NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — If you planned to use a rideshare app to get to where you need to go today, you may have some trouble.
App drivers are going on strike in Nashville and across the country for International Workers' Day, or May Day, to demand better wages.
The group "Justice for App Workers" which claims to have more than 130,000 members, is leading this nationwide strike.
App drivers plan to not work in protest of what they call the, "ever-increasing corporate greed of the nation's app companies."
They ask for supporters to not use these apps for the day in solidarity. That includes Lyft, Uber, DoorDash, Grubhub, Amazon Flex, Uber Eats, Postmates, Instacart and other app companies.
The group is also calling for deactivation protections. They said their jobs are vulnerable because if someone complains about their services, even if it is not true, they could unfairly be fired and lose access to work for the app.
The group said many workers are living order-to-order and low wages and the looming threat of app deactivation puts their livelihoods at risk.
There is a pledge app workers and supporters can sign in recognition of the strike.
A spokesperson for Uber said in a statement to NewsChannel 5 that it is not worried the strike will impact anyone's ability to get to their destinations.
“As we’ve seen with past demonstrations from this small but vocal group—most recently on Valentine’s Day where we saw more drivers working compared to the year prior—we anticipate no impact to our business or rider reliability. As of Q4 2023 [fool.com], drivers in the US were making a median of $33 per hour while on a trip, and we recently rolled out new driver protections [uber.com] and deactivation [uber.com] policy changes," said Uber.
Uber went on to say drivers on average make about $33 an hour on a trip and that its average take rate is 20 percent.
Lastly, Uber addressed workers' concern about deactivations:
"The decision to deactivate a driver’s account is not one we take lightly. We have improved our processes so that drivers better understand why their account was blocked. We also now give drivers the ability to ask for an additional review of our decision. They can also provide additional information to us, like audio or video recordings, that could support their case. You can read more about what we’ve done to make the platform fairer here [uber.com], and the positive driver response here [youtube.com]."
It's truly the small things that add up to a great day - and Warrick in Lebanon is having a big impact. His familiar face is becoming a staple in one part of the community and inspiring closer connection in the simplest way. Enjoy his warm personality! You may even feel inclined to wave to a stranger today, too.
-Rebecca Schleicher
