A leak revealed by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists has exposed a set of bad practices by Uber in its implementation policy in major cities around the world. According to this information, the American company managed to penetrate many markets thanks to a strategy that involved breaking laws, deceiving and lobbying in the highest spheres. The Californian company itself has admitted errors in this line, but has wanted to make it clear that they are part of its previous stage, before the revolution in its direction from 2017.
The more than 124,000 documents that make up the Uber Files expose the ethically questionable practices of the company that Travis Kalanick ran at the time and that went through courting prime ministers, presidents, billionaires, oligarchs and media moguls.
The leaked documents are dated between 2013 and 2017 and include communications from Kalanick himself with his managers. One of them acknowledges that they behave like “pirates” and in another leaked document he adds, in a diaphanous way: “We are simply fucking illegal.”
There are 40 countries affected by the documents gathered by the British newspaper The Guardian, which has shared them with 180 journalists from 29 countries.
In response, from Uber they have underlined their change of course since the change in the company’s direction: “We have not made and will not make excuses for past behaviors that are clearly not consistent with our current values.” “We ask that they judge us for what we have done in the last five years and for what we will do in the coming years,” they stress from the Californian firm.
Thus, they recognize the “mistakes made in the management of Uber before 2017” and claim the changes that represent “one of the greatest business revolutions in the history of the United States” in the words of Uber director Jill Hazelbaker. In addition, the company defends that from the beginning its “objective” was “to work transparently with governments to find ways to modernize or create new laws that would accommodate new transportation alternatives.”
“We have moved from an era of confrontation to one of collaboration, demonstrating time and time again a willingness to dialogue and find common ground with long-standing detractors, including unions and taxi companies,” Hazelbaker emphasized, in a statement in which Uber highlights that the company is regulated in more than 10,000 cities around the world. “We work with governments at all levels to improve the lives of those who use our platform, and the cities in which we operate,” she concludes.
In the leak, former CEO Kalanick rejects in a communication with his executives the reluctance to send drivers to a taxi demonstration despite the risk of violence. “I think it’s worth it. Violence guarantees success,” he said in one of the released files.
A spokesman for Kalanick has stressed that “he never suggested that Uber should take advantage of the violence at the expense of driver safety.” “Any insinuation that he did something like that would be totally false,” they insist from the environment of the previous CEO.
In the documents there is a conversation between Kalanick and the current French president, Emmanuel Macron, then Minister of the Economy, which reveals that he secretly helped the company to penetrate France by facilitating access to high officials. Macron even mentions that the company had a secret “agreement” with its rivals within the French government.
Other politicians who were not as responsive were clearly despised by Uber executives, according to these communications. Thus, the German chancellor, Olaf Scholz, demanded an increase in drivers’ wages when he was mayor of Hamburg. “He is a real clown”, commented the leaders of the company.
Until now the US president, Joe Biden, was despised by Kalanick, who commented regarding a planned meeting between the two at the World Economic Forum in Davos that “I have told my people to tell him that every minute he is late is a minute unless he will be with me.” At the time, Biden was Barack Obama’s vice president and one of the company’s strongest supporters.
The business model involved services that were economically unsustainable but that allowed them to control the market in cities around the world, from Moscow to Johannesburg, and put pressure on the authorities so that their application could be used.
In many cities they were successful, but in others their penetration was not as wide and the offensive was redoubled. “It’s a normal part of Uber’s business… Embrace the chaos. You’re doing something important,” Kalanick said of the India entry.
In countries like Belgium, Spain, Italy or France, the conflict reached the streets with serious protests by taxi drivers. In Paris, the company encouraged Uber drivers to participate in counter-demonstrations and civil disobedience actions.
When Kalanick was warned of the risk of a response from “far-right thugs” and that he was “fueling a fight,” he said “it’s worth it.” “Violence guarantees success and you have to face these guys, right?” He riveted. This strategy is in accordance with the proposal of another document in which it is proposed to “use drivers as a weapon” and take advantage of the violence they would suffer “to feed the fire of controversy.”
All this responded to a script that was applied in Italy, Belgium, Spain or Switzerland, according to leaked emails. When hooded men believed to be taxi drivers attacked Uber drivers with hammers in Amsterdam in 2015, the company won concessions from authorities.
Drivers were encouraged to report to the police. “They will be the front page tomorrow. We continue for a few more days with the discourse of violence and later, the solution” in front of the taxi “cartel”, says one of the texts.
“We are not legal in many countries. We should avoid making controversial statements,” recognized one of the managers. “We have officially become pirates,” said another.
