For Immediate Release
December 17, 2024
Contacts:
Lori Simmons, 217-721-7527 or lori@thepeopleslobbyusa.org
Deana Rutherford, (872) 395-8167 or deana@thepeopleslobbyusa.org
Chicago rideshare drivers win $250k outreach fund in 2025 city budget
New program will provide resources for training and know your rights workshops in multiple languages and empower workers to take action to resolve violations
When the City Council approved Mayor Brandon Johnson’s 2025 budget on Monday, the 85,000 people who drive for Uber and Lyft in Chicago got something they’ve been fighting for for years: funding to start a worker outreach program.
This $250,000 will fund multilingual, multimodal workers’ rights education outreach to rideshare drivers and other gig workers. The program will include information on how to fight wage theft and unfair deactivation, access to labor rights training, and guidance on what to do next when gig corporations like Uber and Lyft violate their rights.
Lori Simmons, lead organizer of Chicago Gig Alliance, The People’s Lobby’s rideshare organizing group, said, “Winning the funding we need to be able to reach out to new drivers, many of whom are recent immigrants, in the languages they speak, and make sure they understand their rights as workers and how to fight back when those rights are violated is a game-changer. We’ve got more work to do to protect drivers in Chicago, but Uber and Lyft won’t be able to count on workers not understanding labor law in order to exploit us anymore.”
Chicago Gig Alliance has been working to pass the Rideshare Living Wage and Safety Ordinance in City Council for the past two years, which would guarantee fair wages, transparency, and safety protections for rideshare drivers.
Alder Mike Rodriguez, chief sponsor of the Rideshare Living Wage and Safety Ordinance, said, “This win wouldn’t have happened without the work that The People’s Lobby has done in pushing the city to better regulate the rideshare industry so workers are safer and have more rights and better pay. We’re excited to keep that momentum going by passing this ordinance and winning more safety and a significant raise for drivers in 2025.”
