Driver strike at Uber, DoorDash and Lyft on Valentine’s Day: what are striking workers asking for?

Americans expecting to use Uber or Lyft ride-sharing services this Valentine’s Day may be out of luck, especially if your flying in to be with your special someone. Justice For App Workers said its members planned to stop giving rides to and from airports in 10 cities on 14 February. Those include Austin, Chicago, Hartford, Miami, Newark, Orlando, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Providence and Tampa.

Likewise, those looking to get their food delivered by a DoorDash driver as thousands of drivers for the platforms are expected to be on strike according to drivers’ groups. The mottos of the strike is “NO LOVE for Uber or Lyft” and “ITS TIME FOR A BREAK UP DRIVERS.”

“This is the biggest strike I’ve ever seen, thousands and thousands of drivers,” said Jonathan Cruz, a driver in Miami and part of the Justice For App Workers coalition, speaking to Reuters. “It’s going to be nationwide.”

Driver strike at Uber, DoorDash and Lyft on Valentine’s Day: what are striking workers asking for?

The gig workers are demanding fair pay accusing the platforms of charging them disproportionately high commissions. “A year into algorithmic pricing, drivers have seen incredible decrease of our pay,” said Nicole Moore, president of the California-based Rideshare Drivers United union, which represents more than 100,000 drivers. “Whatever calculations and algorithms they’re using, it’s absolutely useless.”

Last week, Lyft announced that it would guarantee weekly earnings for drivers looking to lure more drivers to its platform. That would be a first for the ride-hailing business in the United States. “We are constantly working to improve the driver experience,” said Lyft.

Dara Khosrowshahi, CEO of Uber, said on an earnings call last week that US drivers for the platform were earning $33 per utilized hour according to data from the fourth quarter. However, Moore reposted on X findings from a fellow advocacy group working to regulate ride-hailing in Canada where Uber says that drivers get similar pay per “engaged hour.”

FairRideTO found that after expenses drivers were taking home just $6.37. “We found we were making $6.20 after expenses, depreciation, & our lack of benefits. Dara’s not telling the truth,” said Moore of her group’s own study carried out in California.

Uber doesn’t seem to be too concerned about the threat of drivers striking on Valentine’s Day saying that only a minority of its drivers participate in such strikes. Additionally, that these industrial actions by employees rarely have an impact on business.

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