{"id":42,"date":"2001-03-18T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2001-03-18T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.bartzandbergen.com\/index.php\/events-press\/positive-lessons-tax-return\/"},"modified":"2021-12-06T19:35:36","modified_gmt":"2021-12-06T19:35:36","slug":"positive-lessons-tax-return","status":"publish","type":"events_press","link":"https:\/\/www.bartzandbergen.com\/press-events\/positive-lessons-tax-return","title":{"rendered":"Positive Lessons from a Tax Return"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t<div data-elementor-type=\"wp-post\" data-elementor-id=\"42\" class=\"elementor elementor-42\" data-elementor-post-type=\"events_press\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<section class=\"elementor-section elementor-top-section elementor-element elementor-element-73b9c7d7 elementor-section-boxed elementor-section-height-default elementor-section-height-default\" data-id=\"73b9c7d7\" data-element_type=\"section\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-container elementor-column-gap-default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-column elementor-col-100 elementor-top-column elementor-element elementor-element-5f732c9d\" data-id=\"5f732c9d\" data-element_type=\"column\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap elementor-element-populated\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-6b8afd38 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"6b8afd38\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t<style>\/*! elementor - v3.20.0 - 11-03-2024 *\/\n.elementor-widget-text-editor.elementor-drop-cap-view-stacked .elementor-drop-cap{background-color:#69727d;color:#fff}.elementor-widget-text-editor.elementor-drop-cap-view-framed .elementor-drop-cap{color:#69727d;border:3px solid;background-color:transparent}.elementor-widget-text-editor:not(.elementor-drop-cap-view-default) .elementor-drop-cap{margin-top:8px}.elementor-widget-text-editor:not(.elementor-drop-cap-view-default) .elementor-drop-cap-letter{width:1em;height:1em}.elementor-widget-text-editor .elementor-drop-cap{float:left;text-align:center;line-height:1;font-size:50px}.elementor-widget-text-editor .elementor-drop-cap-letter{display:inline-block}<\/style>\t\t\t\t<p>(As reported in the NY Times, March 18, 2001)<\/p>\n<p>In this article, Bart discusses how he uses your annual tax return to see what changes might be needed in your financial plan.<\/p>\n<p>The huge, headline-grabbing news out of Uber this week was the resignation of its chief executive, Travis Kalanick, under pressure from the company\u2019s board, a stunning move that capped a monthslong crisis involving sexual harassment, executive misbehavior and Uber\u2019s hard-nosed culture.<\/p>\n<p>But amid the drama leading up to Mr. Kalanick\u2019s forced departure, Uber made a quieter change that could represent another momentous shift for the company. On Tuesday, the company announced that passengers would soon be able to tip their drivers through the Uber app.<\/p>\n<p>The change, which Uber plans to roll out nationwide next month, is a sudden reversal of longstanding company policy, and a move Uber fiercely resisted for years.<\/p>\n<p>Under Mr. Kalanick, the company argued that giving riders the ability to tip drivers would create \u201cfriction\u201d in an otherwise seamless transaction and lead to awkward interactions between riders and drivers. The company even cited a 2008 Cornell University study that found that consumers tipped black employees less generously than white employees, and suggested that adding in-app tipping would lead to racial discrimination.<\/p>\n<p>The relationship between Mr. Kalanick and Uber\u2019s global network of more than two million drivers has always been strained, to put it mildly. Drivers, who are not technically Uber employees but whose income depends largely on Uber\u2019s policies and pricing structures, balked at Mr. Kalanick\u2019s seeming indifference to their needs. At times, Mr. Kalanick sounded openly hostile to his company\u2019s labor pool, musing in onstage interviews about how long it would take to replace them with self-driving cars.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThere are a lot of things about Uber that tip the balance to the passenger side,\u201d said Harry Campbell, a Los Angeles-based Uber driver and founder of TheRideshareGuy, a resource site for drivers. \u201cA lot of that seemed, rightly or wrongly, to stem from Travis, and a lot of drivers blamed him for that.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Tipping was among the hottest flash points. Uber drivers argued that they were missing out on thousands of dollars in potential earnings by not being able to receive tips inside the app. (Riders could give Uber drivers tips in cash, but few did.) Earlier this year, the Independent Drivers Guild, a group representing Uber drivers in New York City, collected more than 11,000 signatures on a petition calling for an in-app tip jar.<\/p>\n<p>Then there was the video. In February, a dashboard clip of Mr. Kalanick arguing with an Uber driver was seen widely on the internet. In the video, Mr. Kalanick\u2019s driver accused him of dropping prices on Uber rides and told the chief executive that \u201cI\u2019m bankrupt because of you.\u201d Mr. Kalanick disputed the driver\u2019s accusations and told him curtly that some people \u201cblame everything in their life on somebody else.\u201d Mr. Kalanick later apologized for his conduct in a staff memo, saying that it was proof that \u201cI must fundamentally change as a leader and grow up.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Lyft, Uber\u2019s biggest rival in the United States, has taken full advantage of the acrimony between Uber and its drivers. The company makes a point of emphasizing that in-app tipping has been available to Lyft drivers since 2012, and the company has made aggressive attempts to paint itself as the more driver-friendly alternative to Uber, while trying to lure Uber\u2019s drivers to its own platform.<\/p>\n<p>In recent weeks, Uber has taken steps to repair its relationship with drivers. The company started an initiative called \u201c180 Days of Change,\u201d which included changes that drivers had been requesting for years, such as a per-minute waiting fee and the ability to accept rides heading only in a certain direction. It also seeded a $3 million legal defense fund to assist immigrant drivers who were affected by President Trump\u2019s announced travel restrictions.<\/p>\n<p>Aaron Schildkrout, Uber\u2019s head of driver product, characterized these changes as part of a genuine effort to mend fences with drivers. \u201cDrivers are by far our most important partners,\u201d Mr. Schildkrout said. \u201cHistorically, as we\u2019ve been racing to keep pace with our tremendous growth, we haven\u2019t done the best job of honoring that partnership. That\u2019s about to change.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>These benefits struck some drivers as too little, too late, but others may be willing to give the company a second chance. Jim Conigliaro Jr., the founder of the Independent Drivers Guild, said that he was happy with the changes the company had announced and that Mr. Kalanick\u2019s departure would give Uber a chance to \u201crefocus attention on the people who actually make the company money: drivers.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Ultimately, conflict between Uber and its drivers may be unavoidable. No matter who runs it, Uber is still marching toward a driverless future, and the company still needs to balance driver wishes against rider demands for cheap fares and instant availability. The company is also reportedly preparing for an initial public offering and faces pressure to show investors that it can turn a profit and keep its costs under control.<\/p>\n<p>Mr. Kalanick\u2019s successor at Uber will have many messes to clean up, including bruised staff morale, a toxic company culture and a short-staffed executive team. But high on the new chief executive\u2019s list of priorities should be improving the company\u2019s relationship with the people who take its passengers from Point A to Point B. Without happy drivers, Uber 2.0 will be just as flawed as the original.<\/p>\n<p>Read Full Article: <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.bartzandbergen.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/www-nytimes-com-2001-03-18-business-positive-lessons-from-a-tax-return-html-1.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Positive Lessons from a Tax Return<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n<!-- wp:paragraph -->\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph -->\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<section class=\"elementor-section elementor-top-section elementor-element elementor-element-b8b0390 elementor-section-boxed elementor-section-height-default elementor-section-height-default\" data-id=\"b8b0390\" data-element_type=\"section\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-container elementor-column-gap-default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-column elementor-col-100 elementor-top-column elementor-element elementor-element-30cb9cb\" data-id=\"30cb9cb\" data-element_type=\"column\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>(As reported in the NY Times, March 18, 2001) In this article, Bart discusses how he uses your annual tax return to see what changes might be needed in your financial plan. The huge, headline-grabbing news out of Uber this week was the resignation of its chief executive, Travis Kalanick, under pressure from the company\u2019s [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","template":"","meta":{"post_statement":"","post_description":"","post_cta":"","post_button":"Read More","post_button_url":"","footnotes":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bartzandbergen.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/events_press\/42"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bartzandbergen.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/events_press"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bartzandbergen.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/events_press"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bartzandbergen.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bartzandbergen.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=42"}],"version-history":[{"count":14,"href":"https:\/\/www.bartzandbergen.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/events_press\/42\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2117,"href":"https:\/\/www.bartzandbergen.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/events_press\/42\/revisions\/2117"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bartzandbergen.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=42"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}