NEW YORK — Rideshare drivers plan to strike on Valentine’s Day to demand higher wages and other job guarantees from companies such as Uber and Lyft.

Members of Justice for App Workers say they will not give any rides between 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. to or from 10 U.S. airports on Wednesday, including Austin, Chicago, Hartford, Miami, Newark, Orlando, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Providence and Tampa.

What You Need To Know

  • A coalition of rideshare drivers plan to strike on Valentine's Day

  • They say they will not give any rides to or from airports in 10 cities between 11 a.m. and 1 p.m.

  • The group has targeted airports in Austin, Chicago, Harford, Miami, Newark, Orlando, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Providence and Tampa 

  • A spokesperson for Lyft said it is rolling out new driver features to address some of their concerns

The group describes itself as a national movement of more than 130,000 rideshare drivers and delivery workers from the East Coast to the Midwest “united in our demands to transform our industry.”

According to Justice for App Workers, rideshare drivers are seeking living wages, a safe working environment, health care benefits, bathroom access, the right to form a union and an end to deactivations that kick drivers off the platforms for what they say are bogus complaints from riders.

The group says companies like Uber, and Lyft are bringing in millions while workers are suffering.

“We are constantly working to improve the driver experience, which is why just this month we released a series of new offers and commitments aimed at increasing driver pay and transparency,” a Lyft spokesperson told Spectrum News.

The new features for drivers include the ability for drivers to connect with a trained ADT security agent in real time with a mobile device, an easier deactivation appeals process that can be done through the Lyft app and a guarantee that “drivers will always make at least 70% of the weekly rider fares after external fees,” the spokesperson said.

Lyft said in a white paper last week that the median U.S. driver using a personal vehicle in the second half of 2023 earned $30.68 per hour, including tips and bonuses.

After factoring in expenses, Lyft said the median U.S. driver earned $23.46 per hour, including tips and bonuses.

Lyft declined to comment on how it expects the announced strike to affect its operations at the targeted airports. 

An Uber spokesperson told Spectrum News it expects only a minority of its drivers will participate in the Valentine's Day protest. It does not expect it to impact trip levels, prices or availability. The spokesperson said drivers earned about $33 per hour in the last quarter of 2023.

The Uber rep said the company conducts human-led investigations into driver deactivations and has added safety measures to help protect drivers, such as freezing rider accounts that use fake names and requiring IDs for some riders.