Here in New York, Uber and Lyft drivers have declared victory after city regulators granted a pay raise to drivers following a strike campaign. The fare raise by the Taxi and Limousine Commission, announced Wednesday, replaces another planned raise that was agreed to last year but blocked after a successful legal challenge by Uber. Last week, New York Taxi Workers Alliance director Bhairavi Desai testified to the New York Taxi and Limousine Commission.
Bhairavi Desai: “Every day that’s passed, that is a million dollars that were collectively owed to this workforce, a workforce that has had to pay for every single penny of operating expenses — Uber and Lyft don’t have to pay a dime — a workforce that works not only with economic risk, but also with great risk to their safety and to their life every single day.”