Truck drivers are fighting for more pay as they plan to strike on Valentine's Day

Torontonians may have to find alternative travel plans for Valentine's Day, with drivers poised to go on strike as part of their fight for more pay.

Many truck drivers and food delivery workers, along with their American and European counterparts, are planning a one-day strike to protest low wages.

The temporary job action comes on the heels of a new report by advocacy groups suggesting Uber drivers in Toronto earn about $10 less than the minimum wage.

“Provincial and city governments have a role to play in preventing these abuses,” Ridefair said in an op-ed in Toronto X, citing the strike to protest “poverty pay and company practices.”

Final report According to data from Ridefair Toronto and the Rideshare Drivers Association of Ontario (RDAO), called “Legal Poverty,” drivers make about $6.37 an hour after expenses, far below Uber's claim that drivers take home $33.35 an hour.

“Minimum wage laws are there to protect everyone, no matter who you are, what you do, full-time, part-time or casual,” says Erla Phillips, vice-president of the Rideshare Drivers Association of Ontario. . “We're letting gig workers fall through the cracks.”

The groups said researchers examined 96 Toronto drivers' weekly wages and found all of them did not meet Ontario's minimum wage standards.

“In most cases, the drivers lost their money,” says J. Jay Fuser, researcher at Ridefair Toronto and co-author of the report.

Uber drivers and couriers are considered independent contractors by the company because they can choose when, where and how often they work, but in exchange they have no job security, vacation pay or other benefits.

Uber Canada announced Last month there were a number of changes, aims to offer drivers more transparency about their earnings and better protection while on the road. The changes came from feedback the company gathered through its contract with the private sector union United Food and Commercial Employees of Canada.

Brice Sofer, vice president of Gig Workers United, a Canadian group of couriers and drivers, called the changes “window dressing” designed to reduce how difficult it is for people to earn money on the platform.

The Valentine's Day strike is expected to involve drivers working for Uber, Lyft and DoorDash in Vancouver and Winnipeg, as well as dozens of cities in the US and Europe.

Toronto strikers plan to gather at Nathan Phillips Square on Wednesday morning before driving through downtown.

With Canadian Press files

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