Atlanta

Ride-share drivers set to join nationwide protest this week

By Rikki Klaus
By Rikki Klaus

ATLANTA — Uber and Lyft riders may have to wait longer for a ride this week after many drivers in Atlanta and across the country said they are set to strike.

Local protest organizers passed out flyers at Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport to recruit drivers for the strike.

Drivers say the portion they make per ride has shrunk.

“It’s ridiculous. They need to treat us fairly,” Lyft driver Joshua Harris said.

The disabled veteran told Channel 2's Rikki Klaus that he drives for Lyft to boost his income. A recent pay cut of $0.14 a mile has him fuming.

“I feel they wanted to get drivers in just to get the demand going, and once they got that going, they just sliced all the rates,” Harris said.

Klaus watched Sunday as Harris enthusiastically handed out dozens of protest flyers to fellow ride-share drivers at the airport.

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On Wednesday, drivers around the country plan to turn off their apps, refuse rides and protest.

“We’re the ones who are keeping these wheels rolling. It’s not the people who are sitting in the back office. It’s not the CEO. We’re the foot soldiers out here,” Harris said.

Uber’s initial public offering comes this week. It’s expected to be one of the biggest in tech-industry history.

“And they’ve done so off the backs of the drivers they are exploiting by not paying them the actual value of their worth,” Harris said.

Cesa Smith told Klaus that she might quit driving after almost five years.

“It’s just a lot harder to survive,” Smith said.

She told Klaus that she was once making about $60,000 a year.

Now, she said, “For 60 hours a week, I’m making less than half of that.”

Local protests begin Wednesday at noon at Uber’s hub in Chamblee. There's also one at 5 p.m. at the Lyft hub in northwest Atlanta.

Cox Media Group

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