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$328 Million! NYTWA Members Win Record-Breaking Wage Theft Settlement
NYTWA has fought to recover stolen wages for NYC drivers since 2015, when the union first filed a complain around Uber & Lyft's wage theft
New York, NY: On November 2, 2023 NYS Attorney General Leticia James announced a settlement with Uber Technologies and Lyft to recover $325 million of wages stolen from NYC Uber and Lyft drivers based on the complaint filed by the New York Taxi workers Alliance.
NYTWA's staff attorney, Zubin Soleimany, working with a group of members, first uncovered the wage theft in 2015. NYTWA went to the former Governor’s office and the former Attorney General. Both offices refused to take action.
The majority of drivers were unable to go to court because they had not opted out of arbitration from their Uber and Lyft contracts. Our staff attorney and outside counsel, Jeanne Mirer and Ria Julien, sued Uber to recover the money for drivers who had signed out of arbitration.
In 2017, twelve days after one of NYTWA's filings in court, Uber announced it “made a mistake” and paid out $96 million to drivers to pay back a smaller amount it took out charging commission on the tax and surcharge, but the full amount stolen from drivers was still due.
Full timeline of NYTWA's wage theft fight can be found here: https://www.nytwa.org/uberandlyftwagetheft
"We've waited eight long years to see justice for our members, a workforce that was cheated out of better living conditions, and timely meals and rest and leisure because the earnings that would have provided for that life were stolen by multi-billion dollar corporations," said NYTWA Executive Director Bhairavi Desai. "We're thrilled by this historic wage theft recovery. We're proud to be the union that refused to give up on seeking justice, and thankful to the Attorney General who stood by the workers, believed in our complaint and understood the urgency of this recovery. We congratulate NYTWA legal team that uncovered the wage theft and pursued legal action since 2015, the AG Labor Bureau who worked dilligently on the settlement, AG James whose leadership brought us to triumph and our members who refusal to give up made this day possible."
NYTWA members have led the way to one of the biggest wage theft recoveries in history with more than 2,500 drivers taking action in the campaign. NYTWA's work is not over: we are still in court against Uber to challenge their practice of arbitration so all drivers in the future can have their right to sue in court.
Ishtiaq Ahmed, NYTWA member and Uber driver said, “I’m the father of four beautiful children and I started driving for Uber in 2011 because it seemed like a good way to support my family. At first the money was good and Uber only took a small commission. Then Uber started taking more and more from our pay and my income got lower and lower. I noticed that something didn’t look right and that Uber was taking sales tax and another customer surcharge from my pay – making the drivers pay instead of customers. I showed my pay receipts to fellow drivers at my mosque, we shared with each other in Facebook groups and on WhatsApp. When we realized Uber was taking this money from all of us, we brought it to our union, the New York Taxi Workers Alliance. That’s when we started our fight to win back the millions Uber stole from drivers. Now, with the help of Attorney General Tish James, we’re finally seeing justice.”
Malang Gassama, NYTWA member and former Uber and Lyft driver said, “I feel so blessed that Attorney General Tish James pursued this settlement and that my union, the New York Taxi Workers Alliance, fought so long and hard to protect drivers from these bully companies. I’ve calculated that Uber and Lyft took at least $25,000 from my pay that they shouldn’t have in the form of sales tax and the Black Car Fund surcharge. With that money I could have helped my wife open the business she dreamed about. I could have bought property and sent more money to my family back home in Africa. I could have kept my kids in the karate lessons they loved that we had to pull them from because we couldn’t afford the expense. Uber and Lyft stole those opportunities from my family and from the families of thousands of other New York City drivers.”
Wage theft is wide-spread across the United States, and most common for workers already paid less than a livable income. The Economic Policy Institute reports: “Between 2017 and 2020, more than $3 billion in stolen wages was recovered on behalf of workers by the U.S. Department of Labor, state departments of labor and attorneys general, and through class and collective action litigation.”
NYC Uber and Lyft drivers were cheated out of their hard-earned income at a time when an independent study found drivers were earning below even the minimum wage, and when out of that income drivers must pay for operating expenses. On top of that, drivers are locked out of the courts due to arbitration. Tens of thousands of drivers were cheated out of a better life and then kept from pursuing justice.
Today's victory for 80,000+ drivers was made possible because NYTWA members refused to give up.
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