It was a triumphant Wednesday evening in El Monte, as MWA drivers packed the city council chambers to testify about our mistreatment at the hands of Uber and Lyft and ask the city council to move toward a $30 an hour living wage for drivers in El Monte.

When they heard about the challenges the we’re facing and the ways that Uber and Lyft exploit not just drivers, but also the public resources that we all share, El Monte City Council voted to instruct city officials to draft an ordinance establishing a $30 an hour wage for drivers in El Monte!

The $30 an hour is meant to provide drivers with a $15 an hour living wage and $15 an hour for vehicle expenses.

City officials will spend the next 120 days developing the ordinance, and will take driver utilization rates, waiting times, enforcement methods, and models developed by other cities into consideration.

“What happens to us as drivers also affects this community. If you raise wages to $30 an hour, you will be helping families like my own,” El Monte resident and rideshare driver Yadira Orozco said in Spanish during public comment.

Prior to the council meeting, more than 50 drivers held a rally outside city hall, sharing their stories and raising awareness of our demands.

“We’re not asking for the moon,” driver Linda Valdivia said. “All we’re asking for is enough money to live on and enough money to cover expenses. As it stands, we bring all of the capital to Uber and Lyft and they take home the profit.”

With the vote, El Monte becomes the first city in the United States to consider a $30 an hour rate for rideshare drivers. This is a huge step forward in the fight for drivers rights and against gig company exploitation.

We hope that other cities will follow the courageous example set by El Monte and its mayor André Quintero.

While we celebrate this victory, we’re not taking our eyes off the prize. AB5 continues to move closer to the governor’s desk and we’ll be ramping up our efforts in coming weeks to ensure not only that it passes, but that we win a path to a union.

With El Monte, and hopefully more cities, behind us, we’re only getting stronger. When we fight, we win!

Cientos de conductores de viajes compartidos de todas partes de California llegaron al capitolio del estado la semana pasada para cabildear a los legisladores para que aprueben el Proyecto de Ley AB-5 y los conductores tambien hicieron a conocer su apoyo a los derechos sindicales para todos.

La acción comenzó el martes 9 de julio por la mañana, cuando los conductores se reunieron con funcionarios electos clave, como la Oficina del Gobernador de California, la asambleísta autora de la AB-5 Lorena González, el asambleísta Miguel Santiago y el asambleísta Ash Kalra.

Más tarde en la noche, dos autobuses llenos de conductores de la Alianza de Trabajadores Móviles (MWA) salieron de Los Ángeles con rumbo a Sacramento para un día completo de cabildeo de los legisladores en apoyo de la AB-5.

El proyecto de ley histórico pondría fin a las compañías de aplicaciones móviles que utilizan el estatus de “contratista independiente” para eludir las leyes laborales y negarles a los conductores sus derechos, dando derecho a los trabajadores a salarios mínimos, beneficios, protecciones de empleo y los derechos para formar su union.

Nos acompañaron compañeros conductores de Gig Workers Rising de la área de la Bahía de San Francisco, miembros de sindicatos de diversas industrias y trabajadores de comida rápida de Lucha por $15, todos unidos en torno a la demanda de que los legisladores apoyen la AB-5 y un camino hacia porder formar una union.

Mientras un grupo de miembros de la Alianza MWA emitió comentarios públicos durante la audiencia del proyecto de ley en la Comisión de Trabajo, Empleo Público y Jubilación, docenas de nosotros nos hicimos cargo de los pasillos de la capital, visitando a legisladores del sur de California para pedirles su apoyo. Gig Workers Rising hizo lo mismo con los legisladores del norte de California.

Después de la audiencia, en la que el comité votó 3-1 para promover el proyecto de ley, cientos de simpatizantes de la AB-5 se reunieron frente al edificio del capitolio, donde escuchamos a legisladores, líderes laborales y nuestra propia miembra de la Alianza MWA, Linda Valdivia.

“Sabemos que podemos tener un salario digno, y beneficios y flexibilidad, y todo comienza con una voz real en el trabajo”, dijo Linda. “¡Empieza con un sindicato!”

Después de doce horas sólidas de lucha por nuestros derechos y con AB5 un paso más cerca de la ley, abordamos los autobuses de regreso a Los Ángeles con la promesa de que volveremos cuando el proyecto siga avanzando en el proceso legislativo.

Uber and Lyft are on the defensive. Earlier this month, the bosses at both companies published a joint op-ed that acknowledged the many issues that drivers have been calling out for years and made some vague statements about making things better for drivers.

This seeming about-face by the companies was immediately followed by this:

Uber and Lyft are asking drivers to contact their legislators and oppose AB 5, a bill that would put an end to the misclassification of drivers as independent contractors and entitle them to the same minimum wage, benefits and employment protections that any other California employee receives.

Mobile Workers Alliance drivers weren’t about to stand for this. Instead, we organized a rally of dozens of drivers and Fight for $15 fast food workers outside the Lyft hub in downtown Los Angeles.

Our message was clear, “We speak for ourselves and we support AB 5.”

Drivers spoke out a press conference, while others lined the street with their cars bearing MWA flags and signs. After the press conference, we attempted to confront Lyft management at the hub, but they refused to speak to the drivers who make their company billions.

Instead of sending the boss’s message to legislators, we’ve got send ours instead. Use this link to send a message to your local California legislators and say that you support AB 5. It only takes a few clicks. Email your legislators