Passengers flying into LaGuardia Airport on Sunday should be prepared to make transportation schedules that don’t involve Uber or Lyft as drivers prepare for a strike if pickups aren’t made.
The New York Taxi Workers Alliance, which represents thousands of ridesharing and cab companies in New York City, said drivers from Uber and Lyft would not pick up passengers from LaGuardia from noon to midnight.
Workers are demanding higher wages to accommodate inflation and rising utility costs ahead of a public hearing Wednesday on a citywide proposal to raise minimum wages for drivers. The Taxi and Limousine Commission is expected to vote on the proposal before the end of March.
“Drivers suffer losses every day because these companies don’t pay enough,” said Bhairavi Desai, the Allianz chief executive, on Saturday afternoon. “But when you take a loss because you chose to go on strike, you know you’re giving that loss a different meaning. It tells companies: Workers have power.”
This is the drivers’ third industrial action since Uber filed a lawsuit challenging the city-ordered pay rises last December. Another raise was proposed by TLC this month, but Desai said both Lyft and Uber had given no assurances they would not sue to block the new proposal.
Uber has denied the claims of its own drivers.
“On February 1, drivers received their third mandatory pay rise since 2020 and are now making $31.66 an hour,” said Freddi Goldstein, a spokesman for Uber. “This is the only industry in the state with an annual required increase tied to the rate of inflation, while minimum wage workers have not received a single increase since 2018.”
A Lyft spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Desai said drivers would continue to pick up passengers in other parts of the city, including other major airports, during Sunday’s strike.