Ocasio-Cortez, Sanders back Uber strike

Lawmakers, including multiple 2020 candidates, on Wednesday threw their weight behind the Wednesday strike from Uber and Lyft Drivers.

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.): The New York progressive tweeted support for the strike to her more than 4 million followers, writing, “Your Direct Action for today: Don’t take an Uber or Lyft just for the day. (Just today! Cabs are fine! You can do it!)”

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.): “I stand with striking Uber and Lyft drivers today. The greed has got to end,” Sanders tweeted, noting that Uber paid its top five executives a total of $143 million in compensation, including $45 million to its CEO last year.”

Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.): “All workers deserve a living wage, protections, benefits, and the right to join a union. Standing with the thousands of Uber and Lyft drivers across the country striking today.”

Drivers from big ride-hailing firms such as Lyft and Uber, as well as smaller companies like Juno, are striking on Wednesday over what they say are unfair working conditions and a lack of transparency from their employers over how much they’re paid.

The drivers are calling for better wages, more benefits and clarity about how apps calculate their wages.

Drivers in 10 cities across the country are participating in the strike by turning off the app and encouraging riders to use public transportation instead.

Those participating in the strike on Wednesday are appealing directly to legislators across the country, including at the federal level, asking them to extend fair labor protections to gig economy workers.