REDONDO BEACH, Calif. (KNX) — Rideshare drivers protested in Redondo Beach Wednesday, saying they need help or more help from Uber, Lyft and Amazon as gas prices continue to rise. Earlier this week Uber and Lyft announced customer surcharges of up to $0.55 to benefit drivers, but protesters say that's not enough.
“That’s a joke. That’s a publicity stunt. $0.55 doesn’t do anything for anyone,” a local driver’s representative at the rally told KNX, as the average price for a gallon of regular gasoline hit $5.876 in Los Angeles County.
Dozens of drivers rallied outside of both an Amazon warehouse and an Uber Greenlight Hub, demanding that the companies pay them more per mile to help cover the major increase in gas prices.
Tuesday Lyft announced it would soon implement a temporary customer surcharge that would go 100% to drivers as the crisis continues. The $0.55 fuel surchage will into effect next week, the company said in a Wednesdaystatement.
Lyft's announcement came just after Uber said it would enact surcharges ranging from $0.35 to $0.55, depending on whether the customer was using rideshare or Uber Eats and also depending on their location. Those surcharges went into effect Wednesday.
“It’s not much. It’s crumbs," one man with The Mobile Workers Alliance told KNX. "What we want is to sit down with the company.” to talk about possible pay raises."
While Amazon Flex drivers told KNX that the company has not joined Uber and Lyft in announcing any surcharges or assistance for its drivers, the company shared a statement with KTLA saying that it had already made adjustments.
“Our delivery partners play a vital role in serving customers every day. We’re closely monitoring the situation and listening to their concerns...Amazon Flex delivery partners earn among the best in the industry at over $26 per hour on average. We’ve already made several adjustments through pricing surges in impacted areas to help ease some of the financial challenges and as the situation evolves, we’ll continue to make changes where we can to help support our partners.”
In recent tweets shared by the Mobile Workers Alliance, organizers said companies like Amazon and Uber make billions, and can therefore afford to foot a larger portion of the gas bill to keep their drivers going.
"These companies must put their workers’ financial wellbeing ahead of profits!" the alliance tweeted. "There is no reason for these rich tech companies to dismiss our demand for higher pay other than greed!"
As of Wednesday, the national average for a gallone of regular gasoline is $4.30, according to the American Automobile Association (AAA).
There are 17 states hitting a decent amount over the average. Those include:
California - $5.772
Hawaii - $5.084
Nevada - $5.005
Washington - $4.736
Alaska - $4.732
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