NYTWA Statement on Lyft & Juno Suit to Block NYC Minimum Pay Rule for App Drivers

The following statement can be attributed to Bhairavi Desai, Executive Director of the New York Taxi Workers Alliance (She/Her): 

"Shame on Lyft and Juno. These companies are collectively valuated at billions of dollars but claim to be too broke to pay drivers even minimum wage.

"Lyft, Juno and, no doubt, Uber, know their empire of poverty pay gigs is beginning to unravel and they're desperate for every dollar, especially leading up to their IPOs.  Drivers organized too hard to win this victory and there is no way these companies will steal it from our hands.

"These titans of the gig economy have always pushed for policies that leave workers in poverty and debt. They misclassify drivers as independent contractors to strip workers of the most basic state and federal labor rights. Then they spend millions fighting for exemptions to the few local regulations that do exist. And they use forced arbitration in their contracts to prevent drivers from seeking justice through the courts. 

"Now, ironically, they're turning to the same courts their drivers are barred from in their contracts to fight against paying workers minimum wage."