Uber is facing some backlash after immigration protests this weekend. A tweet from the company’s New York City account ignited a firestorm on social media this past Saturday. Around the same time taxi drivers were protesting at JFK Airport, Uber announced it would be turning off surge pricing.
Surge pricing has been turned off at #JFK Airport. This may result in longer wait times. Please be patient.
— Uber NYC (@Uber_NYC) January 29, 2017
According to reports, hundreds of people in the US have deleted the Uber app in solidarity with Muslim ban protesters in the US, following claims the company continued to operate at JFK airport after other taxi services called a strike. Former-users posted screenshots of the delete function on the app to Twitter, alongside the hashtag #DeleteUber, which trended worldwide overnight.
Many people promised to switch over to Lyft, another ride-sharing service, after it pledged to donate $1 million to the American Civil Liberties Union, the company responsible for the temporary stay on Trump’s Muslim ban. A large number of celebrities got behind the campaign, urging their followers to delete the app.
#DeleteUber wound up becoming the No. 1 trend in the country on Saturday night after the company turned off surge pricing to and from JFK International Airport, where thousands were protesting the Muslim ban. Earlier in the night, the New York City Taxi Workers Alliance announced its members would partially strike in solidarity with the refugees and affected immigrants by not offering services to or from the airport.
Uber CEO Travis Kalanick, who is on President Trump’s economic advisory board, issued a statement saying Uber opposed the travel ban and would be helping to compensate drivers who are impacted and may not be able to reenter the country. “We are working out a process to identify these drivers and compensate them pro bono during the next three months to help mitigate some of the financial stress and complications with supporting their families and putting food on the table.”
Uber drivers reportedly continued to service customers at New York’s John F Kennedy Airport, despite a strike called by the NY Taxi Workers Alliance.
The union said drivers would be joining the protest at the airport in support of those being detained as a result of Trump’s “ban on Muslims”.
“As an organisation whose membership is largely Muslim, a workforce that’s almost universally immigrant, and a working-class movement that is rooted in the defence of the oppressed, we say no to this inhumane and unconstitutional ban,” the union wrote on Facebook.
“The president is putting professional drivers in more danger than they have been in any time since 9/11 when hate crimes against immigrants skyrocketed.”
The Uber backlash also came amongst accusations CEO Travis Kalanick was “colluding” with the US president.
