About 100 Lyft and Uber drivers rallied in Los Angeles Wednesday to protest a sharp drop in wages due to changes on the platforms.
“The pay is just really bad, and it’s hard to keep up the maintenance on the car when I’m not making enough, so I had to get another job,” a driver named Judy told KNX News’ Pete Demetriou. “I was making between $30 to $50 an hour, now I’m making maybe $15 an hour, the minimum wage.”
Organizers with Rideshare Drivers United said the pay change is due to a new algorithm the rideshare services are using to calculate driver pay, which results in the companies "often taking up to 70% to 80% of the customer fare, leaving drivers the remaining 20% to 30% to pay gas, maintenance, leaving them almost nothing to support themselves and their families."
“I recently saw a ride to LAX which would cost $60 now costs $100, but the driver would never get more than $30,” said driver Jonathan Tipton Meyers. He said he’s had to give up full-time driving and find a second job due to the low wages.
Lyft released a study last week that claims their U.S. drivers earn a gross median of $30.68 per hour, although that drops to $23.46 per hour after expenses. An Uber representative said their company’s drivers make “about $33 per utilized hour.”
But Sergio Avedon said that after expenses, he’s making less than L.A. County’s $16.50 minimum wage.
“The pay isn’t commensurate to the risk that I’m taking. It wasn’t like that eight years ago when I started. I was making a great living,” he said. “Driving is risky. What did our parents tell us? Don’t get in a car with a stranger. I’m getting in a car with a stranger 30 times a day.”
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Rideshare Drivers United Vice President Eduardo Romero said more regulation is needed to protect drivers. He cited California’s Proposition 22, which was passed by voters in 2020 and allowed the companies to classify drivers as independent contractors, as part of the problem.
"Uber is reporting record profits, and drivers are not making any money," he said in a statement. "Our lawmakers in the state need to know that drivers are having to make the difficult decision on whether to pay their rent or pay their car note. They cannot do both on these low fares."
A representative for Lyft said Wednesday’s action had not had any impact on customer wait times, and emphasized that they recently released a “series of new offers and commitments aimed at increasing driver pay and transparency.”
City News Service contributed to this report.
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