Rideshare Drivers, Aldermen Bring the Holiday Spirit to Uber Despite Uber’s Scrooge-like Behavior
FOR PLANNING PURPOSES: December 13, 2023
Contact: Deana Rutherford | 773-230-8112 or Emilio Vicente | 919 -360-4512
Chicago – As people celebrate the holiday season, Uber and Lyft drivers with Chicago Gig Alliance, along with Alderman Chris Taliaferro (Ward 29) and Alderman Julia Ramirez (Ward 12) will gather at The Uber Greenlight Hub for a Christmas-themed action with carols, costumes, and a naughty and nice list to call Uber out for its ongoing refusal to meet drivers’ needs for safety, fair pay, and an end to unfair deactivations. Uber’s unwillingness to provide for its workers’ needs hits even harder at Christmastime, as the corporation rolls out Christmas gimmicks like reindeer-shaped delivery robots and Christmas-themed party buses while failing to adequately respond to calls for basic worker protections.
Uber drivers will continue their call for Chicago’s City Council to pass the Chicago Rideshare Living Wage and Safety Ordinance as soon as possible. The ordinance would ensure that drivers, in particular drivers of color, have dignity, stability, and fairness on the job.
The brother and sister of Mohammed al Hejoj, a Chicago driver who drove for Uber and other services and was shot and killed while driving earlier this month, will speak at the event to amplify the demand that rideshare app companies provide for the safety of their drivers by requiring passengers to verify their identities.
Who: Uber and Lyft drivers united in Chicago Gig Alliance,, Alderman Christopher Taliaferro (Ward 29), Alderwoman Julia Ramirez (Ward 12), the siblings of Mohammad al Hijoj, community members in support of drivers
What: Christmas-themed action with carols, costumes, and a naughty and nice list to demonstrate Uber’s greed and lack of holiday spirit
When: Thursday, December 14 at 12 PM CT
Where: Uber Hub, 1401 W North Ave, Chicago
Background: Chicago is facing a safety and deactivation crisis
Uber and Lyft conducted nearly 10,000 deactivations since 2020, with almost 4,000 driver accounts permanently deactivated in 2022, according to Chicago city data analyzed in a recent report by the Chicago Gig Alliance and The People’s Lobby. Uber and Lyft have shut out of work thousands of drivers, often with little explanation or recourse.
Recent research from The Strategic Organizing Center (SOC), the Chicago Gig Alliance, and The People’s Lobby found that 74 percent of Illinois drivers surveyed reported experiencing threats, harassment, or assaults in the last year, higher rates than nationally.
Through this crisis, community members are joining in this fight, including 50+ public health practitioners in Illinois calling on Chicago’s Aldermen to protect drivers.
The Chicago Rideshare Living Wage & Safety Ordinance, introduced by Alderman Mike Rodriguez, and backed by 28 Aldermen, would provide the drivers who move Chicagoans safely through the City new protections from unfair deactivation. The ordinance would also support drivers in earning predictable wages and make ridesharing platforms safer for drivers and riders.