Uber, the union busting, taxi scabbing, law flouting, sexual harassment-plagued ride share company today announced that Seattlites will be able to use the app to tip their drivers. The company is also rolling out the option in Minneapolis and Houston, and plans to bring it to every city in its market by the end of July.
The announcement brings Uber up to speed with Lyft, another anti-union ride share company once known for putting fuzzy, pink mustaches on cars.
“You’ve told us what you want, and now it’s time we step up and give you the driving experience you deserve, because simply put, Uber wouldn’t exist without you,” the company wrote to drivers in a statement. Over the next 180 days, the company says it will introduce new improvements to help its drivers.
Among them: Wages for when riders take forever to get to the car because they’re in the fucking bathroom or something, reduced time windows for cancellation fees for when would-be riders can’t make up their damn mind about transportation, and the option of driver injury protection insurance for drivers who get hurt working for a company that tried to block them from forming a union.
The announcement comes amid a string of scandals amounting to a public relations nightmare. Recently, David Bonderman, an investor in the KeyArena project, resigned from Uber’s board of directors after it was revealed that he made a sexist comment during a meeting called to address the company’s culture. Uber CEO Travis Kalanick recently began a leave of absence to grieve his recently-passed mother, though it’s hard not to imagine that the mounting scandals played a role in that decision.
More in NEWS
Local (and not-so-local) news from your favorite writers.
