Independent Drivers Guild Building Momentum for First Ever Minimum Pay Rate for App-Based Drivers

New York City’s Taxi and Limousine Commission has until Monday, May 21 to decide whether to accept or reject groundbreaking new pay rules proposed by the Independent Drivers Guild, a Machinists Union affiliate which represents and advocates for more than 60,000 app-based drivers in the city.

Support for the rules is growing, with more than 16,000 drivers signed on to the petition, along with support from labor and community leaders, including the IAM, the New York City Central Labor Council, The Black Institute and the New York Immigration Coalition. IDG members have sent nearly 4,000 emails to the city’s Taxi and Limousine Commission urging adoption of the pay protections.

“All working people deserve a livable wage. App-based workers are a large and growing class of Americans being denied this basic right,” said IAM International President Bob Martinez. “We are proud to stand in support of our affiliated Independent Drivers Guild, which is fighting to change that. These are landmark rules that would require ride-hail apps like Uber and Lyft to adhere to a minimum, livable pay rate for the very first time. It is a momentous decision that will advance the fight for a ‘sharing economy’ that actually shares.”

The new rules would set the nation’s first minimum pay rate for app-based drivers, while also delivering a desperately needed raise to the city’s app-based drivers who shoulder tens of thousands of dollars in expenses each year.  The rules would also protect riders by prohibiting apps from charging riders more than 20 percent over what the driver is paid. Currently, apps can charge passengers more than double what a worker is paid, and the IDG’s report has examples of just that. The IDG’s proposed rule would discourage price gouging and ensure drivers get to keep 80 percent of their earnings, which would return commissions to the rates riders and drivers agreed to before Uber and Lyft changed the fine print to allow for unlimited commissions.

It’s time for the city to stand up for the more than 60,000 working families like mine who depend on driving for apps for a living,” said IDG member Tina Raveneau, who drives for Uber and Lyft.

Sign the petition telling the New York City TLC to protect drivers’ pay.

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