Mark MacGann, the whistleblower behind the so-called Uber Files, stated on Wednesday that the ride-hailing firm appeared to be taking steps towards enhancing its work tradition, however that its enterprise mannequin was nonetheless “absolutely” unsustainable.

The Guardian and Le Monde newspapers reported in July that Uber broke legal guidelines and secretly lobbied politicians as a part of an aggressive drive to broaden into new markets from 2013 to 2017.

MacGann, who led Uber’s lobbying efforts to win over governments, recognized himself because the supply who leaked the greater than 124,000 firm recordsdata.

MacGann stated he determined to talk out as a result of he believed Uber knowingly infringed legal guidelines and misled individuals about the advantages to drivers of the corporate’s gig-economy mannequin.

Uber stated in July, in response to the Guardian and Le Monde experiences: “We have not and will not make excuses for past behaviour that is clearly not in line with our present values.”

MacGann stated Uber’s present CEO, Dara Khosrowshahi, and his government workforce “have done a lot of good things, but they have so, so far to go.”

When requested for a remark, an Uber spokesman on Wednesday referred Reuters to a 2020 New York Times opinion piece by Khosrowshahi through which he stated “our current employment system is outdated and unfair.”

Khosrowshahi had stated gig staff would lose the pliability they’ve at present in the event that they grew to become staff and that rides can be dearer. The CEO wrote that staff need each flexibility and advantages and added that new legal guidelines are required to assist them.

“I’m proposing that gig economy companies be required to establish benefits funds which give workers cash that they can use for the benefits they want, like health insurance or paid time off,” Khosrowshahi wrote within the op-ed.

“My message to Uber is: ‘you’ve done well, (but) you can do it so much better (because) the current model is absolutely not sustainable,'” MacGann advised a information convention throughout Europe’s largest tech convention, the Web Summit, in Lisbon.

He stated Uber just lately reiterated that the “core of its business model is independent contractors, since everybody wants to be self-employed, everybody wants flexibility.”

He stated the details, nonetheless, contradict this view as there are Uber drivers suing the corporate in varied nations to “have a basic minimum of social protection such as sick pay.”

“Uber is pumping tens of millions of dollars in Europe, United States, other parts of the world fighting legislation,” he stated.

© Thomson Reuters 2022