The president of APTAD, Ivo Fernandes, has criticized Uber Portugal’s recent decision to lower the fare per kilometer to €0.52 while maintaining the minute rate at an “unacceptable” €0.08, calling it “irresponsible, unjustifiable, and a total disregard for drivers and operators who provide daily service.”
Last week, Uber and the National Union of Industry and Energy (SINDEL) signed a memorandum of understanding establishing a new working model for digital platform-based work, with protections adapted to the realities of these workers.
The memorandum stipulates that Uber will ensure that any courier or driver choosing to be represented by SINDEL will “not receive less than the national minimum wage” during their service period on the platforms, regardless of the consumer price points.
Ivo Fernandes questions the rationale behind further reducing prices shortly after Uber’s announcement that it would begin compensating according to the minimum wage.
“This is a contradiction only worsens precariousness, destroys income, and pushes thousands of workers into undignified remuneration levels,” Fernandes claims.
He urgently calls on the government to “immediately change the law,” arguing it is “evident that current legislation fully supports these harmful practices and leaves drivers and operators without any protection.”
According to Ivo Fernandes, it is “publicly and notoriously” known that with current tariffs, no driver can earn a “decent income,” nor can any operating company maintain a “sustainable operation.”
“The current law, as it stands, allows platforms to impose destructive prices without concern for their economic and social impact,” states the letter.
Fernandes reminds that in a legislative amendment proposal submitted to the government, he advocated for two measures to “halt the sector’s erosion”: a minimum occupancy rate (a dynamic quota that automatically adjusts the number of vehicles based on actual demand, preventing market saturation) and mandatory minimum fares (per minute and per kilometer rates not dropping below the real operating cost).
The APTAD asserts in the letter that it will continue to expose “without hesitation any practices that undermine the economic dignity of the TVDE sector.”
The agreement between Uber and the union “introduces a new representation model” adapted to the working realities of digital platforms, enabling “all drivers and couriers to choose if and how they want to be represented based on their activity levels.”
According to the platform, the memorandum provides all participating drivers and couriers “insurance that includes protections in case of accident, temporary or permanent disability, illness, parenthood, and death.”
The National Association Movement TVDE (ANM-TVDE) has also commented on the agreement, regretting that SINDEL, the union that “should serve and protect digital platform workers,” has chosen to act “as Uber’s commercial intermediary.”
