A proposed Chicago ordinance would mean more expensive Uber and Lyft trips for travelers going to and from O’Hare Airport or other parts of the city.
The ordinance creating a 10-cent fee per ride was introduced Wednesday by 10th Ward Ald. Susan Sadowski Garza and referred to the City Council’s Committee on License and Consumer Protection.
The fee would fund a Network Worker Resolution Center, a nonprofit organization that would connect ride-hailing service and food delivery drivers with representation in grievances and provide them with outreach and education services.
The measure also would create an appeal and arbitration process for drivers who perform at least 10% of their business in the city and believe they’ve been unjustly deactivated by a ride-hailing or food delivery company.
The ordinance has the support of Justice For App Workers, a coalition that includes the Independent Drivers Guild.
“These workers have no due process when they are deactivated,” said Lenny Sanchez, a resident of the northwest suburbs and president of the Illinois chapter of the drivers guild. “When a worker is deactivated, it is just like they are fired. They lose their opportunity to work.”
Sanchez said drivers often are deactivated after being falsely accused by “bad passengers, bad actors.” The accusers could be customers trying to get a free ride or free meal, Sanchez said, or riders retaliating after being told not to drink or cram too many people in a vehicle.
Sanchez said ride-hailing and food delivery services do not investigate the claims. Instead, an algorithm determines whether the worker gets deactivated.
“You have workers that have been very committed to these industries, been very loyal and invested, purchasing brand new vehicles, to just become a victim of picking up the wrong passenger,” he said.
The ordinance also would benefit passengers, Sanchez said.
“Riders right now are paying a higher fare because there is a supposed lack of workers out there. This would put back a ton of workers that want to work and have been unfairly deactivated,” he said.
He said he believes that over the last couple of years, 20,000 to 30,000 ride-hailing service and delivery drivers in the Chicago area have been unfairly deactivated.
Steven Everett, a driver for a ride-hailing service, argued in support of the ordinance before the City Council Wednesday.
“A lot of us ride-share drivers, this is our only job,” he said. “Seventy percent of ride-share drivers are minorities and from bad neighborhoods. It does give us a chance to make money. But if we’re being unfairly deactivated, we can’t work and get money.
“We take people to work every day,” said Everett. “We make sure people get home safe. We stop a lot of car accidents from happening from drunk driving. So we deserve to be treated right. We deserve to be treated fair.”
Lyft responded to media inquiries with a statement saying the company takes safety reports from riders and drivers extremely seriously and reviews each to determine the appropriate course of action.
“If a driver disagrees with the action taken, they can ask for the decision to be reviewed,” Lyft stated. “From there, a separate member of Lyft’s safety team will review the evidence and either reactivate the driver’s account or remove them from the platform for the safety of the community.”
