Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey pushes for City Council to compromise with rideshare companies
MINNEAPOLIS — Mayor Jacob Frey pushed members of the Minneapolis City Council to compromise with rideshare companies as they threaten to leave the city over a proposed wage increase measure.
The rideshare company Lyft said it will be forced to stop operating in Minneapolis on April 1 if a minimum wage ordinance passes.
"I do care about having this service in the city, I do care about getting drivers paid more money. And I do care that the service itself is actually affordable, affordable to people that need it," Frey said.
Last week, a Minneapolis City Council committee advanced a proposal that would guarantee minimum pay for rideshare drivers — a revived effort after Frey vetoed a similar measure last summer.
Under the plan, drivers would be paid $1.40 per mile and $0.51 per minute while transporting passengers and would make no less than $5 per ride. They would also keep 80% of fees for any canceled requests for service.
"I said to the city council members, nearly half of a year ago that I would support more than doubling the rate. What I wouldn't support is an ordinance that they moved forward without actually engaging the parties involved," Frey said. "There's no way that they're going to be able to blame me for a lack of a wage increase for drivers when they're not able to talk and negotiate and work with the...rideshare companies that are here in the city."
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Lyft sent emails to its drivers and users Monday, urging them to sign a petition in opposition to the rideshare ordinance going through the Minneapolis City Council.
According to the company, the ordinance would nearly double prices for rides in the city.
Despite the threats, Councilmember Jason Chavez predicted the measure would pass the council.
"There is a loophole that makes it so some people in our city can get paid below the minimum wage. I will always stand against that. Doubling wages means nothing if you're not paying the city's minimum wage," Chavez said. "If a company is going to leave because they're being 'forced' to pay minimum wages, that is something that needs to be looked into."
Gov. Tim Walz also vetoed a push by the state legislature for statewide pay minimums. Uber at the time said the legislation would increase costs to customers by 30%.
In vetoing that measure, however, the governor created a commission to study ridesharing in the state so lawmakers — including cities — could have more data to craft ordinances and laws around. Frey suggested waiting for that data to take action.
"Like in the very near future, the state of Minnesota, we'll be issuing a whole boatload of data that gives real analysis and information about how much drivers are actually making where they're making that money, and potentially how to better craft an ordinance around it," Frey said.
Chavez said after the delay last year, the time to act is now.
"We did our own study with the City of Minneapolis, with Mayor Frey's administration, the community planning, economic development department that told us that wages are what we need to move forward with," Chavez said. "If they decide to leave, it's because they don't want to pay fair wages to our residents. And that is unacceptable in a city like Minneapolis."
