Star Tribune
Rideshare drivers to strike Thursday at MSP Airport for better pay, working conditions
Some metro area Uber and Lyft drivers shut off their apps Thursday, and about 30 picketed at the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport for two hours in the evening.
The drivers called the one-day strike as they continue to advocate for higher pay and more predictable earnings. Several longtime drivers said their cut of fares has steadily dropped.
Ibrahima Kante has been driving for eight years and made more than 25,000 trips in the Twin Cities, he said, showing a screenshot of his history. Pay started off good, but it can no longer support his family.
“I’ve got six kids I need to take care of,” Kante said.
Starting about 5 p.m. Thursday, a group of about 30 drivers marched on a small sidewalk across a tall median from the main departure road at Terminal One. Other drivers zipped by after dropping off passengers, seeming to pay little attention to the small demonstration.
Drivers said despite the cold, they wanted to stand outside to try to get some attention to their problems.
“Nobody’s going to fight for us,” Kante said. “We’ve got to fight for our rights.”
Rides to the airport remained easily obtainable and normally priced during the afternoon, though Lyft showed surge pricing after 6 p.m.
The one-day strike could become a monthly occurrence, and perhaps a weekly event during busy times at the airport if demands are not met, said Yusuf Haji, a spokesman representing drivers.
“We will collectively keep pushing until we get our demands met,” he said.
Drivers working for Uber, Lyft and other app-based rides provide about 2,900 rides a day at the airport, according to the Metropolitan Airports Commission (MAC).
Over the past year, rideshare drivers have also been pushing for better pay and clarity around the rules transportation network companies such as Uber and Lyft must follow before terminating drivers or deactivating their accounts.
An effort to raise pay for drivers in Minneapolis failed last year, but led to the state creating a task force to study minimum pay rates and working conditions after Gov. Tim Walz vetoed a bill — his first veto — that would have provided pay raises and job protections to rideshare drivers. Uber had threatened to largely pull out of Minnesota if the measure became law.
Drivers said they were not satisfied with what they saw as a delay.
“The longer you push it off, the longer people are going hungry,” said driver Amanda VanDyke of Burnsville.
Others said they felt betrayed by the veto.
“I fought for him so he’d fight for me,” Abdi Aziz of Chaska said of Walz. Now, Aziz said he wonders if he should start voting Republican.
Since the veto, Uber and Lyft have instituted a $5 minimum charge for rides that begin and end in the metro area.
Lyft, in an emailed statement, said it supported its drivers. “We are always looking for ways to improve the driver experience on our platform,” the company said.
For some drivers, incremental changes are not enough to keep them on the road. Mauricio Castaneda of Robbinsdale said he once made good money driving for the apps, but now, he said, he is behind on payments for the car he uses for work. He plans to start driving for Metro Mobility, he said, where he can get $27 an hour and save more for retirement. “That’s it, forget about Lyft and Uber,” he said.
“The drivers aim to draw attention to these issues,” Haji said.
Drivers also hoped the MAC will provide a better facility for drivers to use a restroom while they wait for customers to hail a ride, and space to pray.
Imam Hassan Mohamud from the Islamic Da’wah Center in St. Paul said the current handful of porta-potties and one small structure offering little protection from the elements are not enough.
“The prayers take seven minutes and nobody can stand here that long in this type of weather,” he said Thursday, as temperatures fell into the teens.
About 70% of drivers parked in the waiting lot Thursday were Muslim, said Eid Ali, president of the Minnesota Uber and Lyft Drivers Association.
A spokesman for MAC said the agency is monitoring any action or recommendations from a committee that Walz established to look into compensation and treatment issues related to rideshare drivers.
“Even though there’s a lot of energy, creativity and hard work going on around downtown, never have we been more aligned in the direction we’re heading,” Duininck said.
To execute its plan, the city is convening a Downtown Action Council, a group that consists of representatives from the business, nonprofit and government sectors, including the Minnesota Vikings, Target and the Guthrie Theater.
A top priority for the group, from July 2024 to 2026, will be helping figure out the long-awaited transformation of Nicollet Mall into a pedestrian-only corridor. A task force Frey convened called the Vibrant Downtown Storefronts Workgroup made that suggestion and others for the thoroughfare back in June 2023. The city and its partners will have to determine where to move bus traffic and stops, but Frey said Marquette and Second avenues are ripe for that transition.
The plan would also focus time and resources on downtown’s Warehouse District, which Frey said “has the potential to be an entertainment Mecca.” The blocks between the North Loop and the central business district could have a social district that allows open containers, billboards and lights that help attract visitors from around the state.
“I’m not arguing that the Warehouse District is going to be like Times Square,” Frey said. “But I am arguing that we can create our own version of it right here in Minneapolis.”
Officials also emphasized efforts to make it easier for developers to convert downtown office buildings to housing and other uses. Frey touted the city’s Vibrant Storefronts initiative, which has been connecting property owners with vacant storefronts to local artists.
Star Tribune
Two more victims from encampment shootings identified as Mayor Frey says, ‘This is about fentanyl.’
The Hennepin County Medical Examiner has identified three murder victims from two separate shootings at homeless encampments this weekend in Minneapolis as three others were left with life-threatening injuries.
Christopher Martell Washington, 38, of Fridley, and Louis Mitchell Lemons, Jr., 32, of Brooklyn Center, were identified Monday afternoon as the two men who died from multiple gunshot wounds on Sunday afternoon in the 4400 block of Snelling Avenue. Deven Leonard Caston, 31, was identified as the victim at an encampment shooting near E. 21st Street and 15th Avenue S. that happened Saturday.
Minneapolis Police Spokesman Sgt. Garrett Parten, said it was unclear if there was a connection between the shootings but “we can’t rule it out.”
The city has dealt with several shootings in and around homeless encampments this year. Mayor Jacob Frey attended a news conference Sunday after the shooting on Snelling Avenue and said the city needs to continue to provide options for people seeking shelter. But, he said, encampments are not an alternative answer.
“Yet again we have more people that are dead,” he said. “We need to be honest and realistic about what is happening right now. We need to call a spade a spade. This is not about a lack of shelter. This is about fentanyl.”
Officers initially detained three people in the shooting of Washington and Lemons Jr., but were released after police found they were not believed to be involved in the shooting. No charges had been filed in either shooting as of Monday.
Ward 12 Council Member Aurin Chowdhury, who represents the area and lives nearby, was at the site of Sunday’s shooting. She said officials need information about what happened to better understand how to address situations like this long-term.
“This is an absolute tragedy, and this type of violence should never occur within our city,” she said. “It really makes me think about how we need to look at this more systemically and not just take a whack-a-mole approach and expect the problem to go away.”
Inside Paper Source, which has been in the mall since 2016, senior sales lead Carrie Helman-Menard said foot traffic has changed at the mall.
“It is quiet,” she said. “This street was a lot different even, you know, six years ago. The hobby stores down that way closed. Salut, closed. Anthropolgie, closed. J Crew, etc. There were a lot more people bustling, shopping.”
Grand, she said, can be that way again, but it “needs businesses. Needs people.”
A new development at Grand and Victoria could be just what’s needed, she said.
“People will come,” she said, pointing to her store’s customers continuing to walk through Paper Source’s door. “They get excited that something’s here. People are grateful. They’ll come in here and say, ‘Oh my god, I’m so glad you’re here.’ So that feels good. A lot of people want that hustle and bustle back.”
Simon Taghioff, president of the Summit Hill Association board, said Parritz made “an information only” presentation to the board earlier this month. Parritz, he said, shared “a lot of optimism in how it could transform that corner in a positive way.”
