SAN FRANCISCO (KCBS Radio) -- With Uber's expected multi
billion dollar initial public stock offering just two days away, some drivers
for the ride-hailing platform and its rival Lyft staged a protest on Wednesday.
Organizers of the effort asked drivers to turn off their
ride-hailing apps, essentially taking their vehicles out of the pool of rides
available to users.
Uber driver Jeffrey Perry said his pay has been shrinking.
Perry said three years ago, he could earn $300 to $400 by driving for eight
hours in San Francisco. Now, the Sacramento resident says it takes 15 or 16
hours to reach $300 in earnings.
Another Uber driver, Nam Doan, is seen in the photograph at
the top of this story. He told KCBS
Radio he drives in San Francisco from 4 am to 4 pm, six days a week, and his
earnings have been slipping. He'll continue to drive during the Wednesday
protest because he says his earnings support a wife and three children and he
can't afford to take the day off.
Organizers of the protest point to the nature of the
relationship between the ride-hailing platforms and their drivers. Uber and
Lyft consider the drivers to be independent contractors, meaning they lack such
benefits as health care, vacation, or workers compensation insurance.
The companies tout the benefit of what Uber advertises as a
"side hustle".
University of Illinois professor Michael LeRoy, a
specialist in labor law, acknowledges the freedom is attractive to some
drivers. "Certainly it benefits a lot of people," LeRoy told KCBS
Radio,"but a growing number are unhappy and it's not just in the United
States."
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