LOCAL
Urge Seattle leaders to support Fare Share for Uber, Lyft drivers
Sign an open letter supporting plan for affordable housing, transportation, and a living wage for Uber and Lyft drivers.
The following is from the Fair Share Seattle:
SEATTLE (Oct. 30, 2019) — As Seattle continues its unprecedented growth in both population and wealth, affordable housing production and investments in transportation are falling far short of the need. Housing and transportation crises undermine the collective benefits that economic growth should bring. Working people in our city are struggling to make it on incomes that are not keeping pace with some of the highest rental costs in the nation.
Seattle’s more than 30,000 Uber and Lyft drivers — many of whom are immigrants and people of color for whom driving is their only source of income — lack minimum wage protections or paid sick leave, and bear all of the costs and risks associated with their jobs. Fully 58 percent of gig economy workers can’t even afford a $400 emergency expense.
Fortunately, Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan has introduced a plan to leverage our city’s growth and ensure essential worker protections while also attacking the two biggest cost burdens for low-wage households: housing and transportation.
Fare Share Seattle is a coalition of housing, transit, labor, social justice, environmental, health, and community organizations that have come together to support Durkan’s plan, and to make sure Seattle’s growth is working for everyone.
TAKE A STAND — Please support Seattle’s Uber and Lyft drivers. Click here to sign an open letter to Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan and the Seattle City Council that demands fair pay and fair treatment for Uber and Lyft drivers. The letter urges them to guarantee that Uber and Lyft drivers earn a living wage after expenses and have the right to appeal unfair deactivations, and ensure ride-hail companies are contributing to thriving, livable communities by implementing a 51-cent fee on trips to fund driver support services, affordable housing near transit, and transportation improvements.
Get more information about Fare Share Seattle and the coalition of organizations supporting its efforts to make sure Seattle’s growth works for everyone.