Hundreds of rides–Uber and Lyft drivers in Nashville, Tennessee, have voted to begin a strike at Nashville International Airport on Friday, August 30, warning of a “ruined vacation” as the city prepares for a surge of tourists celebrating Labor Day weekend.
The recently formed Tennessee Drivers Union is taking action to raise awareness of their demands for improvements in their wages and working conditions.
The airport strike will be followed by a caravan of taxi drivers through Nashville’s Lower Broadway entertainment district, a tourist hotspot. Tennessee recorded a record $30.6 billion in tourism spending in 2023.
The workers are pushing for better compensation amid allegations that Uber and Lyft can take 60 to 80 percent of fares. They are also calling for expanded access to restrooms at Nashville’s airport, restrictions on scooter use at night, a cap on the number of ride-sharing drivers allowed on the road, and a ban on out-of-state drivers because of delays drivers can face in getting rides.
“Most drivers in the Tennessee Drivers Union (TDU) work 12 hours a day, every day of the week, as rideshare drivers. They rely on ridesharing to make a living, and Uber and Lyft are their only source of income,” the Tennessee Drivers Union said in a statement. “Drivers refuse to let big companies like Uber and Lyft profit off their labor. They want Nashville to hear their fight. This strike is the first of many more devastated vacations for Nashville tourists. Unless and until their demands are met, Tennessee and its tourists can expect further disruption.”
A driver who worked for Uber and Lyft in Nashville for six years, who asked not to be identified for fear of reprisal, said he and other drivers banded together because of poor working conditions and treatment that he said had deteriorated since he started driving. Fares went up, but drivers’ pay went down.
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“The drivers do everything. The gas comes out of the drivers’ salary, the repairs on the car because it’s a private car, so if they only give the driver 45% of the fare, then everyone is struggling,” he said. “In an hour I can drive from the airport to the center or from the center to the airport and get $8-10, and then another hour I can get $17. We have to pay consistently.”
He noted that drivers can face long wait times waiting for fares. He also claimed that ride-sharing drivers are treated unfairly by being fined without warning and not having enough toilets at the airport.
“That’s why we came together,” the driver added. “With the current economic situation, it’s really hard to meet the needs of the family or what you need to survive. We’re trying to fight for our rights. We also don’t want passengers to overpay from Uber. If they take more than 50 or 60 percent of the fare, they count on us to get tips from passengers, but the way we’re struggling, we understand that people are struggling, so not everyone tips.”
