Uber faces a potential reckoning over both its past lobbying practices and the future rights of its gig workers when senior executive-turned-whistleblower Mark MacGann testifies before European Parliament lawmakers on Tuesday.
The much-anticipated hearing follows July reports about Uber's lobbying playbook from 2013-2017, as it sought to win over European governments when it launched on the Continent. The so-called Uber Files revealed close ties between Uber and politicians such as Emmanuel Macron — then French economy minister — and suggested the company “weaponise[d]” its drivers to influence national governments.
The Uber Files investigation stemmed from documents leaked by MacGann, the company’s former top lobbyist in Europe, who identified himself as the whistleblower in an interview with the Guardian, which led reporting on the story. After addressing European lawmakers on Parliament’s employment committee, MacGann will turn to a broader audience at the Web Summit tech fair in Lisbon next week.
But it isn’t just Uber’s past lobbying behavior that’s of interest to MEPs; they also want to sway opinion in the debate over future legislation on platform work.
The lawmakers whom MacGann will address are in the final stretch of negotiations on the bloc’s platform work bill, a proposal that could reclassify up to 4.1 million gig workers as employees instead of independent contractors.
Such a shift could heavily impact Uber’s business...
By Daniel Dale, CNN (CNN) — President Donald Trump made false claims about inflation and birthright citizenship in an interview with CNBC on Tuesday morning. Inflation CNBC anchor Joe Kernen corre...