This is a first: the representative bodies of VTC drivers signed an agreement with the platforms this Wednesday, January 18 to establish a minimum income per trip of 7.65 euros, in a sector where social dialogue remains in its infancy despite still weak social rights.
This agreement, which provides for the establishment of a minimum income per trip from February 1, would increase the price of the smallest trip to around 10.20 euros for the passenger on an application like Uber, including commissions. . By comparison, taxis in France have a minimum fare of 7.30 euros.
This is the first minimum price for VTCs since the creation of the Employment Platforms Regulatory Authority (Arpe), which is supposed to organize social dialogue in the sector of VTC drivers and meal delivery, which are very deficient. in terms of social rights, and the holding of professional elections among independent delivery people and VTC drivers in May 2022. These elections, organized to try to regulate the sector, had met with very mixed success with only 1.83% participation among delivery people and 3.91% for VTCs.
The signatories of the agreement – the VTC Association of France (AVF), the National Federation of Autoentrepreneurs and Microentrepreneurs (FNAE), the CFTC and Unsa – welcomed an “unpublished in France” agreement. It will allow “an increase of more than 27% compared to the current lowest net minimum income”, observed these organizations in a joint press release.
An agreement deemed insufficient for three unions
However, three unions out of the seven representatives refused to validate the agreement. Union (affiliated to the CFDT), the Association of Independent Drivers of Lyon (Acil) and FO, which weigh 32.1% between them, clearly considered it insufficient.
The new minimum rate “will not change anything in the daily activity” of drivers, denounced Union in a press release. “Most” VTC (Touring Vehicles with Driver) “do not accept ‘small races’ deemed unprofitable in the face of rising fuel prices and traffic conditions”, explains the union.
At Uber, where the minimum income per race was 6 euros, we welcome this agreement, however, even if “many of these races were declined because they were not profitable enough”, agrees with AFP Laureline Seyries. According to the general manager of Uber France, this agreement “will lead to a better rate of acceptance of races for drivers and better reliability”. The volume of refused races could drop by 5 to 10%, advances Laureline Seyries.
The satisfaction is identical with the competitor Bolt. According to him, this agreement validates the value of the self-employed status and confirms “that an alternative exists to legislative initiatives such as the European directive on platform workers who want to requalify drivers as employees”, reacted the head of public affairs. of the Estonian company for Western Europe, Aurélien Pozzana.
A request for compensation for approach time
On the government side, Labor Minister Olivier Dussopt also welcomed this first agreement, which underlines a “negotiation dynamic” allowing “to improve the social rights of workers in this sector of activity”.
But for Union, it is necessary to revise the ambitions upwards. The union calls for the opening of discussions on the establishment of a minimum income per hour or per kilometer in order to “guarantee a real profitability of the sector”. One of the important demands is, for example, to remunerate approach times. The government, in a press release, also supported this request, calling for such a dialogue to be held on “the more global question of income, in particular the guarantee of an hourly income”.
Uber, which has 32,000 drivers using its platform, says it is open to negotiations but “the management of the number of hours spent on the platform raises questions” because drivers can use several applications at the same time, insists Laureline Seyries.