Jan. 5 (UPI) —\u00a0Uber\u00a0drivers in New York City staged a one-day strike Thursday, protesting the company’s lawsuit aimed at blocking new regulations that would ensure them a raise.
\nDrivers\u00a0rallied together outside\u00a0the company’s offices in Manhattan, holding signs encouraging people to support them.
\nA pay hike implemented by the\u00a0New York City Taxi and Limousine Commission\u00a0was due to take effect Dec. 19, leading to a similar work stoppage. That 24-hour strike\u00a0temporarily blocked the Brooklyn Bridge.
\nUber\u00a0sued to block the increase, which the company said would cost it an additional $23 million per month. A Manhattan judge then temporarily suspended the raise.
\nIn the lawsuit, the rideshare\u00a0company called the new regulations\u00a0“arbitrary and capricious.”
\nThe\u00a0Taxi and Limousine Commission, a municipal agency, says it plans to appeal the court ruling.
\nDrivers for both Uber and Lyft would earn just over 7% more per minute and 24% more per mile under the new regulations.
\n“Drivers make Uber, Uber doesn’t make drivers,” the New York Taxi Workers Association, the union representing the drivers,\u00a0said on Twitter Thursday afternoon.
\nIf passed and implemented, the new regulations would amount to approximately a $1,000 monthly raise for a typical rideshare driver,\u00a0according to the NYTWA.
\n“If our pay doesn’t go up, how are we supposed to survive?” Uber driver Samassa Tidiane told ABC News.
\n“Uber doesn’t give us one penny. They treat us like garbage.”<\/p>\n