Rideshare, Delivery Drivers Plan Valentine’s Day Strike

Thousands of drivers for companies like Uber, Lyft, and DoorDash plan to go on strike for two hours on Valentine's Day.

The Details: The strike will occur in 10 cities between 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. local time on Wednesday. The cities include Austin, Chicago, Hartford, Miami, Newark, Orlando, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Rhode Island, and Tampa. The striking workers say they will offer no rides from airports in the affected cities. In the United Kingdom, Delivery Job UK said thousands of its workers would also strike on Valentine’s Day. 

Key Quotes: A statement by Justice for App Workers, a group representing thousands of American gig workers, said: “We’re sick of working 80 hours/week just to make ends meet, being constantly scared for our safety, and worrying about being deactivated with the click of a button.” However, a spokesperson for Uber told Insider (Lean Left bias), that these events “rarely had any impact on trips, prices, or driver availability,” noting that drivers made “about $33 per utilized hour” in the previous quarter.

How the Media Covered It: Coverage was fairly similar across the spectrum, generally including quotes from the workers as well as several quotes from the companies, most of which downplayed the strike and the workers’ concerns. This created a dynamic where headlines made the story appear broadly impactful — “Thousands of Uber, Lyft, DoorDash drivers to strike” —  but the content of articles framed the strikes as less significant.