/1/2015:
All this lack of clarity about what happened, why, and what the protocol is shows exactly why drivers like Gobena should be able to bargain over working conditions, argue O'Brien and other supporters.
Working Washington spokesperson Sage Wilson says it’s particularly relevant that as an employee Gobena would have the explicit right to organize with coworkers and not be fired for it, but that as an independent contractor, Uber isn’t bound by those same rules. “It’s as if Uber wanted us all to have a teachable moment on arbitrary discipline and the right to organize,” Wilson says.
Gobena says that if he could bargain, he'd ask for a more clear policy explaining how the company warns drivers about issues like expired insurance before it simply deactivates their accounts.
Drivers, O'Brien said yesterday, "live in fear of waking up and seeing they have been deactivated."