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Uber, Lyft and DoorDash drivers set to walk off the job on Valentine’s Day
Thousands of Uber, Lyft and DoorDash drivers plan to walk off the job Wednesday in a Valentine’s Day demonstration to protest lower pay and unsafe working conditions.
Rideshare Drivers United, an independent union, said that Lyft and Uber drivers would turn off their apps on Wednesday to protest “the significant decrease in pay we’ve all felt this winter.”
“We’re sick of working 80 hours a week just to make ends meet, being constantly scared for our safety and worrying about deactivated with the click of a button,” stated the Justice For App Workers coalition, which represents more than 100,000 drivers.
The group said its members would not be taking rides to or from airports in 10 cities in holding a Valentine’s Day strike. Drivers plan to hold rallies midday at airports in Austin, Chicago, Hartford, Miami, Newark, Orlando, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Providence and Tampa.
DoorDash did not respond to a request for comment.
Uber downplayed the potential impact of the planned action, saying a driver protest last year had no effect on business. “Driver earnings remain strong, and as of Q4 2023, drivers in the U.S. were making about $33 per utilized hour,” Uber said in a statement.
Lyft drivers using their own vehicles earned $30.68 an hour including tips and bonuses “of engaged time,” and $23.46 an hour after expenses in the second half of 2023, the company stated in a white paper.
Lyft recently promised that its drivers would receive at least 70% of the money their clients pay to ride with them, part of the company’s efforts to boost pay transparency amid long-running criticisms about its driver compensation.
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A teacher and student killed in a shooting earlier this week at a school in Madison, Wisconsin, were identified Wednesday by authorities.
The Dane County Medical Examiner’s Office said in a news release provided to CBS News that 42-year-old Erin West and 14-year-old Rubi Vergara were fatally shot Monday morning at Abundant Life Christian School.
Preliminary examinations determined the two died of “homicidal firearm related trauma.” Both were pronounced dead at the scene, the medical examiner said.
An online obituary on a local funeral site stated Vergara was a freshman who leaves behind her parents, one brother, and a large extended family. It described her as “an avid reader” who “loved art, singing and playing keyboard in the family worship band.”
West’s exact position with the school was unclear.
The medical examiner also confirmed that a preliminary autopsy found that the suspected shooter, 15-year-old Natalie Rupnow — a student at the same school — was pronounced dead at a local hospital Monday of “firearm related trauma.” Madison Chief of Police Shon F. Barnes had previously told reporters that Rupnow was pronounced dead while being transported to a hospital.
Police had also previously stated that she was believed to have died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
The shooting at the private Christian K-12 school was reported just before 11 a.m. Monday. In addition to the two people killed and the shooter, six others were wounded.
Police said the shooting occurred in a classroom where a study hall was taking place involving students from several grades.
A handgun was recovered after the shooting, Barnes said, but it was unclear where the gun came from or how many shots were fired. A law enforcement source said the weapon used in the shooting appears to have been a 9 mm pistol.
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