TAMPA, Fla. — Thanks to Taylor Swift, tonight is one of the three busiest nights for rideshare drivers in Tampa Bay in a while. Uber drivers are turning off their cars and checking out of their Uber Driver apps.
“We’re the ones doing the driving,” Luis Cosme said. “We’re the ones who are here late at night working hard. “Why do you get more than we do?”
Luis Cosme has been an Uber driver for nine years, and he says the company keeps taking more and more of his money.
Cosme added, “If you take a ride to Sarasota, they’ll give you $19 to $38.” “We used to get $90 for $80.”
Cosme then set up a strike. Near Tampa International Airport, about two miles from Taylor Swift and Raymond James Stadium, more than 100 rideshare drivers gathered in a parking lot. Cosme said that there were 100 more in their cars.
Cosme said, “It hurts me financially.” “And it affects me and my family at home. I spend more time here than I do at home, you know.”
Uber said the following to 8 On Your Side:
On our network, drivers still make a lot of money. The average driver in Tampa Bay makes $25 an hour while using the app. We are also spending money on benefits to get more people on the road this weekend so that we can meet the expected high demand. Before taking a trip, all drivers know how much it will cost and where it is going. (Javi Correoso, Uber Spokesperson)
Uber also said that Florida’s high insurance costs are partly to blame. That money goes to neither the company nor the workers.
“It’s not fair to us,” Hansel Paredes, another protesting Uber driver, said. “We have a family, kids, a house to pay for, and car payments.”
They also said that inflation doesn’t help.
“The price of gas goes up every day,” said Nelson Acheverri, an Uber driver. “The cost of the car is going up, and the money is going down every day.”
The driver said that they will keep planning strikes until they get better pay.
