Uber and Lyft are up to their old tricks in opposing increased wage rates for their drivers.
Mayor Jacob Frey inappropriately buckled to pressure in vetoing the proposal to boost their pay and provide other benefits that was approved a couple of weeks ago by the Minneapolis City Council. It was a disappointing and disturbing blow to working people shortly before the Labor Day weekend.
The two major ride-share companies successfully beseeched the mayor to veto the measure, which passed by a narrow 7-5 vote. While they advanced some reasonable objections to the proposed hike, including the inevitability of increased pricing and negative impact it may impose on poor people and the disabled, among other grounds, the main weapon in their arsenal of opposition was the threat to curtail or withdraw all together from providing services in the city unless the mayor would do to the ordinance what Gov. Tim Walz did to a similar statewide bill this spring — veto the measure, which probably lacks the sufficient nine supporting votes to override the mayor’s objection.
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While the council’s wage hike raises some legitimate concerns, the mayor’s veto, like the earlier one by the governor are misguided in overlooking the disturbing tactics used by the ride-share companies in achieving those rejections, setting dangerous precedents for future legislative efforts locally and statewide to curb excessive corporate behavior.
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