Looking to catch a flight on Valentine's Day to visit your love? You may not be able to count on catching an Uber or Lyft to the airport, depending on where you live. That's because drivers for the two ride-sharing apps, as well as for food delivery app DoorDash, are planning a strike for Wednesday in a protest for fair wages and better safety protocols. The Hill reports that the Justice for App Workers walkout is set to take place from 11am to 1pm local time in 10 airport-adjacent cities across the nation, including Chicago, Miami, Philadelphia, and Austin, Texas, where rides won't be available to or from local airports.
"We're sick of working 80 hours/week just to make ends meet, being constantly scared for our safety, and worrying about being deactivated with the click of a button," a Thursday JAW release notes. The drivers for these services are considered independent contractors, and drivers have complained that their respective platforms end up pocketing a too-high amount of what each ride costs as commission, per Reuters. Justice for App Workers represents more than 100,000 drivers, per CBS News.
Reuters adds that the protest comes a week after Lyft vowed to guarantee weekly earnings for drivers, which the outlet calls the first move of its kind in the ride-hailing industry. DoorDash hasn't said much about the strike yet, but Uber and Lyft are pushing back. "Driver earnings remain strong, and as of Q4 2023, drivers in the US were making about $33 per utilized hour," Uber said in a statement. Lyft, meanwhile, says in its own statement to the Hill that "we are constantly working to improve the driver experience," including via "a series of new offers and commitments aimed at increasing driver pay and transparency." (More Uber stories.)
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