Readers Write: Uber/Lyft drivers, U president pay

Opinion editor’s note: Star Tribune Opinion publishes letters from readers online and in print each day. To contribute, click here.

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When does a gig job turn into a career? Apparently the shortsighted Minneapolis City Council knows best (”Uber, Lyft say they will leave metro,” March 15). I just returned from Orlando and a medical conference with 35,000 attendees. We used Uber or Lyft. Rides were plentiful, cars were clean, and we got where we wanted to go. One can question lack of training and safety, but in general people’s cars are better than the old cabs that used to carry me to the airport. Without ridesharing, the conference experience would be totally different. Hotels, restaurants and even event sites would suffer.

As a comparison, here are the Lyft rates in Orlando compared with the proposed Minneapolis rates: cost per mile of $0.84 vs. $1.40, rate per minute of $0.14 vs. $0.51 and a minimum ride of $2.85 vs. $5.

Ridesharing was not intended to be a career but was a way to allow outside income of working as a part-time driver. Good luck to the drivers as we destroy this option. Rideshare companies invest in the infrastructure that makes it easy to use and convenient. Uber and Lyft benefited me as a consumer when they were cheaper than taxis. If they get more expensive, I won’t use them.

Government intervention in the free market system is rarely successful. I’m a gig worker as a consultant. If I charge too much, customers don’t hire me. Good luck attracting visitors and conference-goers, and hopefully the taxi companies still exist as we return to a world without rideshare. Be careful what you wish for.

William Betten, Woodbury

Regarding “Will Uber and Lyft really leave Minneapolis? Maybe. Here’s how it could play out,” StarTribune.com (March 14), it should be remembered that ridesharing companies have been less than honest in their business dealings throughout the world. And if they are kicked out of the Twin Cities, it won’t be the first time a municipality has taken exception.

The reason why ridesharing is cheaper than traditional taxis is because taxis legally have to have sufficient insurance for transporting the public, which is several times more expensive than personal insurance. In spite of this, Uber and Lyft drivers are struggling. How did that happen?

Perhaps the question should be directed at these ridesharing companies, which 1) provide comparatively little in the way of driver training, 2) place all the financial burden on drivers to own their own vehicles, which may accumulate up to 80,000 miles annually, and 3) place the burden on drivers to provide their own insurance, which of course is inferior to insurance required by taxis.

Frederic J. Anderson, Minneapolis

The writer is a training coordinator for Blue and White Taxi Corp.

Congratulations to Uber and Lyft drivers on their wage victory. I hope you start your own company or cooperative, form a union and reap the rewards of your own labor and supplies. Companies that force people to use their own vehicle to work are already taking more than they deserve. Locally owned and operated rides promises to be the next model for success. One again, the mayor of Minneapolis is on the side of the corporation instead of the worker — please stop electing him.

Laurie Stammer, Buffalo

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Regarding the Uber and Lyft controversy: The arguments from Southern plantation owners before and during the Civil War was that their economic model could not succeed without slaves. Arguments to support the current pay scale of Uber and Lyft for their drivers are similar. Many wage earners in Minnesota do not make enough to access health care, adequate education, food and housing. If we want an equitable, sustainable and healthy world, that must change. Yes, it would mean that the products and services from the industries that take advantage of low wage service and farmworkers must cost more. That includes food, as well as Uber and Lyft rides. And, yes, that means that some of us will probably have to cut a few unnecessary extravagances. It also means that those service workers will spend every single one of their extra dollars on some of those things that the rest of us take for granted. More fairly paid workers will support, participate more deeply in and help sustain our economy. More kids will eat nutritious food. More people will have better education and better health. More families will have stable housing. I’m willing to pay a couple more bucks for a hamburger at McDonald’s for that kind of trade-off. Are you?

Alan Arthur, Wayzata

How many Uber drivers did the City Council just put out of work with their override of Mayor Jacob Frey’s veto? At least the drivers were making some money. Actions have consequences. Council members could be reminded of this during the next election cycle.

Cynthia Sowden, Minneapolis

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It’s so easy to suggest that someone else should work for less than a living wage to provide a service we desire at a lower cost. However, remember that we will have pay taxes and give donations to support their families with the housing, health care and food that they will be unable to afford with their low incomes.

Minneapolis could subsidize the Uber and Lyft rides of disabled people or hire the drivers that have appropriate vehicles to provide Metro Mobility services.

Timothy Bardell, St. Louis Park

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Since 2017, my fellow Minneapolis voters have had a disturbing tendency to elect City Council members who have no experience in leading any sizable enterprise. Predictably and regrettably, this led quickly to a series of anti-business measures. Though entirely lacking business experience themselves, the council began to tell grocery stores what they must sell (whether or not there is demand) and what they cannot sell. They told fast food stores that it was OK to serve customers inside but not through a drive-thru window. They told businesses of all types how to structure their employee benefits and what to pay their workers (but oddly determined that tips don’t count; somehow that’s not real money).

Troubling as these measures were — because a thriving community needs a strong business base to provide jobs and needed goods and services — these previous city councils look like the Chamber of Commerce compared to the current council.

On May 1 Minneapolis residents will realize the current council has legislated an entire industry, ridesharing, out of the city. The Uber and Lyft drivers, who were ecstatic when the council overrode the mayor’s veto, will lose some of their enthusiasm when they discover on May 1 that they may not be eligible for unemployment compensation. There will be collateral damage as well, in that some restaurants and entertainment venues that will fail because their customers can no longer reach them.

David J. Therkelsen, Minneapolis

Regarding the fact that the new president of the University of Minnesota will be awarded yearly compensation of over $1 million, as recently reported by the Star Tribune (“New president’s compensation spotlights inequities at U,” Opinion Exchange, March 14), should anyone be taken aback that the head football coach of that same university is under contract for six times what she will be earning? Apparently not.