UBER/LYFT Strike Protests Confuse Me

Apparently rideshare drivers are planning a strike this week in Chicago, London, Los Angeles, New York City, and San Francisco due to what they are claiming as being exploited by Uber, Lyft and others. Part of this was sparked with Uber's plan to go public on the stock market.

The drivers are using the IPO as their excuse to being undervalued, wishing for livable incomes, job security and regulated fees.

In New York, the arguments are

“Win job security for app drivers by ending unfair deactivations, secure a livable income by ending the scam of upfront pricing where passengers pay more but drivers earn less. Regulate the fare Uber/Lyft/Juno/Via charge passengers, cap the companies’ commission, guaranteeing 80-85% of the fare to the driver!”

In response, Uber said,

“Drivers are at the heart of our service─we can’t succeed without them─and thousands of people come into work at Uber every day focused on how to make their experience better, on and off the road. Whether it’s more consistent earnings, stronger insurance protections or fully-funded four-year degrees for drivers or their families, we’ll continue working to improve the experience for and with drivers.”

According to sources, Uber and Lyft are bleeding money as they send most of the fees to their drivers and they're trying to figure out how to retain more of that money. Meanwhile, over in New York, New York City implemented a minimum wage law for rideshare drivers that went into effect February 1, making it so drivers are supposed to earn a minimum take-home wage of $17.22 per hour.

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What's interesting is that when I drove for Uber, I made as much money as I wanted to. It just depended on how much or when I wanted to drive. I had total control over my hours and income and one could easily make some serious dollars each weekend.

I was looking at a $30k a year part-time, weekend job. I can't imagine what a full-time driver could make.

I was also seen as an independent contractor, not an employee. As an independent contractor, no one owes you shit. It's on you to make what you want. No one else. It's on an independent contractor to get themselves health insurance and other benefits they need. No one else.

So this seems, from the outside, looking in, that it's people starting to feel entitled about their cush jobs of driving around and making easy money. (It's not totally easy, but compared to some jobs...)

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For riders, check into any alternative options for getting where you want to go on Wednesday!



https://www.cnn.com

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