Gothamist
A non-profit newsroom, powered by WNYC.
Gothamist
Listen Live
News
Union warns: One week to Uber, Lyft strike at LaGuardia Airport
By
Elizabeth Shwe
Published Feb 19, 2023
Share
FacebookTwitterRedditEmail
Never miss a story
Email address
By submitting your information, you're agreeing to receive communications from New York Public Radio in accordance with our Terms .
Photo by: Lindsey Nicholson/UCG/Universal Images Group via Getty Images
By
Elizabeth Shwe
Published Feb 19, 2023
Share
FacebookTwitterRedditEmail
We rely on your support to make local news available to all
Make your contribution now and help Gothamist thrive in 2026. Donate today
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
The New York Taxi Workers Alliance is planning to hold its third strike to protest of Uber blocking pay raises for drivers.
At LaGuardia Airport Sunday, New York Taxi Workers Alliance executive director Bhairavi Desai announced a one-week countdown to a strike. According to the alliance, Uber and Lyft drivers won't pick up fares at the airport from noon to midnight next Sunday, Feb. 26.
"Drivers are sick and tired of low wages, of having Uber sue to steal a raise that was meant for the drivers to help cover for the cost of gasoline and vehicle expenses," she said.
The group says it represents 21,000 yellow cab, green car, black car, livery and app-dispatched drivers.
Drivers were expecting per-minute increases of 7.8%, originally approved by the Taxi and Limousine Commission in November, and set to go into effect Dec. 19. But a judge issued a temporary restraining order after Uber sued the Taxi and Limousine Commission.
Uber characterized the proposed increases as “dramatic, unprecedented and unsupported.”
Then, last month, a Manhattan Supreme Court ruled that though drivers “deserved the boost,” the Taxi and Limousine Commission had “failed to include a single mathematical computation” explaining how it arrived at the increases. Judge Arthur Engoron encouraged the commission to give clearer reasoning, with detailed math when it next tries to increase rates.
At the time, TLC Commissioner David Do said the decision was “a technical delay, not a defeat.”
"Drivers are sounding the alarm after Uber sued to stop raises despite making record profits and a UCLA report showed that the company is taking a larger cut of passenger fares," the New York Taxi Workers Alliance wrote in an announcement of the planned strike. "At the same time, drivers are scraping by sometimes having to choose between food and fuel so they can keep working."
The Taxi and Limousine Commission is expected to hold another hearing on raising rideshare payment rates March 1.
Tagged
queens
transportation
Workforce
economy
Elizabeth Shwe
Read more
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
MORE news
Queens man found dead, police say, and injured woman is his mother, neighbors say
Police are investigating a related incident in which a 62-year-old woman was found injured beneath the Van Wyck Expressway.
By
Charles Lane
Published Oct 14, 2026 at 7:39 p.m. ET
Man shot by ICE in NYC's Marble Hill said federal officers never identified themselves
The wounded man said he didn't learn ICE agents were involved until he woke up in the hospital.
By
Arya Sundaram
and
Samantha Max
News
Man shot by ICE in NYC's Marble Hill said federal officers never identified themselves
The wounded man said he didn't learn ICE agents were involved until he woke up in the hospital.
By
Arya Sundaram
and
Samantha Max
Brooklyn school dean says MTA officers assaulted him over a $3 bus fare he says he paid
By
Carol Chen
National Grid customers in NYC will see higher gas bills this winter
By
Rosemary Misdary
Bruce Blakeman joins Gov. Hochul in support for expanding NY rape law
By
Jon Campbell
Never miss a story
Catch up on the most important headlines with a roundup of essential NYC stories, delivered to your inbox daily.
Sign upEmail address
By submitting your information, you're agreeing to receive communications from New York Public Radio in accordance with our Terms .