On August 22, Mayor Frey vetoed a policy that would have increased wages and protections for rideshare drivers across the City.
PPNA believes workers' rights are essential to a healthy and equitable community.
All workers deserve livable wages, worker protections, and the right to organize. We support the passage of well-crafted policies to ensure and protect those rights.
We are grateful for the tireless organizing of Minneapolis rideshare drivers.
The rideshare policy that passed the City Council last month was hard-won. Drivers, organizers, and policymakers spent countless hours working together over eight months to put forward a proposal that the community and City Council could get behind.
But Mayor Frey vetoed the policy, indicating he wanted to include more stakeholders, namely, Uber and Lyft. “It’s clear we need more time to get this right,” he said.
Our question is, “What’s the plan?” Getting it right will take a budget, a timeline, clear accountability, and a plan for extensive engagement. We caution the City against squandering or duplicating work that organizers have already done—and against giving legislative veto power to multi-billion dollar corporations.
Ultimately, we want the City to do its due diligence and improve material conditions for rideshare drivers. There is work to be done. We want the City to do it.