Rideshare drivers struggling at the pump
Thousands of ride-hailing and delivery drivers will strike across the United States on Wednesday to demand fair wages.
Uber, Lyft and DoorDash drivers will demonstrate outside airports in 10 cities, including Chicago, the Justice for App Workers coalition announced Monday.
Ride-hailing drivers will rally at the O’Hare International Airport ride-share waiting lot between 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. Wednesday, the coalition said. They will also shut off their apps and will not accept any rides to and from the airport Wednesday.
“We’re sick of working 80 hours a week just to make ends meet, being constantly scared for our safety, and worrying about being deactivated with the click of a button,” the coalition said in a statement.
Uber and Lyft did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
In late-January, the Chicago Police Department Department warned delivery drivers after three armed robberies occurred on the same Near West Side block.
Groups that advocate for gig workers in the city have called for additional safety measures after recent attacks — some of them fatal — against delivery and ride-hailing drivers.
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In January month, a ride-hailing driver was critically wounded in an attempted carjacking in the 900 block of North LeClaire Avenue in Austin, police said.
In December, Lyft driver Adriana Arocha-Duque was fatally shot in the 4800 block of West Thomas Street in the same neighborhood.
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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 about 5:40 p.m. on Dec. 3 when someone opened fire.
