China News Service, September 27. According to the US "World Journal" report, the "National Atlas of Equity", an organization that promotes racial equality and common prosperity, recently released the latest survey results show that since November 3, 2020, California, the 22nd After the No. 1 referendum was passed and implemented, Uber and Lyft drivers earned only 6.2 yuan per hour (US dollars, the same below).

However, Chinese online car-hailing drivers in Los Angeles say they earn more than the minimum hourly wage in California and are reluctant to do other jobs.

  The National Atlas of Equity provides actionable data and strategies for racial and economic equity movement leaders and policymakers looking to achieve racial equity and shared prosperity.

The atlas used was produced by PolicyLink and the Equity Research Institute of the University of Southern California (ERI).

  The survey counted 12,500 orders from 55 ride-hailing drivers between November and December 2021.

Those drivers made a total median hourly earnings of $26.30, including bonuses paid by ride-hailing companies to drivers and tips from passengers, the report said.

If these drivers work for the car-hailing company as full-time employees, the car-hailing company will pay for the expenses incurred while driving and purchasing unemployment insurance and work-related injury compensation.

  But since the implementation of Referendum 22, all California ride-hailing drivers have been classified as independent contractors, not employees of the company, and therefore cannot enjoy company benefits.

Therefore, excluding driving costs such as fuel costs, and deducting this part of the fees that should have been paid by the company, the final median net income is only 6.2 yuan per hour.

  After the report was released, a Lyft spokesperson said that the survey results are inaccurate and do not reflect the actual situation of the current driver group, because there are more than 1 million vacancies in traditional industries in California. If these survey results are true, drivers are completely unnecessary. Keep doing this work.

  According to the Chinese driver of the online car-hailing, it also confirms that the above-mentioned investigation results are not correct.

  Mr. Fang, an online car-hailing driver who lives in Rosmeet, said he was originally a tourist bus driver, but he switched to a Lyft driver due to the sluggish tourism industry during the epidemic.

  Mr. Fang said, for example, on September 25, he set off at 7:10 in the morning, and after driving for seven hours, he received a total fare of 170 yuan from the Lyft platform. Taxes to be paid, but tax deductible.

  Mr. Fang pointed out that the current profit is indeed much lower than that of the epidemic last year. In the past, car-hailing companies would still have rewards, but now there is basically nothing.

Excluding fuel costs, I can earn about 25 yuan per hour.

"But I used to make more money driving a tourist bus than this."

  Another driver, Mr. Chen, who takes orders on Uber, said he earns an average of about 20 yuan an hour.

But now oil is expensive, and the cost of driving a gasoline-powered car is simply too high.

Helpless to catch up with the "new car shortage", the gasoline-electric hybrid cars that were booked in February have not been able to arrive so far, so they can only continue to drive gasoline-powered cars to work.

  "My car costs about 2.2-2.5 yuan per mile, and if I switch to a hybrid car, I can save at least 20 yuan a day," Mr. Chen said.

  However, both drivers said that compared with their current jobs, they would not choose those jobs with an hourly salary of 16-20 yuan per hour. Even if the vehicle wear and tear and the payment of medical insurance are considered, they still earn more. More than the California minimum wage and a lot more freedom in working hours.

  California Proposition 22 is supported by ride-hailing companies such as Uber and Lyft. The main content is to classify ride-hailing drivers as independent contractors rather than regular employees of ride-hailing companies, so companies are not required to provide these drivers with general employee benefits Assure.

In November 2020, California voters passed Referendum 22 with 58.6% in favor and 41.4% against.

(Zhao Jian)