Uber to hold driver recruitment meetings in Windsor

The ride-sharing service Uber will be holding driver recruitment meetings in Windsor, CBC News has learned.

Emails to prospective drivers were sent out Sunday night, though a spokeswoman for the company said it was part of Uber's regular efforts to gauge driver interest in the area.         

"Gauging driver partner interest is an essential component of the analysis we undertake when considering expansion and is something we do in cities across Canada," Susie Heath, an Uber spokesperson said in an email to CBC News.

The service lists at least three current job postings for the Windsor area on the job search website, Indeed.com. The most recent appears to have been posted Oct. 30.

Taxi driver speaks out

Uber has been met with protest in several other Canadian cities where it operates, particularly Toronto and Ottawa.

Ali El-Khatib has been a Windsor cabbie for 20 years and doesn't think there is enough business for Uber to operate alongside licensed taxis. 

"Uber will take our business," El-Khatib said. "Business is not going to increase with Uber. It's going to be dispersed or divided by so many people working the street."

"I believe it's going to destroy jobs. Now we make minimum wage if we work 10 hours. If they bring in Uber, it's going to go down under minimum wage."

John Toth, vice president of Unifor Local 195 representing 326 taxi drivers at Veterans Cab, said Uber needs to be held to the same rules as taxi drivers.

"Uber's business model would not comply with the City of Windsor's bylaws as they currently exist," he said. "To allow Uber to come in, there has to be a level playing field between the people currently driving and playing by the rules and Uber, which doesn't adhere to those rules."

"There's a huge gap between the Uber business model and the City of Windsor guidelines regulating the taxi industry," he said.  "The elimination of those rules is the only way Uber can operate in the City of Windsor".

Mayor welcomes Uber 

Mayor Drew Dilkens recently asked city council to look at amending regulations to allow the service to operate, in the event the service started operations in Windsor.

"I know they're coming," Dilkens said in a phone interview Monday. "You just have to look at their website and you can see they're in Toronto, Kitchener-Waterloo and have London on their radar screen, so we would be the next natural location for them to arrive."

Dilkens said he wants to avoid the legal battles that have accompanied Uber's arrival in other cities.

"I want to actually have a different experience here," he said. "I want it to be positive. I don't want to spend a lot of money fighting them with legal fees."

Dilkens said regulations would aim to protect public safety through driver screening and background checks, vehicle safety checks and making sure Uber and its drivers have proper insurance covering passengers.

Since Uber is not a taxi company, some of the current regulations related to taxis — like dome lights and trip meters —wouldn't apply to it.

El-Khatib says the mayor's stance amounts to a death sentence for the local taxi industry.

"I don't believe it's fair. The city should stop any illegal cab from entering the city to keep us working," he said.

"The mayor should protect us, not destroy us."