Rideshare and Delivery Drivers with Uber, Lyft, Postmates to Hold Safety Rally to Protest Unpaid Work and Lack of COVID-19 Safety and Sanitation Supplies from Gig Companies
Drivers to Partner with Union Car Wash Workers to Clean and Sanitize Vehicles in Front of DTLA Lyft Hub; Protest Comes in the Wake of Gig Companies’ Multi-Million Dollar Prop 22
LOS ANGELES – Los Angeles rideshare and delivery drivers for companies like Uber, Lyft, and Postmates are rallying at the DTLA Lyft hub to protest the inadequate response from their employers to the COVID-19 pandemic and gig companies’ refusals to abide by local safety ordinances. The protest will include a socially-distanced mobile car wash and rally, where drivers will distribute masks and cleaning supplies and sanitize their vehicles with the help of union car wash workers.
Despite surging COVID-19 case numbers in Southern California and worker safety ordinances put in place by both the city and countyof Los Angeles mandating that rideshare and delivery companies provide their workers with basic PPE or reimburse them for PPE expenses, drivers report that little effort has been made by gig companies to comply with these orders.
Additionally, rideshare and delivery drivers are not paid for the time spent between trips cleaning and disinfecting their vehicles, amounting to hours of unpaid work in any given month. Now, with new restrictions on the ability of local governments to protect drivers in the aftermath of Prop 22, drivers fear that conditions will only deteriorate.
The rally will take place at the Lyft Hub in downtown Los Angeles where drivers will be joined by mobile car wash workers from the Community Labor Environmental Action Network.
Who: California rideshare and delivery drivers
What: Drivers to hold mobile car wash and rally at downtown LA Lyft hub
When: Wednesday, February 17 at 12:00 PM
Where: Downtown LA Lyft Hub, 662 S. Santa Fe Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90021
Visuals: Socially distanced sanitation stations for vehicles, mobile car wash trucks, cars decorated with pro-worker signage and banners
Mobile Workers Alliance is an organization of more than 20,000 California rideshare and delivery drivers fighting for improved working conditions and union rights for gig economy workers.
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Contact: Roxane Marquez, (213) 705-1078
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