Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez slammed Uber's 'classism' for having separate bathrooms for drivers and employees in one of its offices

Sinéad Baker

December 5, 2019 12:12 PM

Stephen Maturen/Getty Images

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez accused Uber of "classism" after finding out one of its offices had separate bathrooms for drivers and employees.
An Uber driver who visited an Uber office in Rhode Island tweeted a photo of two bathrooms, one for "partners" (drivers) and one for "employees."
An Uber spokesperson confirmed the setup to Vice's Motherboard , saying: "This was a mistake and we regret it. We are removing the signs and have made it clear that this was not appropriate."
Ocasio-Cortez tweeted in response to the article: "Siri, show me what classism looks like."
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Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez slammed Uber for "classism" after a report claimed that its offices have separate bathrooms for drivers and employees.

An Uber driver who visited an Uber office in Providence, Rhode Island tweeted a photo of two bathrooms on Wednesday, one for "partners" (drivers) and one for "employees." Uber's contracts do not call drivers its employees which is the subject of much dispute and instead as "partners."

Uber confirmed the setup to Vice's Motherboard later that day, saying via a spokesperson: "This was a mistake and we regret it. We are removing the signs and have made it clear that this was not appropriate."

Ocasio-Cortez tweeted in response to the article: "Siri, show me what classism looks like." The tweet referred to a popular online meme featuring Apple's Siri assistant software.

It is not clear whether any other Uber offices had, or still have, this bathroom arrangement.

The Rhode Island office is one of Uber's Greenlight Hubs, Motherboard reported. The company describes these hubs as places where drivers can get in-person information and support.

Erika Betts, the driver who took the photo of the bathrooms, told Motherboard that: "I feel the bathroom division is obscure and uncalled for."

"I feel the company's driver support system is laughable at best."

"The Greenlight Hub is the best option drivers have, despite the limited authority provided by the hub representatives."

Ocasio-Cortez has previously criticised Uber's "unregulated expansion," tweeting after a taxi driver's suicide in New York that: "Yellow cab drivers are in financial ruin due to the unregulated expansion of Uber. What was a living wage job now pays under minimum."

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