Drivers working for Uber, Lyft, and DoorDash are planning to strike on Valentines Day to fight for better working conditions.
The coalition of drivers said they will refuse to provide rides to and from airports in at least 10 US cities on Wednesday.
The strikes are taking place in Austin, Chicago, Hartford, Miami, Newark, Orlando, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Providence, and Tampa.
"While Silicon Valley and Wall Street take an ever-increasing cut of driver earnings, they’re raising rates on passengers, and expecting consumers and workers alike to accept their increasing corporate greed," Justice for App Workers, a group organising the protest, wrote in a news release.
Uber seemed to hand waive away the workers' concerns, saying that strikes "have rarely had any impact on trips, prices, or driver availability," USA Today reports. Lyft appeared responsive to some of the drivers' concerns, announcing last week that its drivers would make a guaranteed 70 per cent or more of rider fares after external fees each week.
The Valentines Day strike comes just one month after the National Labour Relations Board cemented a ruling that makes it more difficult for companies to classify their workers as contractors.
Gig workers and other contractors are generally not eligible for company benefits like health insurance, and are not covered by federal laws dictating minimum wages and overtime pay.
The new ruling forces employers to consider workers employees, and not contractors, if the worker is “economically dependent” on a company.
