Joined
·
2,375 Posts
https://gizmodo.com/uber-drivers-plan-strike-to-kick-off-2019-s-most-hyped-1834262219
"The strike is being organized by drivers across various online groups and is being backed by advocacy groups like Gig Workers Rising in Northern California, Rideshare Drivers United in Los Angeles and Chicago Rideshare Advocates. Drivers in San Francisco, San Diego, Los Angeles, Chicago, Minneapolis, Philadelphia, and Washington, D.C., are slated to join the 12-hour shutdown next month."
"We want a living wage," Uber driver and organizer Mostafa Maklad told Gizmodo. "Most of drivers living in San Francisco are forced to work at least 70-80 hours a week in order to survive in the city. Living expenses increase, gas prices increase, food expenses increase, everything is getting more expensive in order to live in San Francisco. We have to drive more and more, deal with health and stress problems, but Uber doesn't care. What uber is doing is decreasing pay to drivers."
"Drivers have four basics demands: increased pay, basic benefits, decision-making transparency, and a greater voice for drivers. Uber did not respond to a request for comment and, unlike competitor Lyft, has never once met with organizing drivers."
"More and more, however, the drivers and supporting advocacy groups are figuring out a few basic but effective solutions. Huge Facebook groups for drivers are the most common way to trade information, tips, and get help from fellow drivers. There are also WhatsApp groups, hundreds of drivers strong, that exchange information from city to city. It's not all online, however."
"When I'm at an airport lot, most drivers get out of the car and stretch if the weather is nice," Uber driver and organizer Rebecca Stack Martinez said. "They congregate and talk about frustrations on fairies and lack of help from Uber. For me that's an opportunity to jump in and say, I hear what you're talking about, here are organizations trying to give drivers a voice."
Last month, after a long silence and several highly visible actions by drivers, an anonymous Uber employee published a letter supporting organizing drivers, corroborating the injustices the drivers themselves hope to rectify.
"The strikes called on Monday by Rideshare Drivers United (RDU) in Southern California and Gig Workers Rising in San Francisco are a sign of the deep frustration many ride-share drivers feel," the author wrote. "While ride-share executives continue to receive vast remuneration packages, and internal employees look forward to an IPO windfall at both Uber and Lyft [...] drivers are squeezed in order to shore up initial offerings to investors."
"The strike is being organized by drivers across various online groups and is being backed by advocacy groups like Gig Workers Rising in Northern California, Rideshare Drivers United in Los Angeles and Chicago Rideshare Advocates. Drivers in San Francisco, San Diego, Los Angeles, Chicago, Minneapolis, Philadelphia, and Washington, D.C., are slated to join the 12-hour shutdown next month."
"We want a living wage," Uber driver and organizer Mostafa Maklad told Gizmodo. "Most of drivers living in San Francisco are forced to work at least 70-80 hours a week in order to survive in the city. Living expenses increase, gas prices increase, food expenses increase, everything is getting more expensive in order to live in San Francisco. We have to drive more and more, deal with health and stress problems, but Uber doesn't care. What uber is doing is decreasing pay to drivers."
"Drivers have four basics demands: increased pay, basic benefits, decision-making transparency, and a greater voice for drivers. Uber did not respond to a request for comment and, unlike competitor Lyft, has never once met with organizing drivers."
"More and more, however, the drivers and supporting advocacy groups are figuring out a few basic but effective solutions. Huge Facebook groups for drivers are the most common way to trade information, tips, and get help from fellow drivers. There are also WhatsApp groups, hundreds of drivers strong, that exchange information from city to city. It's not all online, however."
"When I'm at an airport lot, most drivers get out of the car and stretch if the weather is nice," Uber driver and organizer Rebecca Stack Martinez said. "They congregate and talk about frustrations on fairies and lack of help from Uber. For me that's an opportunity to jump in and say, I hear what you're talking about, here are organizations trying to give drivers a voice."
Last month, after a long silence and several highly visible actions by drivers, an anonymous Uber employee published a letter supporting organizing drivers, corroborating the injustices the drivers themselves hope to rectify.
"The strikes called on Monday by Rideshare Drivers United (RDU) in Southern California and Gig Workers Rising in San Francisco are a sign of the deep frustration many ride-share drivers feel," the author wrote. "While ride-share executives continue to receive vast remuneration packages, and internal employees look forward to an IPO windfall at both Uber and Lyft [...] drivers are squeezed in order to shore up initial offerings to investors."
