Video showing attack on Uber driver triggers calls for better protection for gig workers

Update — Apr. 28, 2023: Police said they arrested 38-year-old William Tickle of Abbotsford on Thursday evening in connection with Sood's attack. The B.C. Prosecution Service has approved charges of assault causing bodily harm and uttering threats. Tickle remained in custody on Friday, awaiting a court appearance later in the day.

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An Uber driver who captured video of himself being attacked by a passenger is asking for more robust safety protocols for the ride-hailing service.

Abbotsford, B.C., resident Aman Sood says he has been unable to work consistently following the early-morning attack last Tuesday, which has prompted calls from labour leaders for Uber to better protect its drivers.

Police said they are investigating the incident.

Sood — who says he has been driving for Uber for more than a year, sometimes up to 12 hours a day — says he picked up a passenger in the city at 6:39 a.m. PT.

Shortly after the ride began, Sood said, the passenger became abusive after he took a right turn instead of a left.

"He said he was an Uber driver as well. And he know[s] better than me. I told him, 'no need to be rude, I can turn back if you want,'" Sood told CBC News.

Sood said the passenger then became verbally abusive, so he pulled over at a gas station and said he would cancel the ride.

WATCH | Attack on Uber driver (WARNING — video contains sudden violence):

Uber driver attacked by passenger in Abbotsford, B.C.

2 years ago

Duration 0:59

Uber driver Aman Sood captured the moment his passenger attacked him, with a dashboard camera mounted in his car.

Video from his car's camera then shows the passenger striking him repeatedly on the neck. Both men are then seen exiting the vehicle before sounds of further fighting can be heard, and Sood returns to the car without his shirt or jacket.

"He pulled my jacket on the head, and continuously [kept] attacking on my neck," Sood said, adding he managed to pull off his clothes on his upper body before "he [threw] me on the floor and he ran away."

Sood said he called police immediately afterward.

"We take these matters very seriously and will follow the evidence in this case to bring the person responsible before the courts for their actions," said Abbotsford Police Department Const. Paul Walker in a statement.

Sood says he now feels sharp pain when trying to drive and has been unable to work consistently since the attack.

He feels left behind by Uber after the incident.

Sood is classified as an independent contractor and does not have health-care coverage through the company, so he is left without a source of income and is unable to access workers' compensation.

"In this accident also I could die … and [Uber] was not going to take the responsibility," he said. "Uber must take responsibility for the safety and provide some benefits."

Union leader asks for more support

A spokesperson for Uber said in a statement that the behaviour in the video was "disturbing and unacceptable".

"We've banned the rider's account, been in touch with the driver, and stand ready to work with police on any investigation," they said, adding they had followed up with Sood on the day of the incident.

The spokesperson said Uber drivers and passengers are able to dial 911 from within the app if they feel they are unsafe, and support is available around the clock if needed.

But Sussanne Skidmore, president of the B.C. Federation of Labour, echoed Sood's call for Uber to take more responsibility for the drivers, saying the video of the attack was "deeply disturbing."

"Employers like Uber, and the gig-based, app-based work [platforms], are quite frankly ducking their responsibility to workers," she said. 

"It puts people in a really unfair situation, you know, to go to work and put themselves in very dangerous situations … and then they have no protections on top of that."

Skidmore said the federation had called on the province to beef up workers' rights legislation to ensure those who work for gig apps would be able to access workers' compensation, as well as have the ability to unionize.

The province recently conducted public consultations with gig workers across B.C. and compiled many of their complaints and concerns into a report published last week.

Many workers expressed concerns over low and unpredictable earnings and a lack of benefits.

"Gig workers, like everyone who works in our province, deserve to be treated fairly. That is the foundation of our effort to make work more reliable and less precarious," said parliamentary secretary for labour Janet Routledge in a statement.

Labour Minister Harry Bains said Wednesday he is working with platforms and stakeholders to improve working standards in the sector. He did not provide a timeline for when any regulations could be introduced.

In a Wednesday interview with Anita Bathe, the host of CBC News Vancouver at 6, Uber spokesperson Keerthana Rang said the company was pushing the province to "modernize" employment standards to include app-based work, and that the company was working with the UFCW union over driver representation.

When asked why the company could not provide workers' compensation on its own, Rang said it would detract from the nature of gig work.

"We can't introduce this ourselves because otherwise drivers would be considered employees and this would take away the the unique nature of app-based work, which is the flexibility," she said.