24 Hour Uber and Lyft Driver Strike Conditions

Motorists across the country are on strike today. After a record number of pilots left their positions creating a shortage of drivers, those who stay are fed up. Like The Guardian reports, drivers are striking for working conditions, better wages and protection under Pro Law.

Spent at home and approved by President Biden, the Law on the Protection of the Right to Organize or Pro Act is a piece of legislation aimed at protecting the rights of workers to organize. This would overthrow much of the Taft-Hartley Law which, when passed in 1947, became the largest anti-union law in U.S. history. From the Guardian:

The measure would prohibit a whole series of actions used by employers to interfere with union organization. These include “captive” anti-union propaganda meetings, which workers are required to attend; dismiss workers involved in the trade union organization; and falsely classifying employees as independent contractors to deny them their trade union rights.

The strikes are being organized by a group called Rideshare Drivers United. A driver and a member of the group described their frustrations:

“Application-based workers are fed up with exploiting big tech companies,” said Eve Aruguete, Oakland driver and member of the Rideshare Drivers United organizing group. “Misclassification is like concrete, keeping us underground. The Pro Act is the jackhammer that will break this concrete, allowing application-based workers to organize themselves. “

Many drivers have felt less safe as state economies have reopened and travel has increased, as have cases of Covid among the unvaccinated with a driver saying “The pandemic has really underscored our vulnerability to us. when the market dried up, ”he said. “Now is the time to act. “

The strike is expected to last until tomorrow in places like LA (AT LAX specifically) Las Vegas, Denver, even outside of Uber’s San Francisco headquarters.