San Francisco rideshare drivers join national day of strike, demand better pay
SAN FRANCISCO - Thousands of delivery and rideshare drivers stopped working this Valentine's Day. The strike is happening in cities all around the country and all around the world.
At San Francisco's driver demonstration on Tuesday, workers expressed their demands and the changes they are looking for.
Uber drivers picked Valentine's Day to send an anti-love letter to their employer – the international ridesharing conglomerate is headquartered in San Francisco next to the Chase Center.
More than 100 drivers, horns blaring, turned off their apps and committed the day to standing down, so they could stand up for decent pay; something Uber drivers say at the company's beginning, was a great opportunity with good money.
"Uber and Lyft are taking more money. When they started they were making $2 and the driver got $8" said driver John Mejia. "Now the driver gets $2 to $3. They can't make a decent living."
Corporate people. They need to have compassion. They need to think about the drivers. They do the job. They make the money for them to live a very comfortable life," said Michael Mekonenn.
Drivers told KTVU this is not a celebration or a protest, but a warning to respect them and their plight for better pay.
"I'm here actually at a funeral because this is the end of what's going on with exploitation and Uber, Lyft…c'mon now. I can't even have a living wage. There's no way I'm going to be able to keep up. I'm a single mom on top of everything," said driver Marianna Potts.
In the last couple of years, workers both unionized and non-unionized have decided to push employers for more money and they've had reasonably good success.
"I believe this is the beginning of it. There are other places like New York. They started their own company. A driver-owned cooperative. That can happen here. It's about it not working anymore," said Meija.
"Of course it's gonna get bigger. A lot of these drivers are hurt. What your hear and what you see is the hurt," said Mekonenn.
Uber sent out a statement saying that the vast majority of drivers are satisfied and that earnings remain strong. Uber called it an opportunity for some union-backed groups to get media attention. The company also said that it expects that it will not impact the overall number of trips, number of drivers or the prices.
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