Many Uber, Lyft drivers stage strike

NEW YORK (FOX 5 NY) - About 10,000 for-hire drivers affiliated with ride-hailing apps—such as Uber, Lyft, Juno, and Via—staged a strike for two hours Wednesday morning.

The drivers shut off the apps from 7 a.m. to 9 a.m. and then protest outside Uber's New York headquarters, but it was still easy to locate a driver during rush hour near Wall Street in lower Manhattan, reported the Associated Press.

Similar protests were held in nine other U.S. cities.

The protests arrive just ahead of Uber's initial public stock offering Friday. Uber hopes to raise $9 billion, putting the company's valuation in excess of $91 billion.

"We are ready to stand in solidarity with our driver brothers and sisters from coast to coast and for their national demands," the New York Taxi Workers Alliance said in a post on Facebook. "We are a global movement and our spirit is unstoppable!"

The New York TWA is an advocacy group that represents members who drive different kinds of for-hire vehicles. TWA members say they want better job security and higher wages.

NYTWA Executive Director Bhairavi Desai said the group objects to app companies making more money from higher fares but drivers making less.

In response to requests for comment, Lyft and Uber sent FOX 5 NY brief statements.

"Lyft drivers' hourly earnings have increased over the last two years, and they have earned more than $10B on the Lyft platform," a spokesperson wrote in an email. "We know that access to flexible, extra income makes a big difference for millions of people, and we're constantly working to improve how we can best serve our driver community."

The Lyft spokesperson said that more than 75% of its drivers actually drive less than 10 hours per week to supplement existing jobs.

An Uber spokesperson told FOX 5 NY that it has a program that "recognizes drivers' commitment and effort through additional earnings opportunities, more ways to save, and a fully-funded higher education at ASU."