Uber drivers to celebrate Valentine’s Day by going on strike — RT World News
Ride-sharing app drivers claim they face unfair working conditions and low wages
Thousands of drivers in the United States and the United Kingdom for so-called “gig economy” platforms such as Uber, Lyft, DoorDash and others plan to stage a mass Valentine’s Day work stoppage on Wednesday as part of a wide-ranging dispute over working conditions, advocacy groups said.
Justice for App Workers, a coalition that claims to represent more than 130,000 drivers and delivery workers across the United States, said last week that its members are receiving unfair wages and are demanding changes. “All app companies benefit from our hard work.”
The group added that its members will suspend operations for two hours in at least 10 major cities across the US, including Chicago, Miami and Philadelphia on Valentine's Day – one of the busiest days of the year for the industry. She added that her workers will reject all requests to and from airports throughout the day.
“Drivers are tired of being mistreated by app companies.” The Justice for App Workers organization said in a statement that it threatened to strike last week. “We are tired of working 80 hours a week to make ends meet, constantly afraid for our safety, and worried about being deactivated at the click of a button.”
The proposed demonstrations come a week after ride-sharing app Lyft announced it would guarantee a weekly income for its drivers, saying in a statement that it was “We are constantly working to improve the driver experience.”
Meanwhile, Uber said last week that its drivers made an average of $33 per hour employed in the fourth quarter of last year. In 2023, Uber drivers' total monthly income fell by about 17%, according to analysis from ride-sharing assistant app Gridwise.
Payment methods, which involve an algorithmic pricing model to determine how much a customer pays, require more oversight, according to Nicole Moore of the Rideshare Drivers United union. “After a year of algorithmic pricing, drivers have seen it [an] Incredible drop in our salaries.”
She added that “Whatever calculations and algorithms they use, they are completely useless.”
In the UK, labor advocacy group Delivery Job UK also said its 3,000 members planned to strike for five hours on Valentine's Day. “Our request is simple: we want fair compensation for the work we do. We are tired of exploitation.” the group wrote on social media on Sunday. “Valentine's Day is a celebration of love, but it should not overshadow our struggles.”
The UK Supreme Court ruled in November that delivery drivers are classified as self-employed contractors rather than as workers or employees, meaning they are not subject to minimum wage rules. The ruling followed a long-running campaign by the Independent Workers' Union of Great Britain, which sought to organize and bargain collectively on their behalf.
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