Uber, Lyft strikes: Thousands of drivers across LA and Las Vegas walk out on Valentine’s Day

Thousands of U.S. ride-hailing workers plan to park their cars and picket at major U.S. airports Wednesday in what organizers say is their largest strike yet in a drive for better pay and benefits.

Uber and Lyft drivers plan daylong strikes in Chicago; Philadelphia; Pittsburgh; Miami; Orlando and Tampa, Florida; Hartford, Connecticut; Newark, New Jersey; Austin, Texas; and Providence, Rhode Island. Drivers also plan to hold midday demonstrations at airports in those cities, according to Justice for App Workers, the group organizing the effort.

Rachel Gumpert, a spokesperson for Justice for App Workers, said ride-hailing drivers in other cities may also demonstrate or strike for at least part of the day.

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Justice for App Workers is leading the broader driver strike across the US.

The group says it represents more than 130,000 drivers across the country.

“We represent more than 130,000 drivers and delivery workers who keep communities running, getting our neighbors what they need and where they need to go. Together, we are taking on the multi-billion dollar app industry to win dignity at work. This means living wages, a safe working environment, an end to unfair deactivation, quality healthcare benefits, reliable bathroom access, and the right to form a union,” the organisation said on its website.

While Justice for App Workers is pushing the broad strike, smaller organising efforts into Los Angeles, San Diego, and Las Vegas, among other cities, are holding strikes in solidarity with Justice for App Workers.

Justice for App Workers, the group that organised Wednesday’s drivers’ strike, said drivers were afraid of being unjustifiably “deactivated” from the gig apps.

For non gig-workers, being deactivated means a worker has been removed from an app.

While it is obviously necessary for apps like Uber and Lyft to remove workers from the app, workers fear that bogus user reviews — or just human error – could cut them off from a needed source of income.

Drivers for both Uber and Lyft called a strike last February to protest unjust deactivations, but the issue has remaind a cause of worry for the workers even still.

The Valentines Day strike by Uber, Lyft and other app drivers comes just one month after the National Labour Relations Board cemented a ruling that makes it more difficult for companies to classify their workers as contractors.

Gig workers and other contractors are generally not eligible for company benefits like health insurance, and are not covered by federal laws dictating minimum wages and overtime pay.

The new ruling forces employers to consider workers employees, and not contractors, if the worker is “economically dependent” on a company.

Meredith Kirshenbaum, the principal at the Goldberg Kohn lawfirm, offered the following commentary on the strike as it relates to recent ruling:

“The Valentine’s Day collective action is coming at an advantageous time for gig economy workers, as the test for classifying a worker as an independent contractor, rather than an employee, is getting more demanding. Just last month, the U.S. Department of Labor released a final rule making it easier for gig economy workers to claim they are employees – a door that was also opened last June in an NLRB case doing the same.

The distinction is critical because while independent contractors do not have federally protected rights to strike or engage in work stoppages, employees do. It will be particularly easier for ride-sharing drivers who work exclusively for one app to claim they are employees – and, that risk may be heightened for companies like Lyft if they treat drivers more akin to employees, including arguably by guaranteeing a minimum weekly salary for its drivers.”

App drivers in the US called for a strike on Valentine’s Day, refusing any trips to airports in numerous US cities on Wednesday.

They were not the only drivers striking, however.

Drivers in the UK working for companies like Uber and Lyft also said they’d strike. Those drivers said they planned to strike between 5pm and 10pm, local time.

Delievery Job UK said that approximately 3,000 drivers were intending to strike on Wednesday.