A group of investors in Uber Technologies is calling on the ride-hailing service to disclose more information on how it pays drivers, saying a clearer breakdown is critical to assessing the company’s ability to make money.
SOC Investment Group, an adviser to labour union pension funds representing a stake of less than 1 per cent in Uber, is proposing a resolution at the company’s shareholder meeting next year that would require the firm to regularly disclose a more granular breakdown of driver compensation. Uber doesn’t, for example, currently separate out its payments to drivers, to restaurants and to insurance providers as part of its “gross bookings” in quarterly financial statements.
SOC said in its proposal that the company’s practice is “unusually opaque” and leaves investors in the dark on how much in commissions Uber is taking, how driver pay has changed over time and whether drivers are earning a “living income”. Uber declined to comment.
While the investors represented by SOC hold a relatively small stake in Uber, SOC itself has taken on high-profile companies including Tesla and Starbucks with some success. In 2022, JPMorgan agreed to a third-party audit of its US$30 billion racial-equity commitment after the group took up the matter. It also rallied support for a McDonald’s resolution that required the company to audit how its practices may be contributing to social and racial inequities.
Uber has faced a shareholder proposal related to driver treatment before: Achmea Investment Management called for a third-party audit on the health and safety policies of the company’s drivers in May. Investors overwhelmingly rejected the proposal, even as labour advocates globally push for better pay and protections for gig workers employed as independent contractors.
SOC met with an investor relations representative for Uber to discuss its proposal, said Richard Clayton, a research director for the group. But he said Uber later followed up by email to ask that the group withdraw its resolution, saying the current level of disclosure was appropriate.
“Their regular disclosures need to include all material information, not just once in a while,” Clayton said in an interview.
Uber can try to keep SOC’s resolution from becoming a voting matter at its annual meeting by filing a “no-action” request with the US Securities and Exchange Commission. If that happens, SOC would have the right to present its arguments before the regulator decides. BLOOMBERG
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