Here in New York, Uber drivers held a one-day strike Thursday as they continue to demand the ride-hailing corporation drop its lawsuit aimed at blocking a pay raise approved by the Taxi and Limousine Commission. It’s the second 24-hour-strike by Uber drivers since wage increases failed to go into effect in December. Democracy Now! spoke with Bhairavi Desai, the executive director of the New York Taxi Workers Alliance, at a picket line outside Uber’s New York headquarters on Thursday.

Bhairavi Desai: “This was a raise that was in the hands of the drivers. The City of New York voted on it after almost a year of public hearings. Uber, in the middle of the night, snatched this raise out of the drivers’ hands to put it in their own pockets. Meanwhile, in the same lawsuit Uber has filed to stop this raise for the drivers, they’ve admitted that they’ve been charging the public in New York City 48% more since 2019. You know, the only ones that haven’t gotten this increase are the drivers, and they’re the ones that really desperately need it.”