April 29, 2025
Contact: Debra Freeman, [email protected], 757-452-1143
Uber and Lyft Drivers Rally at General Assembly Building on International Workers Day
Richmond, Va. - On May 1st, 2025, at 1 p.m., the DMV Drivers Alliance, a group made up of Uber and Lyft drivers and the Asian American Pacific Islander Civic Engagement (ACE) Collaborative of New Virginia Majority, will hold a rally in front of the General Assembly building (201 N 9th St, Richmond, Va.). Drivers and members of ACE will gather to protest Governor Youngkin’s veto of a bill that would have standardized information that Uber and Lyft must give to drivers to help them assess if they are being paid fairly, even though the bill passed two years in a row with bi-partisan support.
This rally is in coordination with other organizations across the United States and other countries that are calling upon all Uber and Lyft drivers and app users to strike or boycott Uber and Lyft for a day.
Uber and Lyft drivers who are participating in the strike and boycott call for transparency in fare calculations, fees, and deactivations; due process for deactivations—no more app-based firings; the right to organize, bargain collectively, access to labor protections; and no more endless driving without guaranteed income or safety.
“The main challenge as a Uber/Lyft driver is that we cannot make the same amount of money we used to make, even if we work double the hours. Without drivers Uber would not exist. Drivers are doing the majority of the work and companies are taking the majority of the fare,” said Napur Chowdhury, community organizer and part-time gig driver.
“I have been driving for Uber since 2013 and completed more than 45,000 trips. At that time Uber gave us $2.20 per mile and $.50 per minute, but now we are getting $.38 per mile and $.20 per minute, so it's very difficult to stay in this business,” said Haque, who wished to only use his first name.
To speak with an NVM organizer or to speak with a driver, contact Debra Freeman at [email protected] or 757-452-1143.
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Asian American Pacific Islander Civic Engagement (ACE) Collaborative is a nonprofit, non-partisan program started by New Virginia Majority, which builds power in working-class communities of color, in immigrant communities, among LGBTQ people, women, youth, and progressives across the