"Uber, for its part, has argued that it is a digital platform that simply connects drivers and their would-be customers..."

Total BS. If this were true they wouldn't dictate 100% of the terms and coerce drivers into paying for the "complimentary" extras that are superfluous to the job.

What Uber has done (and been allowed to do, despite the list of illegal actions) is figure out how to trick drivers into paying for all of the operational costs, shoulder the bulk of the responsibilities and risks of the business, while paying them barely more than enough t cover said costs.

Just do the math: take what Uber charges in your area (it's different everywhere) per mile/minute, subtract from this the percentage that Uber takes plus the deduction of the "safe rides" fee, and then subtract what the job costs drivers to operate (this ranges from $0.55 to $0.85 per mile, much more for SUV's and luxury/high mpg vehicles, according to IRS and AAA figures).

If a driver does this full-time they take a total loss on their vehicle's value in a year or so. Uber does not pay well enough to make replacing a vehicle possible.

To put it in perspective: in Greater Los Angeles metro area (the largest driver territory in the world covering five counties and roughly 34,000 square miles) the per mile/minute rate is $1.00/$0.18. Run the numbers above and it's easy to see that drivers are making almost nothing in profits. In some cases they are operating at a loss but won't know it until tax time. It's even worse for drivers in parts of Florida where the per mile/minute rates are under $0.80 and $0.14. Look it up in Uber's own fare estimators.

Virtually every time you give the private sector an opportunity to show that it can self-regulate it completely blows it by screwing people. Kudos for that, Uber.