Posted on 08/08/2019 3:11:00 PM PDT by morphing libertarian
BY ADELE PETERS
Los Angeles county, where the minimum wage is currently $14.25 an hour, studies suggest that Uber and Lyft drivers often make far less. In El Monte, an industrial city east of Los Angeles, the city council just unanimously voted to change that, telling city officials to begin drafting a law that would guarantee drivers a minimum of $30 an hour.
While other cities have set minimum wages for ride-hail drivers, this would be the highest in the country, and it comes after pressure from the Mobile Workers Alliance, a project from the Service Employees International Union, Local 721. “Currently, workers who are working for companies like Uber and Lyft are working lots of hours and still making less than minimum wage,” says Coral Itzcalli, an organizer for the union.
“On average, we hear from workers that they’re working daily 12 to 16 hours a day. That translates to tired people behind the wheel on already congested public roads. And no one should put their life or the life of someone else at risk by being so tired behind the wheel just because they’re trying to earn the pennies on the dollar that Uber and Lyft is paying them.”
The pay might sound generous, but it’s intended to provide drivers with $15 an hour to cover the costs of operating their cars and another $15 in take-home pay. Itzcalli says that drivers have to cover the cost of gas, frequent oil changes and other maintenance because they’re driving so many miles, and extra insurance because standard car insurance doesn’t cover ride-hail drivers. Many drivers have to work a week and a half just to cover the basic operating expenses of driving. A recent study from the Economic Policy Institute found that the average hourly wage for Uber drivers was just $11.77. The union’s own surveys suggest it’s actually closer to $8-9 an hour in the area.
“California is one of the most expensive states to live in,” says Itzcalli. “Housing is very, very expensive. Many of these folks are just one paycheck away from being homeless. We already have a homeless crisis. It is something that we all feel is urgent, because we cannot continue to allow these companies to drive our communities to the ground.”
City officials will have 120 days to develop the new ordinance, which will likely require another vote. Lyft, in response, offered a boilerplate statement about working to increase drivers wages. Uber did not respond by press time. In the meantime, a separate state bill is making its way to the governor that would force companies like Uber and Lyft to classify drivers as employees, not independent contractors.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Adele Peters is a staff writer at Fast Company who focuses on solutions to some of the world's largest problems, from climate change to homelessness. Previously, she worked with GOOD, BioLite, and the Sustainable Products and Solutions program at UC Berkeley, and contributed to the second edition of the bestselling book "Worldchanging: A User's Guide for the 21st Century." More
Very soon cities and states will set the pay for all employees of every business, in democrat jurisdictions.
I would make it $40/hour, and then everyone could be above average.
Turning the flag down shouldn’t result in $30/hr for sitting around at slow times.
Gee, if only Democrat cities didn’t have so many rules and regulations, people might be able to afford to live there.
Does this just cover El Monte? I’m sure many Uber drivers in El Monte take customers to destinations outside if the city limits of that one small city in the LA area.
The first politician to propose $1,000 hr across the board - wins
proposed by el monte city council. Staff working on it to go to council for final vote.
They didn’t vote to give them 30.00 an hour. They voted to start drafting a law. If they don’t draft a law then the pay doesn’t go up. Uber and Lyft have plenty of time to pay off any officials to make sure it doesn’t happen. And if it ever does it will hurt more than it helps. Uber would not be able to pay and the service would go away. The Uber drivers would go back to whatever they were or were not doing before.
Wow - I see they’re getting right on that out of control homeless situation in that cess pool by making more people homeless because nobody but the rich will be able to afford using Uber
50 is a round number
At that point I will unretire
Attention Freepers,
DO NOT Go to El Monte without a Vest, and Never at night. It is a very violent shithole full of MS13, I lived in San Gabriel for many years
El Monte is too rough for homeless. Traditional gang hub.
WTF? I thought Uber and Lyft was a way to make extra money.
Ironic that Uber and Lyft are in San Francisco too.
they have their staff drafting a law so they can implement it If there was no support then they wouldn’t be drafting anything.
I used to supervise Parolees there I second your statement.
You will HAVE to unretire...
Otherwise,you won’t be able to afford a loaf of bread...it will be on the order of $250.00 for the cheap stuff
That’s one way to kill it while maintaining the false appearance of benevolence.
Hats off to the cabbie that thought of this.
Will be fun to see Uber and Lyft suspend service to this municipality.
Couldn’t Uber and Lyft just block the city from the app? No fares to or from there.
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