Lyfte Goes Public While it’s Drivers Go On Strike

While Lyft celebrated, hundreds of Uber and Lyft drivers were on strike in protest of low wages and unsatisfactory working conditions . Drivers went on strike in San Francisco and San Diego as well, hoping to use the moment to shift the spotlight away from Lyft’s IPO (and Uber’s forthcoming public offering as well) to the more pressing concern about the future of ride-hailing.

Lyft’s employees are listed as contractors, lacking basic benefits like workers compensation, health insurance, and paid time off. They also can’t collectively bargain for higher wages or improved working conditions. 

The courts have largely agreed that their drivers don’t count as employees. New York City, drivers are on edge after a Lyft driver died by suicide over the weekend, the ninth for-hire driver in the city to take his own life since late 2017. The driver’s death came after Lyft sued the city over the implementation of rules that set a higher floor for hourly ride-hail driver wages.

Lyft lost $911 million last year, and warns it may never become profitable. “We have a history of net losses and we may not be able to achieve or maintain profitability in the future,” the company said in its filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Uber will likely say something similar in its filing; the company loses around $800 million a quarter.