This Week In Rideshare: Habits, Strikes and Hikes.
A woman’s “habit” to stay safe, drivers strike in New York and a pay hike is blocked. LegalRideshare breaks it down.
MONDAY 1/2/23
After multiple flight delays, a couple takes a $600 Uber ride home. NBC12 reported:
The Kinneys eventually arrived to Las Vegas late, their plane was gone, there were too many winter storms to drive a rental car, and they changed two flights already before finally finding one to St. Louis.
“My wife casually joked with the Uber driver how it would be kind of funny if you could drive us to Omaha in the morning and there was a pause, and then the Uber driver said, ‘Yeah, I’ll do that,’” Kinney said.
Kinney says it ended up costing them nearly $600, but they got home and left with some pretty good conversation too.
TUESDAY 1/3/23
A woman’s “habit” during Uber rides has gone viral online. Yahoo! news reported:
Brenna, from the US, revealed in a recent TikTok video that whenever she is in a ride-share vehicle, she always leaves strands of hair and fingerprints on the windows.
The footage shows her dropping a blonde hair on the floor while sitting in the backseat of a car before pressing her fingers on the window.
More than 12,000 people have flooded the video — which has been viewed almost 28 million times — with comments, many of which deemed Brenna’s habit “hella smart”.
“This is terrifying and clever at the same time,” one woman wrote, while another said it was a “shame” women felt like they had to do things like this “to stay safe”.
WEDNESDAY 1/4/23
Recession fears could bring thousands of new gig workers. MarketWatch reported:
They said there’s a potential of 450,000 new drivers for Uber Technologies Inc. UBER, 2.05% and Lyft Inc. LYFT, 2.86%, and possibly 600,000 new couriers for DoorDash Inc. DASH, 0.97% and Uber.
But as more people turn to app-based gig work, it could mean bad news for workers who are already in the gig economy. They will be dealing with inflationary and recessionary pressures, along with increased competition for work, labor experts have said.
THURSDAY 1/5/23
Drivers in New York City continued to strike in protest of Uber blocking a pay hike. NBC4 reported:
New York Taxi Workers Alliance (NYTWA), the union representing the 21,000 or so app-dispatched drivers, along with those behind the wheels of green, black and livery cars in the city, asked passengers to assist in their bid to have raises restored by boycotting Uber until midnight. The group says app drivers, including those working for Uber, had lost about $12 million in raises by New Year’s Day because of the judge’s temporary restraining order.
Some 80,000 Uber drivers had been slated to get the pre-Christmas pay bump; they would earn 7.4% more per minute and a 24% increase per mile.
In the rideshare company’s lawsuit, Uber argued that the authorized pay hike would cost the company nearly $21 million per month. A spokesperson has said the company wants rates to be consistent and transparent.
FRIDAY 1/6/23
A NYC judge officially blocked drivers from getting a pay raise. Bloomberg reported:
A judge blocked a rate increase that would have raised pay for ride-share drivers in New York City.
Manhattan state court Justice Arthur Engoron, a former cab driver, issued his decision Friday after a hearing packed with Uber and Lyft drivers. Engoron had previously blocked the rate hike temporarily.
Friday’s ruling is a victory for Uber Technologies Inc., which last month sued the New York City Taxi & Limousine Commission. Uber claimed the commission used a new and flawed methodology to calculate the rate increase, which it said would result in higher fares for customers and damage the company’s reputation.
LegalRideshare is the first law firm in the United States to focus exclusively on Uber®, Lyft®, gig workers, delivery and e-scooter accidents and injuries. Consultations are always free.
