Have Valentine’s Day plans tomorrow? Planning on calling a car to get home from class? Or ordering in for a self care night? Well, your plans might have to be changed. Tomorrow, rideshare and delivery drivers across the country for Uber, Lyft, and DoorDash are striking, as they demand for better wages and working conditions.
We spoke to Alejandro Rodriguez, a driver with Uber and Lyft for over 8 years. Rodriguezis a member of Rideshare Drivers United, a coalition heading the strike tomorrow.
Rodriguez shared that he has faced a significant decline in pay over the years, as the rideshare platforms have taken a larger chunk of ride fares. Rodriguez feels that rideshare companies have had no response to the rising cost of gas and car insurance. He is also calling for increased transparency between how much of the ride fare is going to the driver vs. the platform. Rodriguez hopes that this strike will put pressure on rideshare companies to instill more trust in their drivers, as well as increase their wages.
Rodriguez: My main goal for why I’m striking is for Uber and Lyft to respect our rights. They haven’t respected us and on the contrary, have taken actions to limit our wages. As costs for gas and insurance have increased, our wages and earnings per mile have decreased.
But what about those on the other side- those who rely on these services? We talked to USC students to hear their perspective on the strike and its potential effects on the USC community.
Roxane Zaimi, a masters student majoring in both aerospace engineering and engineering management, shared that the strike does not come as a surprise to her.
Zaimi: It’s no secret that everyone has known that they haven’t been paid that well for a while. They’re still being paid pretty ******fucking****** badly. They’re all working crazy hours.
Tomorrow’s strike will also expand to delivery services like Doordash. Zaimi feels that Dashers are also being mistreated.
Zaimi: Well, you’re already up charging like, essentially like restaurant prices like and then to see the fact that you’re spending so little that amount of money that you’re getting on your drivers is just like, like for like you wouldn’t even have a *****fucking***** company if it weren’t for the drivers.
Emily Lynch, a USC junior studying law, history, and culture, shared that the strike will be affecting her Valentine’s Day plans.
Lynch: Specifically for Lyft, my goal was to go with my friends to their apartment, which is on the other side of campus because I live in the sorority house. And we were going to do a little Galentine’s Day dinner before we went to the 901. And so now it’s going to suck having to walk everywhere because it’s pretty dangerous.
Lynch’s dilemma is shared by many USC students, who heavily rely on the Lyft rideshare service provided by USC to navigate what they feel is an unsafe area surrounding campus.
Alex Li, a sophomore studying architecture, looked at the bigger picture.
Li: I can imagine that it would have a pretty big impact on, you know, events that are happening that because it is Valentine’s Day, imagine people would be taking a Lyft or taking Uber to see other people and get together.
Despite the inconvenience, Li is interested to see how big of an inconvenience and impact this strike will have.
Li: If this has never happened before. Like, maybe we don’t realize how much of a dependency we have on Uber and DoorDash and Lyft. Yeah. Oh, wow. I’m kind of excited to see what happens now.
The strike is more than just a day without rides- it’s a call to action that underscores the essential roles of rideshare drivers in our daily lives and the need for change by companies like Uber, Lyft, and Doordash.