NYC Drivers Guild Blasts Uber for Lawsuit Delaying Drivers Pay Raise on a “Legal Technicality”

 Uber & Lyft Drivers Guild Calls on Apps to Pay Their Raise NOW

New York, NY – Today the Independent Drivers Guild is responding to a court ruling in Uber’s lawsuit, which will further delay a desperately-needed pay raise for New York City’s 80,000 Uber and Lyft drivers and their families. The increase in minimum driver pay, reflecting the substantial increase in driver expenses, was supposed to begin December 19, 2022, but has been delayed by Uber’s lawsuit.

In an order filed today in New York Supreme Court in response to Uber’s lawsuit, the Honorable Arthur F. Engoron ordered the New York City Taxi and Limousine Commission to take additional steps to explain the pay raise, but noted his dismay that the rideshare drivers’ “deserved raise is being held up by a legal technicality” as a result of Uber’s “faintly ridiculous” lawsuit.

“The judge made clear that the raise New York’s Uber and Lyft drivers deserve is being held up by a legal technicality. For Uber to continue to deny drivers their fair pay on a technicality is outrageous and insult to the thousands of men and women who work tirelessly to keep our city moving. We are calling for Uber to stop the delays. Uber and Lyft need to do the right thing: pay the raise now,” said Brendan Sexton, President of the Independent Drivers Guild. “Nine in ten rideshare drivers report they aren’t paid enough to survive and 50 percent of rideshare drivers struggle to afford food. The urgency here is real.”

“We also urge the city’s Taxi and Limousine Commission to remedy this legal technicality as quickly as possible,” added Sexton.

Late last month, the IDG organized a caravan of hundreds of rideshare drivers that shutdown the Brooklyn Bridge in protest of Uber’s lawsuit. The Guild has spent years advocating for the increase to the city’s minimum pay rate due to soaring driver expenses.

The Independent Drivers Guild is a Machinists Union affiliate that represents and advocates for more than 250,000 drivers across NY, NJ, CT, MA, and IL. We are Uber and Lyft workers united for a fair industry. The Guild’s organizing has secured landmark victories that put billions of dollars in the pockets of drivers, including requiring a tipping option in the Uber app and winning the nation’s first minimum wage (after expenses) for rideshare drivers in New York City.

 MEDIA CONTACT: Moira@drivingguild.org