SAUGUS — More than 100 Uber drivers drove from the Lynnway to the company’s headquarters in town along Route 1 Wednesday afternoon, declaring the need for a union and protesting what they say are unfair deactivations of drivers by the company.
Drivers from across Massachusetts and surrounding states lined up behind Hertz Car Sales on the Lynnway in Lynn around 11 a.m. before departing for Saugus at 11:45 a.m. Each car had a number of different posters taped to doors and windows with phrases like “Stop unfair deactivations of app workers,” and “Drivers need a union now.”
Seemingly each and every car in the caravan honked their horns as they pulled up to the company’s headquarters. Organizers applauded and as drivers exited their cars, chants of “No drivers, no Uber,” and “What do we want? Union” rang out.
The caravan was organized by a number of coalitions including building workers union 32BJ SEIU, the International Association of Machinists, and the Chinese Progressive Association. The organizations are supporting the Rideshare Drivers Justice Bill, which has been filed in both the state Senate and House. The bill would give Massachusetts Uber and Lyft drivers the right to unionize, earn a base rate of pay, and gain benefits that are guaranteed to other employees in the state, such as unemployment insurance and sick leave. Drivers are classified as independent contractors and are thus ineligible for state employment protections.
Joelfi Arias, of Springfield, was among the drivers who joined the caravan. He had to drop out of college to become a full time rideshare driver after his father, also a rideshare driver, was deactivated without explanation. During that time, his mother was diagnosed with cancer, and he needed to help his family financially.
“It’s just unbelievable that these companies don’t really care about families’ well-being, and if they lose their income or not,” said Arias. “It’s unfair how drivers go to bed every single day not knowing if they’re going to have a job the next day or not.”
Though he is upset with the way rideshare drivers are currently being treated, Arias said that he enjoys driving, and hopes to see change.
“We’re doing this caravan because we want to make a voice for ourselves and actually have our leaders listen to us…Those are the people that are actually going to fight for our rights and actually be a voice for us when it comes to being treated unfairly,” he said. “I have to drive every single day from Springfield to come here to earn a decent living. If I didn’t love this job, I wouldn’t be here right now.”
“I am proud to provide this service, to serve people who need transportation,” said Lynner Daniel Valenzuela. “But I have to feed my family. I also have to feel respected by my employer.”
In the last three months of 2022, Uber reported $8.6 billion in revenue, a 49 percent increase from the year before, said 32BJ SEIU Senior Communications Strategist Franklin Soults in a statement. The company reported $8.1 billion in revenue over three months ending in June, 2022.
As Uber’s revenue continues to rise, so too do customer ride costs. Driver Lisbeth Lopez, of Peabody, said that despite the increase in ride costs, drivers are not being compensated properly, especially considering other factors such as inflation and car maintenance expenses.
“About six months ago, we noticed how we were getting paid less and less,” she said. “With the inflation costs right now, gas is more expensive, oil changes, brake pads, maintenance, everything is getting more expensive and we’re just getting paid less and less every day.”
With a sign bearing the company’s logo looming behind them, organizers and drivers delivered impassioned speeches decrying the company’s practice of deactivating drivers without cause or warning, and explaining the urgent need for a union.
Roxana Rivera, assistant to the president of 32BJ SEIU, served as emcee for the speaking program, switching between English and Spanish while declaring that drivers sought to “remind this company who they are responsible to.”
Drivers don’t have “any recourse to lift up their voices” around perceived mistreatment, she said, noting that “all they have to talk to is an app.”
Ehab Hildi, of Revere, said he has spent the last six years as an Uber driver. During his remarks, Hildi said drivers serve as the “backbone” of rideshare companies, and have taken on a growing burden.
“For many years, our jobs have been getting difficult and difficult,” Hildi said. “We do the job, we take the risk, there is no benefit, there is no protection. Make it even worse, they deactivate us with no due process.”
“That has to stop right away,” he said to huge cheers from the crowd.
Forming a union is the only solution for drivers, Hildi added.
“We’re going to fight, we are not intimidated, we are not going to be scared. We will be here for our right, for our jobs, for our families, for our living,” he added.
Driver Bethlehem Tsegaye, of Dorchester, recalled having to work through her pregnancy, and only being able to take two weeks off following the birth of her child.
She said she has driven for Uber and Lyft for a decade, but faced deactivation from Uber, and struggled to get on to Lyft as a result.
“We need all the benefits as drivers as any other workers in Massachusetts,” Tsegaye said.
At the close of the speaking program, a crowd of dozens of activists and drivers made their way into the Uber building, disappearing for roughly ten minutes before re-emerging and declaring that employees inside the office said they weren’t the right people to talk to but would forward their message to the corporate office.
“Sound familiar?” asked Mike Vartabedian, the assistant directing business representative of the International Association of Machinists District 15, to a large “yes” from the assembled.
In an interview following the demonstration, Vartabedian said organizers are trying to draw attention to the mistreatment of drivers.
“They need a voice in the workplace, they need a union, and they’ve been mistreated for years,” he said. “We want everybody to know that this movement is gaining momentum. It’s getting larger, and these drivers need justice now.”
While the bill was filed only weeks ago, Vartabedian said it is already picking up support in the legislature despite failing in the previous session. He said he believes there is a chance the bill gets passed this year, though he was reticent to make a declarative statement.
Vartabedian said he has had no contact with the company and that it has yet to respond to any of the demands made by activists and drivers. Individual drivers, as part of the Independent Drivers Guild, have contacted company officials to address individual issues like deactivations, but no negotiations have taken place.
“I would imagine that as a company they probably would not be thrilled with having a union,” Vartabedian said. “But I don’t really care.”
