This week in rideshare news: Some Sacramento rideshare drivers were not paid for NYE rides, an Uber driver was fired after appearing in a protest photo, and WWYD? – A driver saves a PAX’s life.
Cecily Jamelia: It’s our first broadcast of the year. It is this week in Rideshare News. Honestly, this is my favorite story of the week, and I teared up a little bit when I was watching this video. The 76ers honored Joe Daniels, a young father and basketball coach shot and killed driving for Uber three weeks ago. The NBA team invited his mother, children, and the kids he coached to the game.
News Anchor: A mother doing what her son loved with her family and his extended family. Kids from the organization Philadelphia Youth Basketball had the royal treatment at the Sixers game tonight. They got autographs and sat down in the lower section of Wells Fargo for a while. They were there because of their coach and mentor, Joe Daniels. His son and daughter also sat courtside during warmups.
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Cecily Jamelia: Daniels’ son was invited to shoot around with the players, and they were also given sneakers and other gifts from Reebok. One thing that really touched me was how poised his mother and son were during their interviews. Daniels just passed away three weeks ago. I really feel like their strength is a testament of how great Joe Daniels really was and how much of an impact he have on his community.
Angela Wade: … saying it just makes me feel good as a mother to know that I raised this young man to be so caring and compassionate about people.
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Cecily Jamelia: The young father was driving for Uber to buy gifts for his family. The killer is still at large, and I’ve included a link to the entire video, because it’s just so heartwarming. I think this is something that those children will remember forever. It’s really nice to see that they took the time out to honor this man.
Cecily Jamelia: Have you been paid for your New Year’s Eve earnings?
Speaker 4: I know there’s a lot of other people in this position.
Cecily Jamelia: There’s a news outlet that’s reporting that some rideshare drivers were not paid for their holiday pay, and that there’s many drivers online complaining about this. Well, I wasn’t able to find that many people. I did find that this was happening in the Sacramento area. I did take to the internet to find more evidence, but it doesn’t seem like it’s really happening in a widespread area. However, folks in Sacramento are going through this.
Speaker 4: As soon as we log off, we’re supposed to be paid.
Cecily Jamelia: So the reporter alleges that the non-payment might be due to changes for AB5. That was some speculation from some of the drivers. I find it weird that both platforms are experiencing both the issues. Who knows? Maybe there’s some truth to that. Both Uber and Lyft have not commented yet, and the drivers that appeared in the video remained anonymous for fear of retaliation.
News Anchor: Arlene and Lily didn’t want to show their faces on camera after rumors circulated Uber and Lyft were banning drivers who spoke to the media.
Speaker 6: They’ve been deactivated and no longer can drive for Uber or Lyft, because they have spoken out.
Cecily Jamelia: So what is going on in Sacramento? I am just really curious if any rideshare drivers from Sacramento, which is my hometown, are watching this video right now. Let us know what’s going on. Did you receive holiday pay? Is this an isolated incident? Citywide? Let us know.
Cecily Jamelia: Speaking of retaliation, Ahmed Youssef, a former Uber driver, says he was fired after appearing in a protest photo. Youssef says that he faced retaliation in October of 2018 at a protest that was urging both Uber and Lyft to not limit the number of drivers. He was holding a sign that said, “Lyft and Uber, respect Chicago drivers.” What’s wrong with that? That’s a good sign. Two months later, he found himself deactivated from UberX. Six months later he found himself deactivated from Uber Black after he bought a $75,000 Lincoln Navigator. That had to hurt. Now, he didn’t say how he knew or how he arrived to that conclusion. But I did some research, and I found that there are several drivers that have been outspoken who have found themselves deactivated.
Cecily Jamelia: One guy that comes to mind is a guy named Peter Kuel. He’s on this leadership council of the App-Based Drivers Association in Seattle. They advocate on the rights of Uber drivers. This guy was very active in local media, national media. He found himself deactivated. He said when he asked, they gave him conflicting reasons as to why he was deactivated and why they couldn’t reactivate him. I feel like anyone that speaks out, you do run the risk of being deactivated. People who talk about the companies on the internet, if you’re talking to media, even those of us who produce content all run the risk of this.
Cecily Jamelia: It’s unfortunate, because we live in a country where we’re protected by our First Amendment rights. So we shouldn’t fear retaliation. But I feel like many of our complaints have resulted in the industry making changes. There never has been a rideshare industry before. There wouldn’t be a tipping feature if we didn’t complain. You wouldn’t see your destination, if we didn’t complain. So I feel like it’s wrong to penalize someone that wants to advocate on behalf of other people just to put themselves out there to do that.
Cecily Jamelia: It just kind of goes to show the need for us to have that protection; because if you want to silence someone or penalize them for that, there must be something wrong. There’s something wrong with the system if you can’t say, “Hey, this doesn’t work. We need something more,” and you take that away or you remove that person from their platform. That’s not a solution. That’s retaliation.
Cecily Jamelia: We’ll be following the story. I’m just curious to see how he arrived to that conclusion, but I do have a link of what to do if you’re deactivated. To be honest, a lot of people are able to turn that around. So if you find yourself in that situation, this might be able to help.
Cecily Jamelia: An Uber driver saves her passenger’s life. Uber driver Allison Fischer responded quickly when her passenger, a young lady named Hannah, suddenly fell ill during her ride. The driver grabbed the young lady’s phone and saw that there was a note about the young lady having epilepsy and called her mother to let her know what was going on. But this wasn’t an epileptic seizure. I said that right. Hannah had an infection causing her kidneys and organs to shut down. That was very scary. Now, by the time they arrived to the hospital, Hannah’s heart had stopped. Allison got her in there. She called her mother, let her know what was going on, offered to buy clothes for her and to stay with her until friends arrived. Who is this angel? Hannah’s mom also added that Allison didn’t want any credit. She just wanted to make sure that the young lady was okay; but she got her credit, and she wrote a note on Facebook. Have you ever been in a situation like this?
Cecily Jamelia: I picked up this young man who smoked some laced weed, and when the [inaudible 00:07:07] started he was mannerable, and he was cool. Just a little pain, a little discomfort. By the time I got him to a hospital, he was crying, and he was like, “I don’t want to die. I don’t want to die.” Okay. So we get to the ER, and I’m run in. I’m like, “This guy, he,” la la la la. So they come out with the wheelchair and then get him out of my car. He’s like, “Thank you, thank you,” and I’m just so stressed out. I’ve turned my app off, and I’m like, “I’m done for the day.”
Cecily Jamelia: Has anything like this ever happened to you? Let me know on my comments. Wow. Appreciate you guys watching. If you guys like this video, please give me a thumbs up. If you are looking at this video, if you got to this point in the video, engagement is very, very good for us. Let us know that you’re watching. If you’re not sure about who I am, my name is Cecily, and I have a channel called Drive Girl Drive. Lots of great creators on here, so you should subscribe to this channel. Check me out in my spaces. My spaces, there’s a space between my spaces. Drive Girl Drive, YouTube, Facebook. I’m out. Peace out. Hope you guys make a lot of money this weekend. Have a good one.
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