Uber is politically toxic: Uber is a Taxi Cab Company, not a 'ride hailing service'. One more Neo-Liberal grift. exposed as Corporate Thievery!
Old Socialist collects the damming evidence, provided by Le Monde and Politico.
July 10, 2022 :
Headline: Uber Files: An unprecedented and shocking dive into the black box of lobbying
NEWS ANALYSIS: The investigation by 'Le Monde' and its partners illustrates how a multinational company can use colossal means, high-level influence games and dubious methods to change the law to its advantage.
It's an unprecedented dive into the black box of lobbying. Le Monde and its partners accessed more than 18 gigabytes of internal data – emails, presentations, meeting minutes – from Uber. The data, originally sent to the British daily The Guardian, was analyzed by more than 40 newsrooms around the world under the supervision of the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ). The data includes documents from Uber's "hottest" period: the 2014-2016 years, during which the company set up shop in France in particular, while taxis violently protested and questions were raised about the company's model of not using labor contracts.
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This huge quantity of documents describes in detail the way Uber used all the tricks of the lobbying trade to try to change the law to its advantage, in France and beyond. The company was not content with making the usual contacts at all levels of politics and administration. It also wrote amendments that it sent to members of parliament sympathetic to its cause and hired agencies with dubious methods to conduct influence campaigns. It paid academics to write studies carefully framed to be favorable to them and it called on the resources of American diplomacy. And it even secretly helped create an "independent" organization of professional drivers, while actually controlling the organization's work.
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https://www.lemonde.fr/en/les-decodeurs/article/2022/07/10/uber-files-an-unprecedented-and-shocking-dive-into-the-black-box-of-lobbying_5989665_8.html
July 10, 2022:
Headline: Uber Files: Revelations on the secret 'deal' with then economy minister Emmanuel Macron
INVESTIGATION Internal company documents analyzed by 'Le Monde' show how, in 2014-2015, Mr. Macron worked behind the scenes for the ride-hailing company, which was trying to impose deregulation of the market and faced the hostility of the French government.
On October 1, 2014, at midnight, a new French law came into effect, with severe regulations on the conditions for becoming an Uber driver, three years after the American company's arrival in France. The Thévenoud Law, as it was called, de facto banned UberPop, a service that caused an uproar among taxi drivers in France by allowing anyone to become an occasional driver. But at 8:30 that morning, it was a rather unusual Uber vehicle that parked in front of 145 Rue de Bercy – the entrance to the Ministry of Economy and Finance used by guests visiting Emmanuel Macron, who had been appointed to head the ministry one month earlier.
Inside the Mercedes Viano van were four Uber heavyweights: Pierre-Dimitri Gore-Coty, the Western Europe director, now in charge of Uber Eats; Mark MacGann, the chief lobbyist for Europe-Africa-Middle East; David Plouffe, the former Barack Obama advisor newly appointed as Uber's vice president; and the company's founder and CEO himself, Travis Kalanick.
An hour later, the hardcore lobbying team emerged stunned from Mr. Macron's office. "In one word: spectacular. Unheard of. Lots of work ahead, but we'll be dancing soon ;)" wrote Mark MacGann in a short debrief sent to his colleagues in the aftermath. "Mega top meeting with Emmanuel Macron this morning. France loves us after all," he also wrote.
https://www.lemonde.fr/en/les-decodeurs/article/2022/07/10/uber-files-revelations-on-the-secret-deal-with-then-economy-minister-emmanuel-macron_5989667_8.html
July 10, 2022:
Headline: Uber Files: When the company courted French billionaires, hoping for VIP lobbyists
Sub-headline: In 2015, Uber's CEO convinced French billionaires Bernard Arnault and Xavier Niel to invest several million euros, with the hope that they would use their influence on the French government.
On January 21, 2015, Travis Kalanick was ready to pull out all the stops. Visiting Paris, the Uber CEO hoped to convince two of the great beasts of French capitalism to invest in his company, which for many, was still only a curious object, halfway between a transport company and a tech start-up.
The seduction operation started at noon at Apicius, a chic restaurant in the 8th arrondissement of Paris, where he was invited to lunch by Xavier Niel, the founder of the telephone operator Free (and an individual shareholder in Le Monde). It continued a few hours later, on the other side of the Champs-Elysées, at the headquarters of LVMH, where he met Bernard Arnault, the all-powerful boss of the luxury company. Between them, the two Frenchmen are worth over 35 billion euros. But Mr. Kalanick was not after their wealth. It was their political influence that he was looking to buy.
This is the stated aim of the "Cheetah" project revealed by the Uber Files investigation by Le Monde and various media partners, including The Guardian. This round of financing, worth several hundred million dollars, was opened a few months earlier by Uber's management. They intended to recruit "strategic investors" from all over the world with sufficient clout to defend the cavalier methods of the American company against uncooperative governments. "We're interested in them helping us in France, and investing personally is a good way for them to have skin in the game. We don't need their money per se but could be useful allies to win France," wrote Pierre-Dimitri Gore-Coty, the group's general manager in Western Europe, in an email.
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https://www.lemonde.fr/en/les-decodeurs/article/2022/07/10/uber-files-when-the-company-courted-french-billionaires-hoping-for-vip-lobbyists_5989666_8.html
July 10, 2022:
Headline: Uber Files: Company paid economists to endorse its arguments
Sub-headline: Uber paid experts including French economists Nicolas Bouzou and Augustin Landier to conduct custom studies and come to its defense in the media.
In the spring of 2014, Uber had a tarnished image in Europe. The platform was accused of creating a new category of underpaid and unprotected jobs. The idea of tightening regulations or even banning the app was gaining ground. The start-up sought to force a different narrative on policymakers and the media: the story of a tech company structuring the informal economy and creating jobs by the thousands.
"What we cruelly lack in France right now is precisely scientific/academic evidence supporting our arguments," insisted an Uber executive in an e-mail that Le Monde was able to read as part of the international Uber Files investigation. Hence the idea of finding an academic guarantor, "proving that our nice decks are not mere marketing but reflect deeper realities."
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One name quickly stands out: Augustin Landier. At 39, this economics professor, a regular guest in the media, had just been distinguished "best young economist" of 2014 by Le Monde, the Sénat and the Cercle des économistes, a think tank. As icing on the cake, he taught at the Toulouse School of Economics alongside Nobel Prize winner Jean Tirole.
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The interest was mutual. From the very first exchanges, at the beginning of 2015, Augustin Landier and his co-author David Thesmar agreed in principle to carry out a study on behalf of Uber. The 100,000 euro fee they asked for was debated within the Californian company, but the operation's appeal won out. "The key message is jobs... we will milk the Landier report every possible way to get a return on investment," wrote a lobbyist.
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https://www.lemonde.fr/en/les-decodeurs/article/2022/07/10/uber-files-company-paid-economists-to-endorse-its-arguments_5989668_8.html
July 10 , 2022:
Headline: ‘We’re just f---ing illegal’: Leaked documents show Uber thwarted police and secretly courted politicians
Sub-headline: The ride-share service is under investigation after texts, emails, memos and other documents reveal how executives engaged in questionable practices during its global expansion.
Uber consistently circumvented regulations, thwarted police and secretly courted lawmakers to pave the way for its questionable practices as it expanded into new cities around the world, according to leaked documents obtained by The Guardian.
The ride-share service and Silicon Valley giant is under investigation for unethical practices after a plethora of explosive texts, emails, memos and other documents were provided to the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists.
The documents span the company’s operations from 2013 to 2017 under Travis Kalanick, its billionaire co-founder. As the company rapidly expanded into new cities around the world — and faced vast global backlash for defying regional laws — top executives privately acknowledged their practices and laughed them off in internal communications with Kalanick, according to The Guardian and ICIJ. One executive even referred to the group as “pirates” and said that “we’re just fucking illegal.”
During this period, Uber tried to recover its image by courting politicians, including President Emmanuel Macron of France. Texts show how Macron went out of his way to bolster Uber’s growth in France and allowed the company to maintain regular communication with his immediate staff.
He is just one of many government leaders, billionaires and media moguls the company secretly lobbied to cover up what the reports say were unlawful practices.
When one executive raised concerns about Uber drivers facing potential violence from angry competitors in the taxi industry, Kalanick reportedly said that “I think it’s worth it” and that “violence guarantees success.” A Kalanick spokesperson denied that he ever suggested exploiting violence against the app’s drivers.
https://www.politico.com/news/2022/07/10/uber-investigation-global-expansion-00044914
I have highlighted Kalanick’s motto “violence guarantees success.”!
Old Socialist