What Minneapolis leaders owe rideshare workers

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As Minneapolis City Council members, our job is to help make our city a safe and welcoming place to live and work. Right now, thousands of Minneapolis workers are unable to pay rent and support their families because of the race to the bottom by massive corporate rideshare companies Uber and Lyft. These workers organized and brought their proposal to City Hall: Pass an ordinance that guarantees minimum wage equivalents and basic workers' rights for rideshare drivers. For the last eight months, we have worked closely with these drivers, city staff and national experts to write the policy that drivers need and deserve.

Fair Drives Safe Rides would help guarantee drivers make minimum wage equivalents. It would codify basic safety protections for both drivers and riders. It gives drivers basic rights like having the terms of their contract available in writing at all times, and the opportunity to have a conversation challenging discipline. It doesn't impact drivers' status as independent contractors or their ability to unionize. It doesn't impact the ability for drivers or riders to report misconduct. It keeps unsafe drivers off the road. It gives riders transparent information on how much of their fare goes to the driver. The terms of the ordinance shouldn't be controversial to anyone.

Multibillion-dollar corporations like Uber and Lyft have lobbyists and PR departments who drum up fears that basic workers' rights will cause the sky to fall. They did the same thing when a rideshare drivers protection policy was proposed in Seattle in 2019. Luckily, the Seattle City Council didn't cave to corporate pressure and passed trailblazing legislation to increase net hourly compensation by more than 60%, giving a raise to 84% of Seattle rideshare drivers. The sky has not fallen. Quite the opposite — Seattle's leadership caused Washington state to pass a statewide policy that helps drivers across the state earn more dignified wages and access basic rights.

This week, the Minneapolis City Council will have the opportunity to stand with drivers and lead the way toward a more equitable city. Doing so would continue Minneapolis' legacy of leadership on workers' rights, as with the $15 minimum wage and earned sick and safe time — policies that corporations also fought tooth and nail to block, delay and weaken.

The council's other option, favored by Uber, Lyft, the Downtown Council and the Chamber of Commerce, is to defer our authority to Gov. Tim Walz and his Rideshare Task Force. The governor created this task force as a concession after vetoing a rideshare drivers protections bill passed by the Legislature. The task force is advisory, meaning that it does not have any authority. It also includes representatives from Uber and Lyft, who claim to want to increase wages for workers, although they have never voluntarily done so without the threat of regulation.

For the Minneapolis City Council to defer authority to this task force would be to fail at the primary thing that we were elected to do: make choices about what policies are best for our city.

We are proud to co-author the Fair Drives Safe Rides ordinance because we believe that fair compensation and workers' rights are good for our city. If other members of the City Council or the mayor disagree, they can choose to oppose the policy. But there is no reason to defer authority to the state level when we have the opportunity — and the responsibility — to take action now as leaders, and create a safer, more equitable city for all.

Robin Wonsley represents the Second Ward, Jason Chavez the Ninth Ward and Jamal Osman the Sixth Ward on the Minneapolis City Council.