Mike Wilkinson* has worked as an Uber driver in London for five years. Here, he explains why he joined the drivers’ claim. 

Being an Uber driver can be stressful. I’m fairly calm when I drive but whoever you are, driving in London can be taxing.

And, as an Uber driver, there can be high consequences if you make a mistake.

For example, you might accept a job but, if you make a mistake and get caught in a traffic jam, the job can end up going to someone else. It might be a slow day and it’s the only job you’ve had in an hour and a half.

And we cover so much ground. Sometimes passengers ask me what part of London I work in and the answer is all of it. I’m picking them up in East London and driving them to South London, you never know where you’re going.  The whole day depends on who gets in the car first and where you drop them off.

Of course, there are perks to working for Uber. I started working for them to help me out when I was having trouble financially. Uber was a lifeline, but I worked hard for it.

The best bit is meeting lots of different people, and quite often very interesting people. You get to see a little slice of their life when you’re driving them around.

But dealing with Uber can be difficult. They can ban you from driving for them at the drop of a hat and there’s no appeal process.

When I started there was an email address we could write to if we had any issues, but they got rid of that. For a while, there didn’t seem to be a way of communicating with them at all. Now there is a phone line which has improved things.

I contacted Leigh Day after hearing the claim they were bringing for drivers against Uber for not providing them with basic workers’ rights.

It’s only fair that we have the same rights as any other workers and I’m very glad I’m part of the claim.

It’s been a very easy process and there’s little I’ve had to do but potentially a lot to gain.