November 2, 2023: WE WON!
Historic Victory! On November 2, 2023 NYS Attorney General Leticia James announced a settlement with Uber Technologies and Lyft to recover $328 million of wages stolen from NYC Uber and Lyft drivers based on the complaint filed by NYTWA! Attorney General James’ announcement can be found here. Attorney General James Secures $328 Million from Uber and Lyft for Taking Earnings from Drivers
The NYSAG Labor Bureau has set up a website for drivers. NYTWA will be available for drivers to secure the funds owed to them and have any questions answered! https://ag.ny.gov/lyft-uber-settlementhttps://ag.ny.gov/lyft-uber-settlement
Only NYTWA pursued this justice for drivers. We fought for for eight and a half years. We never gave up. When our staff attorney, Zubin Soleimany, working with a group of members uncovered the wage theft in 2015, we went to the Governor’s office and the Attorney General. Both offices slammed their doors on us. The majority of drivers were unable to go to court because they had not opted out of arbitration from their Uber and Lyft contracts. Our staff attorney and outside counsel, Jeanne Mirer and Ria Julien, sued Uber to recover the money for drivers who had signed out of arbitration. We kept the legal process alive. And for the over 80,000 drivers who had not signed out of arbitration, we kept making noise for the Attorney General to be our voice. Along the way, in 2017, twelve days after one of our filings in court, Uber announced it “made a mistake” and paid out $96 million to drivers to pay back a smaller amount it took out charging commission on the tax and surcharge. But the full amount stolen from drivers was still due. We persisted and today, we won. We are thankful to the Labor Bureau of the Attorney General’s office for their hard work and dedication to securing this justice for drivers, and to Attorney General James who stood by us and believed workers should win. Over 2,500 drivers took action in the campaign. NYTWA members have lead the way to one of the biggest wage theft recoveries in history. Our work is not over: we are still in court against Uber to challenge their practice of arbitration so all drivers in the future can have their right to sue in court.
Wage theft is wide-spread across the United States, and most common for workers already paid less than a livable income. The Economic Policy Institute reports: “Between 2017 and 2020, more than $3 billion in stolen wages was recovered on behalf of workers by the U.S. Department of Labor, state departments of labor and attorneys general, and through class and collective action litigation.”
More than $3 billion in stolen wages recovered for workers between 2017 and 2020
NYC Uber and Lyft drivers were cheated out of their hard-earned income at a time when an independent study found drivers were earning below even the minimum wage, and when out of that income drivers must pay for operating expenses. On top of that, drivers are locked out of the courts due to arbitration. Tens of thousands of drivers were cheated out of a better life and then kept from pursuing justice.
The victory today for 80,000+ drivers was made possible because NYTWA members refused to give up. Build the union that wins! Driver Power! Union Power!
To stay in touch with NYTWA about the campaign, or to help with any questions or issues you have with recovering the funds owed to you, please fill out this form. https://forms.gle/WLNQVcJRjprFQGkZ7