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Need transportation to or from O’Hare International Airport on Wednesday? You may want to plan ahead, as Uber and Lyft rideshare drivers plan to park their cars and turn off their apps as thousands of people participate in a strike for better pay, safety, and more.
According to an announcement from the Justice for App Workers coalition, Uber, Lyft and DoorDash drivers will hold one-day strikes and demonstrate outside airports in 10 cities on Wednesday: Chicago; Philadelphia; Pittsburgh; Miami; Orlando and Tampa, Florida; Hartford, Connecticut; Newark, New Jersey; Austin, Texas; and Providence, Rhode Island.
In Illinois alone, more than 30,000 drivers are part of the coalition.
“We are tired of working 80 hours a week just to make ends meet, constantly fearing for our safety, and worrying about being deactivated at the click of a button,” the coalition said in a statement.
Rideshare drivers will gather at O’Hare International Airport’s rideshare waiting parking lot between 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. Wednesday, the coalition said. They will also be closing their apps and not accepting any rides to and from the airport on Wednesday.
Uber said Tuesday that it doesn’t expect the strike to have much impact on its operations on Valentine’s Day.
“These types of events have rarely had any impact on rides, pricing, or driver availability,” Uber said in a statement. “This is because the vast majority of drivers are satisfied.” Uber said drivers were earning about $33 an hour at the end of last year. The company also said it allows drivers to dispute deactivations.
“We are constantly working to improve the driver experience,” Lyft said in a statement. Lyft said its American drivers earn an average of $30.68 per hour, or $23.46 per hour after expenses.
Earlier this month, Lyft said it began ensuring that drivers will pay at least 70% of their fares each week and sets out its fares more clearly for drivers in a new earnings statement. Lyft also introduced a new button in the app that allows drivers to appeal deactivation decisions.
Rideshare drivers are also demanding more safety protections as part of the strike.
Last month, the Chicago Police Department warned delivery drivers after three armed robberies occurred on the same Near West Side block.
Groups advocating for freelancers in the city have called for additional safety measures after recent attacks (some of them fatal) on delivery and ride-hailing drivers.
In January, a shuttle driver was seriously injured in an attempted carjacking in the 900 block of North LeClaire Avenue in Austin, police said.
In December, Lyft driver Adriana Arocha-Duque was shot and killed in the 4800 block of West Thomas Street in the same neighborhood.
Another driver was killed in a shooting weeks earlier. Mohammed Al Hejoj was driving his black 2017 Cadillac Escalade ESV with four passengers in the 1700 block of North Lotus Avenue around 5:40 p.m. on December 3 when someone opened fire.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.