Minneapolis City Council approves minimum pay, appeal process for rideshare drivers
Minnesota Uber & Lyft Drivers Association (MULDA) president Eid Ali addresses Minneapolis city council in favor of a proposed city ordinance to give rideshare drivers more protections on Aug. 8.
Nina Moini | MPR News
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Audio transcript
CATHY WURZER: And leading the program, two regional stories. First, the Minneapolis City Council voted this morning to send an ordinance to Mayor Jacob Frey that would raise the wages of and add other protections for rideshare drivers. Frey had asked the Council to pump the brakes on the ordinance, calling for more time to discuss all the issues involved. Joining us right now is Jon Collins, who's been following the debate at City Hall. Thanks, Jon. How are you?
JON COLLINS: Hey, Cathy.
CATHY WURZER: Say, what did the Council pass exactly?
JON COLLINS: So there are a lot of pieces to this program, but the main focus is to get more money for drivers who work for companies like Uber and Lyft. And so this policy will put a floor on compensation. The drivers will get their rates increased to $1.40 a mile and $0.51 a minute, which could potentially more than double the earnings of the drivers. And then this proposal also includes workers protections. So a process for drivers to appeal if they're deactivated after a customer complaint. And it bans the use of gift cards for payment, which drivers had said made them vulnerable to crime.
CATHY WURZER: What was the debate like in Council chambers?
JON COLLINS: So seven members ultimately voted for the proposal. And they argued that the city should not wait for the state to take action. That Minneapolis has led the state in things like a $15 minimum wage and safe and sick time. And they argued that other cities around the country have implemented similar policies and that Uber and Lyft just learn to live with them. Council member Robin Wonsley was one of the proposal's authors, and she said city staff that she's worked with are prepared to implement the policy starting in January and that this should not be delayed.
ROBIN WONSLEY: It is backed by data. And it has been developed by experts. And it is a great opportunity for Minneapolis to stand with workers and to lead the state. And I hope all of my colleagues will vote in favor of what should not be a very controversial policy today. We should vote on that today, not next year, because our drivers need action today. Not next year.
CATHY WURZER: Now the Council, of course, was split on this vote. What arguments did members voting against it make?
JON COLLINS: So the five members who voted no said the city should wait for a state working group to take action, to make the recommendations. They're scheduled to come out in January. And that working group was formed after Governor Tim Walz vetoed a very similar bill at the state level that offered increased wages and protections for rideshare drivers.
And that veto, Walz's veto, came after similar threats to what we've seen in Minneapolis from Uber and Lyft, that they would need to cut back services or even leave the city of Minneapolis if this is instituted. And in fact, I just got a statement from Lyft just a minute ago saying the changes they say would more than double prices and actually cost drivers money because only the rich could use the rideshare, and Lyft wants the mayor to veto this and then for the city to just wait for the state rideshare group to issue a recommendations before taking any action. Council member Andrew Johnson was one of the folks who voted against it. He urged his colleagues to listen to the mayor, hold off on the vote, so they could go back to committee and get together a proposal that actually had the mayor's buy-in.
ANDREW JOHNSON: Two weeks from now, this body could have something that could be signed off on and approved. And instead, likely, what's going to happen is this body is going to be taking up the question of a veto override, and it's not going to probably have the votes to pass. And then we're back to square one.
CATHY WURZER: So as I mentioned, the mayor sent this a memo around last night to Council members, pretty much just asking them to kind of pump the brakes on this thing. What about that?
JON COLLINS: Yeah. So Frey has been critical of some aspects of this. He's voiced concerned about things like the gift card ban, the funding of a driver's center, and the process for appealing driver deactivation. But he has not said that he would veto it. He asked the Council in his letter to delay it and then come and work on these things with him. But he hasn't taken action yet. If he does decide to veto at this point, the Council would need to get nine votes in order to override that veto. So there's a lot still in the air here.
CATHY WURZER: All right. Jon Collins, thank you so much.
JON COLLINS: Thanks, Cathy.
CATHY WURZER: That's NPR News reporter, Jon Collins.
JON COLLINS: Hey, Cathy.
CATHY WURZER: Say, what did the Council pass exactly?
JON COLLINS: So there are a lot of pieces to this program, but the main focus is to get more money for drivers who work for companies like Uber and Lyft. And so this policy will put a floor on compensation. The drivers will get their rates increased to $1.40 a mile and $0.51 a minute, which could potentially more than double the earnings of the drivers. And then this proposal also includes workers protections. So a process for drivers to appeal if they're deactivated after a customer complaint. And it bans the use of gift cards for payment, which drivers had said made them vulnerable to crime.
CATHY WURZER: What was the debate like in Council chambers?
JON COLLINS: So seven members ultimately voted for the proposal. And they argued that the city should not wait for the state to take action. That Minneapolis has led the state in things like a $15 minimum wage and safe and sick time. And they argued that other cities around the country have implemented similar policies and that Uber and Lyft just learn to live with them. Council member Robin Wonsley was one of the proposal's authors, and she said city staff that she's worked with are prepared to implement the policy starting in January and that this should not be delayed.
ROBIN WONSLEY: It is backed by data. And it has been developed by experts. And it is a great opportunity for Minneapolis to stand with workers and to lead the state. And I hope all of my colleagues will vote in favor of what should not be a very controversial policy today. We should vote on that today, not next year, because our drivers need action today. Not next year.
CATHY WURZER: Now the Council, of course, was split on this vote. What arguments did members voting against it make?
JON COLLINS: So the five members who voted no said the city should wait for a state working group to take action, to make the recommendations. They're scheduled to come out in January. And that working group was formed after Governor Tim Walz vetoed a very similar bill at the state level that offered increased wages and protections for rideshare drivers.
And that veto, Walz's veto, came after similar threats to what we've seen in Minneapolis from Uber and Lyft, that they would need to cut back services or even leave the city of Minneapolis if this is instituted. And in fact, I just got a statement from Lyft just a minute ago saying the changes they say would more than double prices and actually cost drivers money because only the rich could use the rideshare, and Lyft wants the mayor to veto this and then for the city to just wait for the state rideshare group to issue a recommendations before taking any action. Council member Andrew Johnson was one of the folks who voted against it. He urged his colleagues to listen to the mayor, hold off on the vote, so they could go back to committee and get together a proposal that actually had the mayor's buy-in.
ANDREW JOHNSON: Two weeks from now, this body could have something that could be signed off on and approved. And instead, likely, what's going to happen is this body is going to be taking up the question of a veto override, and it's not going to probably have the votes to pass. And then we're back to square one.
CATHY WURZER: So as I mentioned, the mayor sent this a memo around last night to Council members, pretty much just asking them to kind of pump the brakes on this thing. What about that?
JON COLLINS: Yeah. So Frey has been critical of some aspects of this. He's voiced concerned about things like the gift card ban, the funding of a driver's center, and the process for appealing driver deactivation. But he has not said that he would veto it. He asked the Council in his letter to delay it and then come and work on these things with him. But he hasn't taken action yet. If he does decide to veto at this point, the Council would need to get nine votes in order to override that veto. So there's a lot still in the air here.
CATHY WURZER: All right. Jon Collins, thank you so much.
JON COLLINS: Thanks, Cathy.
CATHY WURZER: That's NPR News reporter, Jon Collins.
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