4 ms·

I don't think the pricing is the extent of people's concerns, or even the majority. I'm not a fan of Kalanick, personally, but I was prepared to have been wron

by rosser 10y ago

I don't think the pricing is the extent of people's concerns, or even the majority. I'm not a fan of Kalanick, personally, but I was prepared to have been wrong about him when I saw his Facebook post about taking care of the drivers who were stranded by this idiocy. Then, I saw they were taking fares to JFK during the taxi strike — effectively breaking it. To my eyes, and those of many others, that is an ugly repudiation of the gesture. It was one hour. Having someone on the president's Business Council thing take a public stand like that in solidarity with the very industry he's trying to destroy would have sent a powerful message, and pretty cheaply. More to the point, turning off surge pricing hours after the strike — that was announced to last one hour — was over is moot.

true_religion 10y ago
Standing in solidarity by preventing the people who are protesting from getting to and from the protest is inane. Without the lipservice they paid, I'd have actually believed the taxi union was rallying against the the protesters.
- rosser 10y ago
  If you're going there to protest, take the subway. It's not like you've got luggage or anything. And the work stoppage was only against picking up fares, anyway.
jyrkesh 10y ago
As someone who is only just finding out about all this, I don't fully understand why the cab drivers stopped picking people up. I think the fact that people were using Uber (and Lyft) to leave the airport means they needed to (which is ESPECIALLY if true if surge was in place for some period of time and people still willingly took it). As poetic as they might think it is, taxi drivers not welcoming people into the country is, practically speaking, very similar to the airports not welcoming people into the country. All I'm saying is that it would really suck to be someone caught at the airport in the mess, maybe with a few kids you've had to endure protecting/managing for a 5-10 hour flight, and the cabs aren't going. I'd be pretty upset at the cabs, even if I stood with the protesters (which I do). (Keep in mind, this would also include people coming from the many other countries not called out in the EO.) Side note: I think it's crazy how quickly so many different SIGNIFICANT articles are hitting #1 on HN and Reddit. The ban, the judicial pushback, the firing...I think I'm all caught up, I sit down at home, throw open HN, and there's an entire sub-story that went down about cabs, Uber, and Lyft sitting at a new #1. It's all too much for me...
- rosser 10y ago
  > All I'm saying is that it would really suck to be someone caught at the airport in the mess... Then imagine how it must feel to be one of the people affected by the ban. That's the point of the strike: "Oh you think this is inconvenient?"
  - manigandham 10y ago
    When has this strategy ever worked? This is not how you appease or bring about change.
    - rosser 10y ago
      "Appease"? Whom?
    - brenschluss 10y ago
      How do you think the two-day weekend and the forty-hour week was created? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eight-hour_day https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eight-hour_day
      - phil21 10y ago
        By an hour long unplanned "strike" called for with hours worth of notice? Yeah, didn't think so. This conversation is getting absurd at this point.
    - SomeStupidPoint 10y ago
      When has appeasing ever worked as an instrument of social change?
      - manigandham 10y ago
        Perhaps that was the wrong word. "To bring about peace" is the definition I was going for. Either way, this is not going to solve anything.
Kalium 10y ago
Instead of a gesture, Uber chose to allow immigrants from the countries in question to keep earning money. Uber made it easy for protesters to get around the police blockade of the AirTrain. There were no ideal options on the table. Joining the strike would have meant hurting a sizable number of immigrants and hurting the protests.
- rosser 10y ago
  Did you miss that the strike was only against picking up fares at the airport?
  - Kalium 10y ago
    No. I'm just struggling to imagine why anyone thought Uber would join this and why nobody seems to care about Lyft.
    - CodeWriter23 10y ago
      It's not about joining. It's about Uber intervening by turning off an automated feature of their platform. People are pissed about that. Not me, but people. Me, I'm driving Lyft for a stint and enjoying non-stop ride requests.
baby 10y ago
what can Uber do? They can't update their app just for a strike. Apparently they could turn off a surge and that's what they did.
kelnos 10y ago
What if Uber (and Lyft; by your definition they broke the strike too) didn't agree with the reason for the strike, or found it counterproductive? It's well within their rights to do so (and I'd agree with them). Just because your "transportation brethren" decide to take some action, it doesn't mean you should play lemming and take the same action in solidarity, especially if you think that action is in poor taste, or is harmful. I mean, c'mon. During the time of the strike, people needed transportation to and from the airport more than ever, given the protesters coming in and out. And hell, if detainees had been able to clear CBP during the strike, the strike would have actively made it harder for those poor people to get home. I'd say the taxi workers union should be ashamed for picking that time to strike.
- 1_2__3 10y ago
  You clearly and literally do not seem to understand how strikes work.

by rosser 10y ago

true_religion 10y ago

Standing in solidarity by preventing the people who are protesting from getting to and from the protest is inane. Without the lipservice they paid, I'd have actually believed the taxi union was rallying against the the protesters.

rosser 10y ago
If you're going there to protest, take the subway. It's not like you've got luggage or anything. And the work stoppage was only against picking up fares, anyway.

jyrkesh 10y ago

As someone who is only just finding out about all this, I don't fully understand why the cab drivers stopped picking people up. I think the fact that people were using Uber (and Lyft) to leave the airport means they needed to (which is ESPECIALLY if true if surge was in place for some period of time and people still willingly took it). As poetic as they might think it is, taxi drivers not welcoming people into the country is, practically speaking, very similar to the airports not welcoming people into the country. All I'm saying is that it would really suck to be someone caught at the airport in the mess, maybe with a few kids you've had to endure protecting/managing for a 5-10 hour flight, and the cabs aren't going. I'd be pretty upset at the cabs, even if I stood with the protesters (which I do). (Keep in mind, this would also include people coming from the many other countries not called out in the EO.) Side note: I think it's crazy how quickly so many different SIGNIFICANT articles are hitting #1 on HN and Reddit. The ban, the judicial pushback, the firing...I think I'm all caught up, I sit down at home, throw open HN, and there's an entire sub-story that went down about cabs, Uber, and Lyft sitting at a new #1. It's all too much for me...

rosser 10y ago
> All I'm saying is that it would really suck to be someone caught at the airport in the mess... Then imagine how it must feel to be one of the people affected by the ban. That's the point of the strike: "Oh you think this is inconvenient?"
- manigandham 10y ago
  When has this strategy ever worked? This is not how you appease or bring about change.
  - rosser 10y ago
    "Appease"? Whom?
  - brenschluss 10y ago
    How do you think the two-day weekend and the forty-hour week was created? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eight-hour_day https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eight-hour_day
    - phil21 10y ago
      By an hour long unplanned "strike" called for with hours worth of notice? Yeah, didn't think so. This conversation is getting absurd at this point.
  - SomeStupidPoint 10y ago
    When has appeasing ever worked as an instrument of social change?
    - manigandham 10y ago
      Perhaps that was the wrong word. "To bring about peace" is the definition I was going for. Either way, this is not going to solve anything.

Kalium 10y ago

Instead of a gesture, Uber chose to allow immigrants from the countries in question to keep earning money. Uber made it easy for protesters to get around the police blockade of the AirTrain. There were no ideal options on the table. Joining the strike would have meant hurting a sizable number of immigrants and hurting the protests.

rosser 10y ago
Did you miss that the strike was only against picking up fares at the airport?
- Kalium 10y ago
  No. I'm just struggling to imagine why anyone thought Uber would join this and why nobody seems to care about Lyft.
  - CodeWriter23 10y ago
    It's not about joining. It's about Uber intervening by turning off an automated feature of their platform. People are pissed about that. Not me, but people. Me, I'm driving Lyft for a stint and enjoying non-stop ride requests.

baby 10y ago

what can Uber do? They can't update their app just for a strike. Apparently they could turn off a surge and that's what they did.

kelnos 10y ago

What if Uber (and Lyft; by your definition they broke the strike too) didn't agree with the reason for the strike, or found it counterproductive? It's well within their rights to do so (and I'd agree with them). Just because your "transportation brethren" decide to take some action, it doesn't mean you should play lemming and take the same action in solidarity, especially if you think that action is in poor taste, or is harmful. I mean, c'mon. During the time of the strike, people needed transportation to and from the airport more than ever, given the protesters coming in and out. And hell, if detainees had been able to clear CBP during the strike, the strike would have actively made it harder for those poor people to get home. I'd say the taxi workers union should be ashamed for picking that time to strike.

1_2__3 10y ago
You clearly and literally do not seem to understand how strikes work.