Dec 5 - Uber, Lyft drivers now guaranteed minimum wage in NYC

The Taxi and Limousine Commission voted Tuesday to create an hourly minimum wage for all ride-share-app drivers in the city — but Uber cautioned that the move will only cost riders more.

The new rule means that companies such as Uber and Lyft will have to pay their drivers a minimum wage for the first time — $17.27, or more than $4 more per hour than the city’s current minimum for big employers. That will be the minimum after the companies take out their fees and minus the drivers’ costs for such things as gas and tolls.

The move comes after years of the app drivers griping that their employers were short-changing them and that they couldn’t survive in the for-hire-car-saturated New York City market.

“Our voices were listened to, and that is very important,” driver Guillermo Fondeur, 46, told The Post after the vote. “This will mean less stressed drivers on the streets, and that is good for everyone.”

A TLC study found that 96 percent of the drivers currently make less than the current minimum wage.

There has been an epidemic of for-hire driver suicides in the past year, with eight taxi, livery and ride-share-app drivers k!lling themselves since November 2017.

All of the TLC commissioners voted in favor of the measure except for Nora Marino, who said the rules were overly complicated and didn’t go far enough.

“Drivers should be getting 80 percent” of the money from each ride, Marino said.

Uber put out a statement Tuesday morning cautioning that the rules will lead to riders having to pay higher fares for ride shares.

“The TLC’s implementation of the City Council’s legislation to increase driver earnings will lead to higher-than-necessary fare increases for riders while missing an opportunity to immediately reduce congestion in Manhattan’s central business district,” company officials said in a statement.

https://nypost.com/2018/1 .. m-wage-in-nyc/

Uber’s going up we done

Uber and these other ride share apps supposed to be a side hustle.... u choosing to make that ya bread n butter, you gotta accept the pitfalls and the idea of not makin bread some days.... it comes with the game

TBH I feel like this was done purposely knowing that Uber will have to raise prices on customers thus removing the competitive advantage of having a fare less than the yellow cabs

This will destroy the industry because all the apps will do is pass the cost to consumer which will make them expensive to use and nobody use the service and the drivers will make no money. And people hate taxis now they they’ve experienced ride sharing so everyone will be pissed.

mr_underground said

This will destroy the industry because all the apps will do is pass the cost to consumer which will make them expensive to use and nobody use the service and the drivers will make no money. And people hate taxis now they they’ve experienced ride sharing so everyone will be pissed.

Nah, lyft and Uber are still more convenient when compared to taxis even in manhattan

Uber picking you up from your door and shows you on the map how close they are don’t have me standing in the cold rain

For a taxi you have to live on a Main Street downtown or walk to one to get a taxi

living in NY is a choice man

pay way more to live in the situations they live in

We'll see how much this increases prices.

Surge pricing is ridiculous already though and fees to get to and from the airports are already jacked.

I see a price increase, and since they will be earning minimum wage they could always limit the amount of drivers working on any given day. So find the average rides on regular days and average rides a driver give find the min number of cars you need. I’m not gone pay joe blow 17 an hour for chilling in a low Uber area.