Uber Boycotts “Lyft” Protestors’ Spirits

Uber+Boycotts+Lyft+Protestors+Spirits

Aurora Coria (12th), Reporter

Employees at Uber Headquarters received surprising news early Saturday morning; #DeleteUber lied at the top of the Twitter trends. And it would remain there for over twenty-four hours.

The boycotting process proceeded Trump’s executive order in banning “refugees and immigrants from seven Muslim-majority nations” (The San Francisco Chronicle). Protesters stood outside JFK International Airport disgusted by the actions their recently inaugurated President had taken.

The cab drivers of New York City (which is a largely Muslim-based community) joined in action by refusing to offer service for one hour en route to JFK airport as well as from it.

Uber, however, failed to take part in the demonstration, @Uber_NYC tweeting:

“Surge pricing has been turned off at #JFK Airport. This may result in longer wait times. Please be patient.”

The tweet “was interpreted by many as allegedly breaking the strike to profit” (Forbes). Protesters accused the company of “scabbing,” and many resorted to eradicating their profile off the popular app.

Some protesters turned to Twitter to publicly display their disappointment, one user said,

“Uber’s actions tonight confirm what many #disabled people already knew: their desire for profit trumps civil rights & liberties. #deleteuber”

A majority of Uber’s employees resided from the countries listed in Trump’s ban; a handful of those drivers recently traveled back to the countries where they were born to visit their families they left behind. By the time the retinue of occupants decided to return, the executive order was in full effect.

The staff can not re-enter the United States for another ninety-nine days, time in which they will be isolated from their family members and will lack ability to support their families.

Uber, in spite of the unknown amount of deleted accounts, has committed themselves to compensating drivers trapped outside the country as well as serving legal services if necessary. A three million dollar fund has been set up to execute the pledge.

Following the promise, Uber’s CEO, Travis Kalanick, opted out of President Trump’s economic advisory council, stating “joining the group was not meant to be an endorsement of the president or his agenda but unfortunately it has been misinterpreted to be exactly that” (The Guardian)

One of Uber’s competitors, Lyft, took advantage of the situation by appealing to those who resorted to abolishing their Uber accounts. They announced their donation of “one million dollars to the American Civil Union Society over the next four years” (Select All). And on Sunday morning, for the first time ever, Lyft passed Uber in mobile downloads.