NYC Uber Drivers Begin Strike After Judge Blocks Pay Raises

New Yorkers who fret about taking the subway because of out-of-control violent crime (remember what happened to the Goldman Sachs analyst...) and have gravitated to using Uber might have difficulty finding a driver this morning because of a 24-hour labor action.

Hundreds of drivers are striking after pay increases approved by the metro area's Taxi & Limousine Commission (TLC) were supposed to go into effect today but were halted by the New York State Supreme Court until a Jan. 31 hearing where Uber will make a case for no pay hikes for drivers.

Drivers are assembling in what could be a large caravan this morning over the Brooklyn Bridge and will circle the Thurgood Marshall United States Courthouse in Foley Square, according to local media FOX 5.

Uber keeps drivers insecure over low pay & firings & stole our raise. Uber thinks drivers are expendable. @dkhos forgets we're organized. We're striking back. #BoycottUber pic.twitter.com/cFzEa98ThE

— NY Taxi Workers (@NYTWA) December 18, 2022

Drivers are accusing the ridesharing company of stealing their raise:

"To steal a raise from drivers who work so hard and on the eve of Christmas and the New Year hurts. It stings.

"But make no mistake, we're not crying in a corner. We're readying to fight the small-hearted pettiness of a billionaire company that just doesn't want to see its workers survive," New York Taxi Workers Alliance, a union representing the city's taxicab, Uber and Lyft drivers, Executive Director Bhairavi Desai wrote in a statement.