Uber, Lyft, Doordash drivers plan strike
Thousands of ride-sharing app drivers are expected to go on strike across the country on Valentine’s Day seeking fair pay.
Fox – 26 Houston
A group of drivers from Uber, Lyft and DoorDash are planning to go on strike on Valentine’s Day to demand better pay and safer working conditions.
“We expect thousands of rideshare drivers to participate in this in cities across the country,” Rachel Gumpert, a spokesperson for the coalition Justice for App Workers, told USA TODAY.
The coalition said the striking drivers will not provide rides to and from airports in 10 U.S. cities from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Wednesday.
“While Silicon Valley and Wall Street take an ever-increasing cut of driver earnings, they’re raising rates on passengers, and expecting consumers and workers alike to accept their increasing corporate greed,” according to a news release from Justice for App Workers.
In response, Uber told USA TODAY in a statement that strikes “have rarely had any impact on trips, prices or driver availability.”
Lyft said in a statement that the company is “constantly working to improve the driver experience, which is why just this month we released a series of new offers and commitments aimed at increasing driver pay and transparency.”
Lyft announced last week that it would guarantee that drivers would make “70% or more of rider fares after external fees each week.”
Where are Uber and Lyft drivers striking?
Justice for App workers said that it will hold strikes at airports in:
- Austin
- Chicago
- Hartford
- Miami
- Newark
- Orlando
- Philadelphia
- Pittsburgh
- Providence
- Tampa
What do Uber and Lyft drivers make?
An average Lyft drivers’ gross hourly pay was $21.44 in the second quarter of 2023 and an Uber driver’s hourly pay was $18.80 in the second quarter of 2023, according to the gig-work data tracking app Gridwise.
A Lyft white paper said that drivers earned $30.68 gross per hour of engaged time in the second half of 2023.
Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi said that drivers made $33 per utilized hour in the fourth quarter on the company’s fourth quarter earnings call, according to Reuters.