来源：《卫报》
刊登日期：2021年2月19日
超纲词：emphatic，tribunal，signpost
It is difficult to think of ways in which Friday’s supreme court ruling on the employment status of Uber drivers could have been more emphatic or conclusive than it was. The six justices agreed unanimously to uphold a groundbreaking employment tribunal finding made against the company in 2016. Uber drivers, the court confirmed, are not self-employed – as Uber argued in a succession of appeals – but should be treated as workers, with rights to be paid at least the national minimum wage, to holiday pay and other benefits.
对于优步司机的就业状况，很难想象有什么样的方式能比周五最高法院的裁决更明确或更不容置疑。六名大法官一致同意维持就业法庭2016年做出的对优步不利的开创性裁决。法院确认，优步司机并非自雇——优步在一系列上诉中的主张——而是应该被当作雇员对待，有权获得英国最低工资、假日工资以及其他福利。
Uber’s claim that it was simply an intermediary between its drivers and passengers was comprehensively dismissed. The court said it was Uber, not the drivers, who set the fares. Contract terms were set by Uber too, with drivers allowed no say. Once they logged on to the app, it was Uber, not the drivers, that set the rules about accepting requests for rides and monitoring customer satisfaction. The net effect is that drivers “are in a position of subordination and dependency in relation to Uber”.
优步声称自己只是司机和乘客之间的中介，这一说法遭到了全面驳斥。法院表示，决定车费的是优步，而不是司机。合同条款也由优步制定，司机没有发言权。一旦司机登录应用程序，就不是司机，而是优步制定了接受乘车请求和监控客户满意度的规则。最终结果是，司机“相对于优步处于从属和依赖的地位”。
The consequences of this judgment will be substantial, and not just for the drivers and Uber. Even when it is seen in the narrowest perspective, the decision means that the case goes back to the employment tribunal, where compensation levels will now be set. One legal firm suggests tens of thousands of Uber drivers are now set to be awarded an average of £12,000 each. The impact on Uber’s balance sheet and business model, both here and across the world, may be long term.
这一判决的后果将是重大的，不仅仅是对司机和优步。即使从最狭隘的角度来看，这一决定也意味着案件回到就业法庭，在那里将确定补偿金额。一家律师事务所表示，目前将有数万名优步司机平均每人获得12000英镑补偿。无论是在英国还是在全球，这对优步资产负债表和业务模式的影响都可能是长期的。
But the impact goes further. Uber is a huge player in deregulated urban transport markets in multiple countries. The Uber case is one of a number currently before the UK courts, involving some of the many delivery groups that have surged on our streets during the pandemic. Widely and often rightly praised as essential during the lockdowns, these delivery workers are economically insecure. All these firms now face the need to adapt to the implications of the Uber ruling too.
但影响还不止于此。在多个国家解除管制的城市交通市场，优步是一个巨大的参与者。优步案只是目前英国法院审理的众多案件之一，有几个案件涉及疫情期间在我们的街道上激增的快递公司。在封锁限制期间，快递员被广泛且经常地称赞为必不可少，但他们在经济上没有保障。所有快递公司现在都面临着适应优步裁决带来的影响。
More generally, the court ruling also throws down a challenge to governments about the wider workings of the zero-hours contract jobs markets. This is now a truly pressing issue for Britain. In 2019, Boris Johnson pledged to introduce an employment bill that would protect and enhance workers’ rights as the UK left the EU, “making Britain the best place in the world to work”. Yet nothing has happened, and not just because of the pandemic.
更普遍地说，法院的裁决也向各国政府提出了一个挑战，即零工时合同就业市场的更广泛运作。对英国来说，这是一个真正紧迫的问题。2019年，鲍里斯·约翰逊承诺推出一项就业法案，在英国脱离欧盟之际保护和增进工人权利，“使英国成为世界上最好的工作场所”。然而什么都没有发生，这不仅仅是因为新冠大流行。
Instead, the Johnson government’s attitude to working conditions and employment rights has become increasingly opaque and uncertain. In January, a government review of post-Brexit employment law was first agreed, then confirmed, and then apparently scrapped. It inevitably sows suspicion about the true intentions of a Conservative party that still instinctively sees workers’ rights as a barrier to business. The Uber ruling is at once a reminder that Britain stands at a society-defining crossroads, and a signpost to the choice that the Johnson government must make.
相反，约翰逊政府对工作条件和就业权利的态度变得越来越不透明和不确定。今年1月，英国政府对脱欧后的就业法进行了评估，先是达成一致，然后得到确认，然后似乎被废除了。这不可避免地引发了人们对保守党真实意图的怀疑，保守党仍然本能地将工人权利视为阻碍企业发展的障碍。Uber的裁决立即提醒人们，英国正站在一个决定社会的十字路口，也是约翰逊政府必须做出选择的一个路标。