Kyle DeLegge has spent his weekends for the past five years working as a part-time Uber driver, often bringing riders to Logan Airport and other Boston destinations.
While on the job, which serves as a side hustle, DeLegge said he has seen his working conditions deteriorate and pay lessen.
“They keep chopping away,” he said, “You put a lot of time in. It is exhausting because you’re paying attention to the road, you want a great ride for the rider.”
He and roughly 140 other Uber and Lyft drivers from across Massachusetts rallied outside of an Uber office in Saugus on Wednesday, urging state lawmakers to pass the Rideshare Drivers Justice Bill.
The legislative package, filed in January, would go a long way in addressing what the drivers say is unfair treatment – low pay, and few workplace protections – by providing them with the ability to unionize.
DeLegge said Uber often takes the rider’s side when there’s a complaint against the driver. He has received several complaints, which he did not describe, and another would jeopardize his job, he said.
“At the end of the day, why we are all here is because Uber doesn’t support the drivers. It’s all about the money,” DeLegge said. “That’s what we’re fighting for here today: our due process, our fair wages, and when we’re deactivated having our say in what happened.”
During the last quarter of 2022, Uber reported $8.6 billion in revenue, a 49% increase from a year earlier. The company recorded 122 million people using the platform each month, a 21% jump from 2021, a quarterly earnings report shows.
Uber and Lyft drivers are independent contractors, meaning they don’t have the legal right to form a union under federal law. That’s partly why labor advocates are pushing for Bay State lawmakers to create a process for unionization, said Roxana Rivera, assistant to the president of Local 32BJ of the Service Employees International Union.
“Short of that, these jobs are just going to get worse,” Rivera said. “There has been no accountability of these rideshare companies.”
Drivers are also demanding Uber reinstate workers who they say have been unfairly deactivated from the platform. Under current law, rideshare drivers have no due process when their accounts are deactivated, according to labor advocates.
“It would be disingenuous to say everybody’s deactivation is wrong, but I will tell you the vast majority that we come across, 80% of them are deactivated wrongfully,” said Mike Vartabedian, assistant directing business rep. for International Association of Machinists District 15.
Joelfi Arias has driven for Uber and Lyft full time for the past four-and-a-half years, covering Greater Boston.
Arias said he signed a contract that he’d keep 75% of the fare price for any given ride. He initially made $22 to $24 on a $30 ride, but he’s now earning $15 or less. The companies have not provided reasoning behind the drop in pay, he said.
“We need our legislators to actually listen to us and see what’s going on with this,” Arias said. “This can’t keep happening anymore.”
