Right now free market capitalism is dead.
Its global supply chain model has been laid bare for the exploitation it’s always been by a virus that births a culture that now only trusts local and wants walls built to expel the outside.
It means the State must step in as the largest employer until a vaccine is available, it means ways of life are changed.
The fracturing of neoliberal capitalism demands leaders prepared to use the full force of the State to reshape the economic hegemony.
Symbolism matters and that’s why Jacinda and Grant have an opportunity to show they mean business by rebuilding the economy.
Smack Uber down hard…
Covid 19 coronavirus: Uber Eats charges another peril for restaurants
As restaurants hammered by the Covid-19 lockdown prepare to partially reopen for business, they have been dealt another blow after ever-growing delivery service Uber Eats fended off hopes it would drop its commission rate.
Uber Eats charges between 30-35 per cent on all orders, and with profit margins for food outlets set at around 3-5 per cent, many business owners have been losing money on the service.
A week out from the country leaving lockdown alert level 4, Restaurant Association boss Marisa Bidois revealed that the body had hoped Uber Eats would drop its commission rate.
She also revealed it had called on the Government to enforce a cap on commission rates for all third-party delivery companies.
…San Francisco has already capped the fee...
The Association is now urging the Government to implement a cap on commissions charged by food delivery platforms, following the lead of San Francisco, where Uber originated.
This week, the city’s Mayor placed a 15 percent cap on commissions in the Bay Area for the duration of the COVID-19 pandemic, a move the Association says will “give Kiwi hospitality businesses a fighting chance of survival”.
…transnational parasitic companies like Uber who disrupt the existing local work force and skirt employment law and tax obligations are the bane of a post-pandemic capitalism and smacking them hard would show Jacinda & Grant are serious about the economic reformation that must now take place if they are to survive the economic apocalypse that could still sink their chances at the ballot box in September.
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Agreed 100% there Martyn.
Uber are just another money making sceme entirely.
Using people who are prepared to use their own vehicles to deliver food is just another way of lowering their “overhead costs” and leveling them on low paid people who shouder the costs of transport.
But we should rememeber the worst effects are that using single vehicle deliveries of food will increase the transport “emissions of Climate change” that Uber are sadly free from proving that their bussiness is within the global ’emission’s of green-house targets.
Hahaha neoliberalism is going nowhere, if anything it will become further entrenched because of this pandemic. Expect inequality and poverty to explode as well. Stop being delusional, you know in your heart of hearts that nothing will change, even if it needs to.
The day any internet platform starts charging users money, they’re no longer an online community, they’re a business. As the GDPR makes clear, any government whose citizens that business involves has a right and an obligation to regulate them in the public interest. Uber Eats are not floating in cyberspace, they are in Aotearoa, employing kiwis as drivers and selling delivery services to kiwi food businesses. The NZ government must not let the technology used confuse them into giving app-based businesses special treatment.
A 15 percent cap on commissions in the Bay Area for the duration of the COVID-19 pandemic – excellent idea – these mega companies are destroying worker conditions while semi-legally paying less taxes!
Uber Created a $6.1 Billion Dutch Weapon to Avoid Paying Taxes
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-08-08/uber-created-a-6-1-billion-dutch-weapon-to-avoid-paying-taxes
Big multinational companies seem to be NZ’s governments adoration… they can do no wrong! Big business has NZ’s best interests as heart and are completely trustworthy, don’t they?
Google shifted $23 billion to tax haven Bermuda in 2017: filing
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-google-taxes-netherlands-idUSKCN1OX1G9
Google pays €47m in tax in Ireland on €22bn sales revenue
https://www.theguardian.com/business/2016/nov/04/google-pays-47m-euros-tax-ireland-22bn-euros-revenue
Uber are greedy sods.
Facts: “Promotions
Restaurants and the Uber Eats app are open for business again in New Zealand starting Tuesday, 28 April.
We’re committed to supporting our restaurant community during this difficult time and have launched a series of restaurant initiatives aimed at supporting them as they get back on track.
V We’re giving independent restaurants in New Zealand and Australia up to $5 million to use on in-app promotions for their customers.
V No service fees for restaurants on Pickup orders – until 30 June 2020.
V No sign-up fees for new restaurants and caterers – until 4 May 2020.
V Restaurants can choose to receive their payments daily.
V You can add a tip to your order – the restaurant will receive 100% of it.”
It’s so sad to see how these big companies are ripping off small business. I found a kiwi made alternative that lets you set up an online store for free – https://www.swiftly.nz/
Hopefully more people wake up to the need for cooperation during this time.
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