SAN FRANCISCO — Two days before Uber is set to go public, the drivers who power its business protested and went on strike around the nation and beyond.
Drivers, organizers and their supporters converged in front of Uber headquarters on Market Street in San Francisco right before noon Wednesday, carrying bullhorns and bearing signs reading “I can’t pay my rent” and “Pay us our fair share.”
The drivers, who are considered independent contractors, are protesting low wages and asking for better working conditions, benefits and transparency from Uber and Lyft. There were some driver actions before Lyft’s initial public offering, too, but Uber is much bigger so its drivers are making more noise: Uber has 3.9 million drivers around the world, including 1 million in the United States. Lyft has 2 million drivers in the United States and Canada.
Edan Alva of Alameda drives for Lyft in San Francisco and the East Bay. He said he wanted to join Wednesday’s protest because “creating awareness is the first phase of any change.” Besides, he said, “Anything you can think of can be reduced into an app. If tech companies keep getting away with eroding worker protections, we will all become app slaves over time.”
On the East Coast, drivers drove across the Brooklyn Bridge and headed to the New York offices of Uber and rival Lyft. Drivers also protested in San Diego, Boston, Connecticut, Philadelphia and Washington, D.C. Some went on strike by logging off the Uber and Lyft apps for a couple of hours, while in San Francisco some drivers said they planned to strike from noon to midnight.
Bay Area airports did not report any disruptions Wednesday, but a spokeswoman for Norman Y. Mineta San Jose International Airport said the airport was coordinating with taxi companies to “minimize customer impacts.” San Francisco International Airport also told other transportation providers to prepare for possibly higher than usual demand, a spokesman said.
Uber, the ride-hailing app founded 10 years ago, is expected to price its shares Thursday ahead of its first day of trading Friday. The company’s IPO, which is expected to value it at $90 billion, will be among the biggest in history.
But drivers said some can’t afford to log off for long in protest.
“I’m standing here because there are so many drivers who can’t stand out here,” said Derrick Baker, an Uber driver in San Francisco, during the rally, which at one point moved from the sidewalk in front of the company’s headquarters and spilled out onto Market Street. “If you can’t be here, we’re a voice for you.”
“Not everyone has luxury to take day off in San Francisco — it’s the most expensive city in whole country,” said Mostafa Maklad, an organizer with Gig Workers Rising, this week. He said as Uber and Lyft lower rates — which vary depending on place and time — some drivers who work in San Francisco 70 to 80 hours a week live as far away as Sacramento. “I know drivers who sleep in their cars.”
As cars with Uber and Lyft stickers on their windshields drove by and honked their horns in support, some people stepped out of Uber’s offices and took photos of the rally, where protesters urged the company’s employees to support them.
Uber drivers abroad, including in Melbourne, London and Glasgow also protested, according to various social media and news reports.
“The Uber drivers’ protest dramatizes the fact that its business model is predicated upon exploitation of drivers who are the victims of the company’s unilateral control over compensation and other employment conditions,” said William Gould IV, emeritus professor of law at Stanford Law School and a former chief of the National Labor Relations Board. “The position of drivers stands in stark contrast to those whose wealth increases astronomically through the IPO, highlighting the growing gap between haves and have-nots.”
An Uber spokesman said in a statement Wednesday: “Drivers are at the heart of our service ─ we can’t succeed without them ─ and thousands of people come into work at Uber every day focused on how to make their experience better, on and off the road.” He pointed to “consistent earnings, stronger insurance protections or fully-funded four-year degrees” (which the company has started to offer to some drivers in certain markets) as examples of the company’s commitment to drivers.
Lyft touted the schedule flexibility it offers drivers, saying more than 75 percent of its drivers work less than 10 hours a week.
“We know that access to flexible, extra income makes a big difference for millions of people, and we’re constantly working to improve how we can best serve our driver community,” a Lyft spokesman said Wednesday.
Uber, like Lyft, is offering bonuses to drivers ahead of its IPO. The bonuses range from $100 to $10,000, depending on how many rides drivers have under their belts.
Both companies are fighting efforts to reclassify their drivers as employees instead of independent contractors, which would dramatically affect their business models, but “The employee model is not inconsistent with flexibility,” Gould said this week.
Drivers saw support on social media, with Twitter users urging others not to request rides during the strikes.
Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Bernie Sanders expressed solidarity with the drivers.
“Uber is not a poor company. It paid its top five executives $143 million in compensation last year, including $45 million to its CEO,” the senator from Vermont tweeted Wednesday. “I stand with striking Uber and Lyft drivers today. The greed has got to end.”
But some Twitter users slammed the drivers, saying they are not employees and need to “get a job” if they want better pay and benefits. Others urged people to take taxis instead.
“So Uber & Lyft drivers who had no problem working for lower wages & putting licensed & regulated taxi drivers out of business are striking for better wages & benefits? They don’t see the irony?” asked Liz Goldenberg, whose Twitter handle is @newstruthliz.