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Mayor Frey says he will veto Uber and Lyft ordinance the Minneapolis City Council has proposed

Frey says he supports higher pay for rideshare drivers but the Council proposal is forcing them to leave the city

Uber, Lyft, Rideshare, Minneapolis, Mayor Jacob Frey, Minneapolis City Council
© Nathan Harris/Times Recorder

An all-out push from Minneapolis city leaders on Wednesday ahead of Thursday's planned vote by the City Council to increase the mandatory minimum wages for rideshare drivers.

Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey says such a move would drive Uber and Lyft out of the Twin Cities.


"Not only would that not do any good for the drivers because it doesn't do any good to get a pay raise if you no longer have a job, it's also very problematic for residents of our city, and tourists, people that use ridesharing service in some form," says Frey.

Minneapolis Downtown Council CEO Adam Duninck says it's not just a metropolitan issue. He says visitors coming to Minnesota from elsewhere in the country, or the world for that matter, will end up stuck and frustrated at the airport.

"Frankly, it'd be embarrassing to think about how they wouldn't be able to catch and Uber or Lyft somewhere," Duninck says. "How are they going to get around? They're going to pull it up on their phone and say how am I going to get to the destination I need to reach?"

Uber and Lyft have both threatened to pull out of the Twin Cities by April 1 if the Council approves the new mandatory minimum wage for drivers.

"I support more than doubling the rate of pay that drivers for rideshare companies are able to make," Mayor Frey explains. "I support making sure that the work that they do is valued and that they're able to get the compensation that is indicative of the hard job that they have. Now, the Council wants to take that pay even further to a rate where Uber and Lyft would effectively leave the city."

Mayor Frey says if it passes, he'll veto it. However there are enough votes on the Council now to override any of the mayor's vetoes.

Minneapolis City Council member Robin Wonsley introduced a motion asking for $15 an hour for drivers last November. Wonsley says ridesharing companies have exploited Minneapolis drivers for too long.

"Corporations do not get to be in Minneapolis and circumvent policies that actually support our workers," Wonsley said.

Frey says he supports higher pay for rideshare drivers but the Council proposal is forcing them to leave the city