PUBLIC TESTIMONY
Testimony by Marlene Cruz, Member of New York Taxi Workers Alliance (TWA)
4:48:40
·
64 sec
Marlene Cruz, a mother of two and an Uber and Lyft driver since 2017, testifies about the unfair practice of driver lockouts and its impact on her ability to earn a living. She emphasizes the financial challenges faced by drivers due to high operational costs and inconsistent access to the ride-hailing apps.
- Cruz describes driving around for over an hour with the app off, unable to receive ride requests
- She mentions sometimes only making $80 or $100 before having to return home due to lockouts
- Cruz highlights the high costs associated with being a driver, including $700 for insurance, car payments, and licensing fees
Marlene Cruz
4:48:40
Hi.
4:48:40
My name is Marlene Cruz.
4:48:42
I'm a mother or 2 that I have to support myself.
4:48:45
I work for Uber and Lyft, science 2017.
4:48:50
The reason I'm where I'm here for is because of the lockout.
4:48:54
It's not fair for us to go out, to work, and go around the city for over an hour, and the app are off.
4:49:07
We had to be moving around to see if it's open at one time.
4:49:12
You know?
4:49:13
Sometime we just had to go home, sometime we make, like, $80 or a $100, and we had to go back home.
4:49:20
How can we pay the bills?
4:49:23
Being an Uber or, I mean, a TOC driver is mean a lot of money because we had to pay, like, $700 insurance, plus the car, plus the license, plus a lot of things.
4:49:37
So we need to lock up, stop, lease.
4:49:42
Thank you.