Rideshare drivers across the Twin Cities turned off their Lyft and Uber apps for several hours on Thursday and nearly two dozen rallied at the airport to demand better pay and working conditions.
More than 280 drivers temporarily deactivated their apps, according to Yusuf Haji, a spokesman for MULDA Members, which claims to represent 2,000 drivers across the state.
“I love what I do but I need to get paid for it,” said Amanda VanDyke, a Lyft driver who attended the 5 p.m. rally at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport.
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A spokesman for Uber, Josh Gold, said the rideshare giant did not see any impact from the strike Thursday. Passengers interviewed at the rideshare pickup area at MSP said they didn’t have long waits to get a ride or pay higher than normal prices.
But more than 20 drivers who showed up for the rally at the airport said they planned to continue to hold a “day of action” once a month to demand better wages and improved facilities for drivers at the airport.
“We’re going to do it often,” Yusuf said. “Until the people of Minnesota hear our plea.”
Zack Abdi was among the drivers parked near the airport lot for rideshare drivers. He said many of the drivers were showing up, parking their vehicles and turning off their apps in protest.
“They’re all mad,” Zack said. “We’re not getting paid enough.”
VanDyke and other protesters at the airport took turns coming in and out of the building to picket in 11 degree weather. She said she couldn’t feel her fingers when she came in at 5:30 p.m.
VanDyke is five months pregnant and other than stopping to strike she said she drives for Lyft often.
“I mean, I gotta make money for the baby,” she said.
MULDA Members is a splinter group formed after a disagreement between members of Minnesota Uber/Lyft Drivers Association.
Group members say they want fair compensation along with pay transparency. They want the pay rate to be set at $1.30 per mile and $0.25 per minute.
Some of the group’s newest demands include better restroom facilities for the drivers lot near the airport. The lot has three portable toilets for drivers to use that are unheated.
Group members said if the apps or the Metropolitan Airports Commission doesn’t want to fund the improvements, they’d like to be given the land so they can gather the funds to do it themselves.
They also want better facilities for Muslim drivers to pray in, as currently the group only has a small roof to pray under. When it’s raining or too cold, drivers can’t use the space, said a MULDA Members leader, who didn’t want to give his full name, for fear of retaliation from the rideshare apps.
A separate rideshare group, MULDA, held a competing news conference Thursday morning at the rideshare driver lot near the airport.
Eid Ali, head of MULDA, would not comment to Sahan on the strike by the splinter group, but expressed concern about the condition of the prayer area and restrooms for drivers, wanting to see both improved.
Eid said his group, MULDA, was always trying to do what is best for the drivers.
“Hopefully sometime in the near future, we will get to a point where we can at least accomplish some of the goals that we have been fighting for,” Eid said.
