Jacqueline Howard
BBC News
Reuters
Thousands of drivers from Uber, Bolt and Addison Lee are disconnected during peak hours on Valentine’s Day in a campaign for better remuneration and work conditions, says a union.
The action action takes place through the United Kingdom from 4:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m. GMT.
The Independent Syndicate of Workers of Great Britain (IWGB) said that it would unite “drivers from top to bottom of the country faced with low-wage and unsafe conditions”.
Uber, Bolt and Addison and Lee defended their working conditions after the IWGB said that drivers in cities such as London, Birmingham, Manchester, Cardiff and Brighton supported the strike.
Vasilica Dumitrescu has been working for various platforms, including Uber and Bolt, for nine years. The 51 -year -old said that she was working seven days a week, obtaining more than 80 hours, just to reach both ends.
“It’s really bad financially, emotionally physically, everything,” said Dumitrescu.
“I can’t afford to make bills, rent, food, which is so expensive now. It’s really, really bad.”
Provided
Vasilica Dumitrescu participates in the strike
Ms. Dumitresu said that she hoped that the strike will lead to higher salary agreements.
“Customers, they are with us,” she added. “Each driver is upset because he does not win enough. They ask you how much you get from this trip and are surprised to see how little we get.”
A Uber spokesperson said that all of his drivers are guaranteed to earn the national decent salary at least, and that the majority can and earn more.
“On average, drivers across the United Kingdom earn more than £ 30 on Uber travel,” said the spokesperson.
“They also have access to advanced protections such as holiday remuneration, pension and disease coverage and free injuries, as well as formal representation via GMB Union.”
A spokesperson for Bolt said that the company was “determined to ensure that our prices balance the drivers’ gain needs with an affordable price for passengers”.
“All drivers receive vacation wages and monetary supplements to make sure they earn at least the national decent salary, in parallel with a pension,” added the spokesperson.
Addison Lee was contacted for comments. The company previously declared to the AP news agency: “We have a close employment relationship with our drivers, which has been further strengthened in our recent survey on the satisfaction of biennial drivers. We do not plan a disruption of volumes or service levels on February 14. “”
In September 2024, Bolt drivers won a complaint against the company after a job court judged that they were “workers” under British law and rights to rights and protections, including the national minimum wage.
In January 2025, Addison Lee Drivers won a similar case.
‘Struption point’
Helio Santos, who is based in Stratford in eastern London, is another driver participating in the strike.
He has been driving with Uber for three years and said that even if he had spent 70 to 80 hours a week online, this often translates into 25 to 30 hours of driving.
Mr. Santos said that Friday’s strike action shows that drivers across the United Kingdom “are reaching a break point”.
“It’s not sustainable,” he said. “The costs are too low, there is no security, no transparency. Uber continues to ignore us.”
Mr. Santos, who has three children, including a four -year -old child, said that Uber’s promise of living national salary was “meaningless”.
“He laughs at us, saying that drivers get a decent salary. I better work for a cleaning company,” he added.
The IWGB said that since drivers have become “workers” under the law, they have reported that their conditions get worse.
In addition to more equitable wages and safer salary requests, the union requests the introduction of safety measures for drivers such as identifiers verification, complaint monitoring systems and support for victims of attack.
A spokesman for Bolt said that the company had hired 100 million euros (83.3 million pounds Sterling) over the next three years to support security initiatives for his drivers. In recent years, he has introduced an emergency assistance button in the application and provided additional information on the passengers before pickup, added the spokesperson.
Part of the action on Friday will include a vigil for the Bolt Gabriel Bringye driver who was killed in Tottenham, north of London, in 2021.
Mr. Bringye, 37, was put on a group of adolescents on a wave of crimes, who reserved the taxi with the sole intention of stealing the driver.
The IWGB said that the vigil has marked four years since its death and that drivers require better protections on its behalf.
