People looking to use ride-hailing services such as Lyft and Uber may have had some difficulty on Wednesday, July 21, as many drivers conducted a one-day strike for better pay and status under the law.
Rideshare Drivers United — an independent association of U.S. rideshare drivers founded in Los Angeles — organized the strikes in a number of cities across the United States, including San Diego, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Austin, Boston, Cleveland, Las Vegas, Pittsburgh, Denver, and Baltimore.
The group had a rally at San Diego’s Lyft driver center at 1 p.m. Wednesday.
They say the companies have:
- Reduced mileage rates, lowered commissions, taken away flexibility and transparency;
- Continue to exploit workers by manipulating algorithms;
- Broken promises of Prop 22.
Prop 22, passed by California voters in November 2020, allows ride- hailing companies to avoid classifying drivers as employees.
Rideshare Drivers United is also calling for the passage of the PRO Act, short for Protecting the Right to Organize, which would expand protections for workers seeking to unionize. It passed the House of Representatives and has the support of President Biden.
Representatives for Uber did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
On its website, Lyft praises Prop 22 for allowing rideshare drivers in California to work “under a new model that gives them historic new benefits and protections: a healthcare stipend of up to $4,800 per year, workplace injury protections, and a minimum earnings guarantee, all while ensuring that drivers keep what they want most: flexibility and independence.”
Edited and updated Times of San Diego article by Debbie Sklar and City News Service.
Here is the SD U-T coverage of the issue.
{ 7 comments… read them below or add one }
What a surprise. Uber/Lyft convinced Californians to vote for Prop 22 with promises that they would *voluntarily* increase pay, benefits, and working conditions for drivers. Ha! Then of course they broke those promises with lightning speed.
Anybody surprised by this should be sent back to grade school with my 6-year-old son to learn basic life skills.
Also, the UT link at the bottom of the article is bad. Here’s the correct link: https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/business/story/2021-07-21/uber-and-lyft-rideshare-drivers-strike-rally-for-pro-act-union
And it’s gonna take a super majority to over turn any part of 22! The public was duped by this prop.
My father in law always says, “we get what we deserve”. Vote for crappy things and people, get crapped on.
if they really didn’t like the pay and benefits they’d quit.
Many times, people work under bad conditions because they need the money and feel they don’t have many choices. Apparently, you never have.
I wholeheartedly agree with Frank. Our history is filled with workers who will put up with all sorts of horrid conditions, because they need the job. If you need to feed your family and the easiest jobs to get or maintain, are sweatshops and crappy pay, you will take the sweatshop. Many of these gig jobs also allow for more flexibility for those who have daycare issues or multiple jobs. AND, once they get the job, they may not have time to pursue a different one.
I have driven uber for the past 5 years 20 hours a week alway’s same day/times, my hourly pay:
2017- $25
2018- $25
2019- $22
2020- $20
2021- $17
2022- so far average is $13-15/hr.
Boy, do I have some stories, seen and heard it all, humanity is beyond words,
Thanks for the data! Are these numbers “net” or “gross” pay ?