Uber, Lyft drivers to strike for fair pay at Pittsburgh International Airport on Valentine’s Day

PITTSBURGH — Uber and Lyft drivers will rally at Pittsburgh International Airport Wednesday as part of a nationwide strike to call for fair pay.

Justice for App Workers, the group organizing the strike, said drivers would not be taking rides to or from airports in 10 U.S. cities., including Pittsburgh.

Riders like Ted Soluri rely on Uber and Lyft.

“I’m here from Dallas so I definitely need a way to get to the hotel,” Soluri said. “If we are in a city with cabs, we are great or at least a portion of cabs, but I don’t know what cities are like anymore. I think it will interfere with a lot of people’s lives of getting around places.”

The rally at the airport starts at 11 a.m. in the Rideshare Waiting Lot and will last for two hours.

Justice for App Workers said in a release, “While the cost of living in Pennsylvania continues to climb, drivers are seeing less and less money from each ride as Silicon Valley and Wall Street take an ever-increasing cut of driver earnings, despite drivers footing all industry expenses. App workers are at a crossroads in Steel City. With mounting violence against rideshare workers, zero job protections against unfair app deactivations, and devastating earnings reductions over the past three years, drivers are getting out of their cars and into the streets.”

Organizers cited several reasons for the strike including mounting violence against rideshare drivers, zero job protections against “unfair” app deactivations, and earning reductions over the past three years.

Lyft sent the following statement to Channel 11 about the strike:

“We are constantly working to improve the driver experience, which is why just this month we released a series of new offers and commitments aimed at increasing driver pay and transparency. This includes a new earnings commitment and an improved deactivation appeals process. Now, drivers will always make at least 70% of the weekly rider fares after external fees. It’s all part of our new customer-obsessed focus on drivers.”

We’ve also reached out to Uber and are waiting to hear back.

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