WEBVTT

1
00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:03.349
Uber and Lyft drivers in Los Angeles are demanding 

2
00:00:03.349 --> 00:00:06.189
that the companies follow city- issued orders to 

3
00:00:06.209 --> 00:00:08.839
provide personal protective equipment to keep them 

4
00:00:08.839 --> 00:00:11.989
safe while they're doing their jobs. I'm Dara Kerr with 

5
00:00:11.989 --> 00:00:15.019
CNET in San Francisco, and joining me now are Mike 

6
00:00:15.129 --> 00:00:18.229
Long with the service Employees International Union 

7
00:00:18.229 --> 00:00:22.379
seven to one and Jerome Gage, a Lyft. Driver. Mike, 

8
00:00:22.379 --> 00:00:26.659
can you explain what's going on? So last week, the 

9
00:00:26.659 --> 00:00:29.589
city of Los Angeles issued a worker protection order 

10
00:00:30.169 --> 00:00:33.389
Stating that employers of essential workers folks like 

11
00:00:33.729 --> 00:00:36.459
grocery workers or ride share, drivers would be 

12
00:00:36.459 --> 00:00:39.919
required to provide personal protective equipment for 

13
00:00:39.919 --> 00:00:41.649
those workers who continue to work through the 

14
00:00:42.739 --> 00:00:46.119
pandemic. Unfortunately, Uber and Lyft have failed to 

15
00:00:46.119 --> 00:00:48.789
do so. And as such, you know, drivers are sounding 

16
00:00:48.789 --> 00:00:51.197
the alarm, asking for the city to step up and make sure 

17
00:00:51.197 --> 00:00:55.089
that these companies follow the ordinance. Yeah, so 

18
00:00:55.419 --> 00:00:57.929
Jerome you're you're out there you're driving you're on 

19
00:00:57.929 --> 00:01:00.079
the streets. Can you explain a little bit what the 

20
00:01:00.079 --> 00:01:04.479
situation is like being a ride hail diver right now? It's 

21
00:01:04.479 --> 00:01:08.379
scary. It's very, very scary. Scary word by a soldier like 

22
00:01:08.499 --> 00:01:12.579
myself we are at a risk to contracting the corona virus 

23
00:01:12.769 --> 00:01:15.499
spreading it through the passengers, infecting our 

24
00:01:15.499 --> 00:01:19.619
families and we understand the risk but We don't 

25
00:01:19.659 --> 00:01:23.669
have the protections of that. Uber and Lyft should be 

26
00:01:23.669 --> 00:01:25.535
offering us as employees of the company. Recently 

27
00:01:25.535 --> 00:01:27.054
AB5 pass and we're supposed to be employees and 

28
00:01:27.054 --> 00:01:31.729
we're supposed to be given protections 

29
00:01:32.129 --> 00:01:35.223
such as paid sick leave, and in health insurance. But 

30
00:01:35.223 --> 00:01:39.579
since we don't have that, we 

31
00:01:39.669 --> 00:01:42.449
are putting, we were in a position where we have to 

32
00:01:42.449 --> 00:01:46.154
Make tough decisions for ourselves as to whether to 

33
00:01:46.154 --> 00:01:49.869
stay at home and self isolate or go out there and 

34
00:01:50.349 --> 00:01:51.499
attempt to earn as as much money as we can for our 

35
00:01:51.809 --> 00:01:56.639
family to make it through this crisis. And 

36
00:01:56.639 --> 00:02:00.569
just to add AB 5 is a law that passed in California that 

37
00:02:00.569 --> 00:02:04.409
could require the companies to. Make their drivers 

38
00:02:04.909 --> 00:02:07.739
employees which would provide them much needed 

39
00:02:08.359 --> 00:02:11.969
benefits. Right, right, right. Yeah, right now we're being 

40
00:02:12.039 --> 00:02:15.074
misclassified as independent contractors. So that that 

41
00:02:15.074 --> 00:02:17.829
passes the law was an enormous victory. For letting 

42
00:02:17.829 --> 00:02:21.919
Uber drivers like myself, You know, this isn't just a 

43
00:02:21.919 --> 00:02:24.649
Los Angeles issue. If either of you could speak to this, 

44
00:02:24.929 --> 00:02:26.909
this is really happening to Uber drivers around the 

45
00:02:26.909 --> 00:02:30.129
world right now since the pandemic is a worldwide 

46
00:02:30.129 --> 00:02:34.659
issue. Absolutely. And we've 

47
00:02:34.679 --> 00:02:38.419
seen businesses step up their game. We've seen 

48
00:02:38.689 --> 00:02:42.547
businesses all over work with governments in order to 

49
00:02:42.547 --> 00:02:45.819
keep their community safe. We've seen workers, 

50
00:02:46.609 --> 00:02:49.609
Amazon and Walmart, they enacted all of these 

51
00:02:49.729 --> 00:02:51.576
policies to protect their customers or employees and 

52
00:02:51.576 --> 00:02:54.487
things like that, but we have not seen the same things 

53
00:02:54.487 --> 00:02:58.719
from Uber and Lyft. Despite the recent mayor's 

54
00:02:58.719 --> 00:03:01.789
order for employers to provide proof Protective 

55
00:03:02.289 --> 00:03:05.629
equipment to employees. We haven't seen anything 

56
00:03:05.629 --> 00:03:10.239
like that from Uber and Lyft. 

57
00:03:10.259 --> 00:03:13.859
And it's just disappointing. It's disappointing. Drivers 

58
00:03:13.859 --> 00:03:17.315
like myself sacrificed so much for this company and to 

59
00:03:17.315 --> 00:03:18.469
see them not make any effort for the bare, you know, 

60
00:03:20.499 --> 00:03:22.666
to do the bare minimum such as like providing masks 

61
00:03:22.667 --> 00:03:26.969
that that's just that that's unacceptable. Yeah, So 

62
00:03:26.969 --> 00:03:30.209
we're calling on, the city attorney to start enforcing that 

63
00:03:31.269 --> 00:03:35.689
and force it, make them commit 

64
00:03:35.749 --> 00:03:38.549
resources to help fight this pent up. I'm going to add 

65
00:03:38.549 --> 00:03:41.049
that as well I spoken to both Uber and Lyft and they've 

66
00:03:41.079 --> 00:03:44.289
told me that they're working to get out supplies to 

67
00:03:45.729 --> 00:03:47.939
drivers. But because of the high demand for such 

68
00:03:48.539 --> 00:03:53.289
supplies, that it's often hard to fill. Those 

69
00:03:53.359 --> 00:03:56.329
requests from drivers and I want to say also at this 

70
00:03:56.359 --> 00:03:59.469
time, I don't have an official statement from Uber and 

71
00:03:59.469 --> 00:04:03.269
Lyft on the order from the Mayor of Los Angeles, but I 

72
00:04:03.369 --> 00:04:06.829
will put that on my coverage on CNET. So Mike, can 

73
00:04:06.829 --> 00:04:10.849
you explain a little bit how this Situation 

74
00:04:11.699 --> 00:04:13.949
between the mayor and the companies and the drivers 

75
00:04:13.949 --> 00:04:17.939
in Los Angeles can be resolved. Sure, I mean, I think, 

76
00:04:18.359 --> 00:04:22.729
you know, the companies can take bold steps 

77
00:04:22.809 --> 00:04:26.609
to address that. Bus driver health and safety. These 

78
00:04:26.609 --> 00:04:29.899
are billion- dollar Silicon Valley companies, right? 

79
00:04:30.239 --> 00:04:33.839
Consistently touting their innovation. When they're 

80
00:04:33.839 --> 00:04:36.139
saying that the masks aren't available, this isn't 

81
00:04:36.139 --> 00:04:38.459
something that Happened overnight, we've been 

82
00:04:38.459 --> 00:04:41.129
dealing with this for weeks. Drivers have been doing 

83
00:04:41.189 --> 00:04:43.179
everything they can to keep themselves and their 

84
00:04:43.179 --> 00:04:46.439
passengers safe, but at the end of the day these 

85
00:04:46.469 --> 00:04:48.239
companies need to follow the law. And that's why we're 

86
00:04:48.269 --> 00:04:51.639
asking the city attorney, the mayor's office, step up 

87
00:04:51.759 --> 00:04:55.999
and slow the spread of this pandemic. Yeah 

88
00:04:55.999 --> 00:04:59.009
great. For more on the story today and to keep up on 

89
00:04:59.049 --> 00:05:01.874
my ongoing coverage on this issue go to cnet. com. 

90
00:05:01.874 --> 00:05:02.884
[ BLANK_AUDIO ]