Secretary Elaine Chao: Stop Funding Major Job Loss!

The Department of Transportation must stop funding self-driving cars, a technology that the DOT and Uber are spearheading, risking the jobs of almost 10 million people. We’re calling on Secretary Elaine Chao to end taxpayer-subsidized job loss and keep Uber from deleting drivers.

Uber has been under fire recently for leaked footage of CEO Travis Kalanick’s gross behavior towards one of his company’s drivers, telling him that drivers “don’t like to take responsibility” for the problems they face working for Uber, plus several allegations of a hostile and sexist work environment by current and former employees.

This is nothing new for Uber -- the company has profited from the exploitation of its workers for years. Since Uber drivers are classified as independent contractors, they don’t have access to full benefits and health insurance.

While Uber claims its drivers get to “be their own boss,”they are victims of constantly changing rates, which only keep getting lower and lower. This means poverty wages for the drivers Uber relies on.

Adding insult to injury, the Department of Transportation is funding research for self-driving cars, which Uber plans to use so they can get rid of drivers to increase their profits. While the company claims that driverless cars will be cheaper for riders, they haven’t said anything about how self-driving cars will impact the lives of their own drivers.

The Department of Transportation should not be funding Silicon Valley billionaires so they can line their pockets even more. DOT must stop funding a technology that will leave over 300,000 Uber drivers unemployed.