Posts by Katharine Moody
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Sounds to me like the Employment Relations Act is the one to target Uber on. If a contract is not in place, you are not contractors - that makes you employees to my mind;
http://www.legislation.govt.nz/act/public/2000/0024/latest/DLM58619.html
You should seek a declaratory judgement from the courts with respect to your employment status.
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Speaker: Confessions of an Uber Driver…, in reply to BenWilson,
They’re very good at this kind of tactical rhetoric. The use of the term “ridesharing” is a classic example. They’re not ridesharing, but they trade on general public ignorance of what the idea is to hide the fact that they’re simply not abiding to laws that actually have good reasons behind them. They want the public to think that there’s something conceptually different about an Uber ride to an ordinary taxi ride, that somehow a new economy got created that works by different rules.
I've found this series fascinating, so thanks for the time you've put into explaining it, Ben.
I wonder whether the Silicon Valley 'vision' of Uber corporate is, in the longer-term, to dominate a true ride-sharing business. In other words, lower the entry requirements for drivers ($20 to get registered, no need for a passenger carrying/commercial licence) such that a huge percentage of the population of vehicle owners (say 25% of all vehicle owners) register as drivers (a bit of pocket money on your way to wherever you are going anyway) and at the same time encourage a far greater proportion of the population to leave their car at home (or simply choose not to own a car) and instead use their ride-share platform - all the while clipping the ticket on the huge boom in passenger numbers.
A true ride-sharing model would be a win-win for everyone (and for traffic congestion).
So, are Uber moving toward facilitating/growing a model that we used to call car-pooling - in other words, true ride-sharing? Meantime, they blatantly and intentionally exploit the present workforce that is building up the customer satisfaction and platform recognition. In effect, the passenger/taxi model (which the current business model actually is) isn't what they intend for the long-term. The pressure built into the software to make current drivers 'pick up' (regardless of the economics of it to the driver) will be relaxed as soon as they get the driver numbers up to a certain critical mass?
I'm not saying this current exploitation is ethical, just that perhaps that is their 'end-game' and why Uber corporate is acting the way it is (that is, with no regard for their current workforce).
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Speaker: Are there opportunities within…, in reply to Jackie Clark,
Sorry, I actually thought you put the proposition seriously - and were looking for a roll play type response on how I would approach the question if put to me by someone who wanted to change their diet for the better.
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Speaker: Are there opportunities within…, in reply to Jackie Clark,
Then let’s stick to that, shall we?
Sardines are foul.
I eat quite a lot of McDonalds.Okay. Let me then appeal to you on behalf of your children. What's important is getting them to like sardines from an early age, and this relies on you eating them too.
So you like McDonalds - then I'm guessing you like tomato sauce? Good. Start with the sardines in tomato sauce. And I'm also guessing if you like McDonalds, you like cheese? Good. Spread your sardines in tomato sauce on toast and then grate a bit of cheese on top and grill it in the oven. Eat them this first time, by yourself - in secret. Was it tolerable? Maybe it was even good? If still no, try tuna fish. The important thing is finding one thing in that food group that becomes a part of your weekly routine.
On the McDonalds thing - what's your favourite meal? Whatever it is, try making it at home. If a burger, add grated carrot and/or beetroot to it. If McNuggets, buy Coat 'n Cook and bake small bits of coated chicken thighs/breast, as an alternate to frying. Is this home cooked alternate better? Worse?
Just not the same?
Why not? Is it the taste of the food, or the atmosphere of the place? Or the convenience? Or just the habit/familiarity? Once you understand better why you eat at McDonalds - you might find eating there far less frequently brings you more satisfaction in whatever brings you there in the first place. For example, if its the playground for the kids - the novelty of it will make it just that much better if they haven't been there recently.
In the long run, McDonalds is far more expensive than eating at home. That might be important to you, that might not. McDonalds is not healthy if eaten regularly. There's a good documentary, (I think it's called) Supersize Me. Watch it. Read up on the ingredients in McDonalds food - not what McDonalds tells you, but other, independent analyses.
McDonalds is a tax dodger;
http://www.stuff.co.nz/business/world/68694985/How-McDonalds-dodged-half-a-billion-dollars-in-Australian-taxMcDonalds was a zero-hour contract hold out, until threatened with strike action;
http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/national/272513/deal-to-end-mcdonald's-zero-hour-contractsMcDonalds is one of NZs largest minimum wage employers;
http://www.stuff.co.nz/business/industries/5275901/15-an-hour-too-rich-for-MaccasAnd so on. Is that what you were looking for?
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Speaker: Are there opportunities within…, in reply to Danielle,
What about the green jelly? Isn’t that basically just sugar? WHAT IF I GET ON THE DIALYSIS??
Eat everything in moderation and you won't.
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Speaker: Are there opportunities within…, in reply to HORansome,
Yeah, I agree, subsidising dairy was a bad idea (I completely oppose the government's subsidising of irrigation initiatives, for example) - but folks were calling for a retail price decease on a 'good' food - so it was the first of two drinks (as a substitute for fizzy drink) that came to mind.
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Speaker: Are there opportunities within…, in reply to JacksonP,
That's lovely. The author obviously loves sardines. I can't imagine anything so poetic written about hot chips served in greasy paper.
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Speaker: Are there opportunities within…, in reply to Sacha,
That’s not something you blame individual people for being in.
And I don't - that why we as a society have to change that aspect of our society - the environment. Defending the right to have a vending machine at the school and all-you-can-eat KFC under a banner of personal choice/responsibility isn't helping at all.
Neither is making fun of sardines in a public forum (lol).
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Speaker: Are there opportunities within…, in reply to chris,
Will removing GST on fresh fruit and vegetables achieve its stated aim? (2010) Concl
I agree with that paper. Removing any tax creates a gap in funding somewhere else. But adding a tax on a harmful product with no nutritional value whatsoever, generates revenue - new revenue that can be put to good use elsewhere.
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Speaker: Are there opportunities within…, in reply to Jackie Clark,
If we could stop with the judgements, and actually think properly about what’s causing the problems, we may get somewhere,
Amen. And for the third time, I’ll link to Dr Toomath’s article on this;
http://www.stuff.co.nz/life-style/well-good/5639913/Fighting-a-losing-battle-against-obesity
Where she puts her thesis on what the cause of the problem is:
DR TOOMATH’S thesis is simple, but great fodder for libertarians and the talkback radio crowd. It goes like this: it is not their fault. Obese people did not choose to be that way. No-one would. Instead, they are at the whim first of their genes – especially those that control appetite – and then of an environment that is saturated in energy-dense, crappy food options. The combination means a population that is getting fatter with all the health problems that causes – exploding rates of diabetes chief among them.
And she points out that the “personal responsibility” and “more education” argument is a crock:
Dr Toomath is honest about this. She is not a big believer in free will at the best of times, she says, and especially not in this case. “The idea that we can describe the problem in terms of personal responsibility, you know, that it can be called a choice, a lifestyle choice, it’s crap. There’s no choice … To think that people choose to be obese, and if you educated them better, or if they were more steely and determined, self-denying, that they could not be the shape they are, is just rubbish.”
So, what’s left? Tax and environment.