Uber drivers strike in pay and transparency row

Uber drivers in Newcastle held a picket line outside the company's office in the Bigg Market on Tuesday

A group of Uber drivers have gone on strike in a row over pay and fee transparency.

The Newcastle drivers, who do not have formal union representation, gathered to protest outside the company's office by the Bigg Market.

Changes made by Uber following a Supreme Court judgement in 2021 mean drivers no longer know how much a customer has paid, only their own fee, which they say is "unfair".

Uber has been approached for comment.

The court ruled Uber drivers should be considered employees, meaning they would be entitled to minimum wage and holiday pay.

At the time, drivers would take payment from customers and pay the firm a set 25% fee.

Uber has now changed this process to handle payments itself, forwarding a fee to drivers, who have complained there is no transparency over what share they receive.

Abdul Khan, 35, from Fenham, who joined the protest on Tuesday, said he had been driving for Uber for two years but "didn’t get paid enough" and he felt that "this is going to happen again this year".

He said he spent between 12 and 13 hours a day either working or waiting for fares.

"People can't take home even £100 - if they do, it's only going to pay for fuel," he said.

Driver Mohammed Rahman said customers are also getting a bad deal

Mohammed Rahman, 31, has been an Uber driver for five years and said drivers and customers are getting a bad deal.

"We've seen a lot of customers paying double, triple the fare," he said.

"For example, if we take a 10-mile job, that might give us £7 or £8, but customers are paying £20 or £30.

"They don't show us anymore what they're charging - just what we'll make and I don't think that’s fair."

Newcastle City Council said while it has no jurisdiction over Uber’s relationship with its drivers, it was aware of their concerns.

"We have sought to discuss the matter with Uber, to better understand the situation, and will continue to monitor the company as we would any of our 81 licenced private hire operators," a spokesperson said.