Taxi drivers were already considered contractors and working for shitty wages. Uber just followed the existing model. In fact, it was worse, as drivers had to pay to work, by renting the cars with medallions, rather than being able to use their own.
The change for taxi drivers has only started to come after Uber was already making it big, e.g.: "For what the union involved says is the first time ever, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) declared taxi drivers are legally “employees”"
https://www.nytimes.com/1995/04/09/nyregion/driving-a-taxi-d...
The change for taxi drivers has only started to come after Uber was already making it big, e.g.: "For what the union involved says is the first time ever, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) declared taxi drivers are legally “employees”"
http://www.peoplesworld.org/article/nlrb-declares-taxi-drive... (2015)