The road to being put out of a job is paved with good government intentions
Uber and Lyft claim they will cease operating in the Minneapolis area in protest of a minimum pay ordinance that the city council voted to approve last week.
The bill, to go into effect on 1 May, would establish a minimum pay of $1.40 per mile and $0.51 cents per minute for rideshare drivers, with a $5 per ride minimum. The city council voted to override the mayor’s veto of the ordinance, prompting Uber and Lyft to threaten to leave the region in response.
Minneapolis would be the only city in the US without Uber and Lyft services if the rideshare companies uphold their threat to cease operations on 1 May.
The legislation was backed by groups of rideshare drivers over low pay and high costs amid reports their pay has been declining.
Well, I do feel for the drivers: the cost of gas is much higher now under Biden than under Trump. Auto insurance is higher thanks to the Chinese coronavirus, as well as stupid Democrat policies. Food prices higher. Etc and so on. But, obviously, the government mandate costs for the socialist government won’t work for Lyft and Uber, so, all those driving can kiss those gig-economy jobs goodbye. They wanted change and they got it. Just not the change they thought.
Ali said if Uber and Lyft ultimately leave, they would only be taking software with them and claimed other startups, companies and taxi cab companies have already expressed interest in trying to replace them.
“The drivers are here. Their cars are here. They’re not leaving,” said Ali. “Why I think they’re doing this is if they let the drivers here get what they want in this small market, it will have a bigger effect on their bigger, more lucrative markets. So they have to stop this. That is what their fight is based on. It’s not about the minimum wage, I believe it’s about how it will impact their bigger markets.”
But, will the prices be competitive? Where are those companies? Why are they not pushing to enter the market now? You cannot just force extra expenses on a business and expect the owners/shareholders to simply concede. The market sets the salary/wages for these people: don’t pay enough and you won’t have any drivers, pay too much and you’ll be flooded with people who want to be a driver. You can ask for more, but sometimes the answer will simply be no. Maybe they deserve a bit more, but, hey, maybe those drivers can start their own rideshare/delivery business, see how that goes.
