NEW YORK — Uber, Lyft and other app-based drivers joined strikes and protests in at least 10 U.S. cities and some abroad May 8 to demand better and more “transparent” pay, dignity and an end to retaliatory deactivations.
“I’m here to get the word out,” Lyft driver Steve Gregg told the press at the San Francisco protest. “To show drivers we can make a difference.”
In New York more than 200 drivers gathered outside Uber offices in Long Island City for a morning protest sponsored by the Independent Drivers Guild and an afternoon one by the Taxi Workers Alliance, where they were joined by Yellow Cab and limousine drivers. “Uber deactivated me permanently after working for them for six years,” said one driver who declined to give his name. “No one would tell me why.”
Next week’s Militant will carry broader coverage.