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Uber Drivers Could Block San Francisco on Super Bowl Sunday with Protest

Uber drivers in San Francisco are angry because the company that runs the service was inconsiderate and promised to lower fares by up to 20% on the day of the Super Bowl in the South Bay Area.
Protest against Uber 1 photo
Photo: Flickr user Aaron Parecki - aaronparecki.com
In response to the situation, around 200 drivers protested on February 1, 2016, and now they threaten to boycott the Super Bowl 50 and block San Francisco.

The drivers are upset because Uber announced that it would slash prices for rides in San Francisco by 10%, while the rides in South Bay will benefit from a 20% fare reduction when the game takes place.

This is great news if you are an Uber customer that day, but if you drive an Uber car and see that you are going to make 20% less money, you probably have the right to be upset.

The company guarantees that the drivers will earn $35 per hour in San Francisco during peak times, Fox Sports reports, but this is just a statement from a company spokesperson.

However, the Uber drivers feel that the company is ripping them off and want a better offer. Considering Uber’s terms of service, its drivers are not actual employees, but contractors, so their rights are limited and can’t organize themselves for collective bargaining.

This is not the first time Uber drivers are enraged by the company’s practices, and it does not seem like the situation will come to an end shortly.

Super Bowl organizers are concerned, as the event involves massive funding, and they may end up losing money if fans do not get to the game or, even worse, if the teams' buses get stuck in the traffic jam.

Either way, if Uber drivers boycott this event on Sunday, a massive scandal is coming the company’s way.

As our American readers surely know, the Super Bowl 50 game is held on February 7, 2016, at Levi’s Stadium in California. The match will decide the champion of the 2015 season in the National Football League.

If you follow the NFL, you already know that the final of 2015 is a competition between the Carolina Panthers and the Denver Broncos. This event is of massive importance even to those who are not into sports, as it involves huge advertising budgets and is the most viewed final in the world.

Uber Drivers Protest in San Francisco, February 1, 2016

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About the author: Sebastian Toma
Sebastian Toma profile photo

Sebastian's love for cars began at a young age. Little did he know that a career would emerge from this passion (and that it would not, sadly, involve being a professional racecar driver). In over fourteen years, he got behind the wheel of several hundred vehicles and in the offices of the most important car publications in his homeland.
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