Statement From New York Taxi Workers Alliance and Legal Services NYC on New York State Settlement with Uber Over Company’s Refusal to Provide Unemployment Benefits to Drivers

NEW YORK, NY (November 2, 2023) – Today, Governor Kathy Hochul announced a settlement between the New York State Department of Labor and Uber Technologies Inc. in which Uber will begin making quarterly payments into the New York State Unemployment Insurance Trust Fund and a retroactive payment to account for past contributions that they didn’t make.

The settlement follows two federal lawsuits filed by NYTWA and Legal Services NYC on behalf of drivers over Uber’s failure to provide unemployment benefits to drivers who for years fought for UI benefits, including during the pandemic, and were repeatedly denied access at a time when they needed help the most. New York is the first state in the country with which Uber has agreed to a settlement that addresses both past and future unemployment insurance liability.
 
The following is a statement from the New York Taxi Workers Alliance and Legal Services NYC about the settlement:
 
“Today’s settlement is a victory for Uber drivers across the state who will no longer be denied timely access to life-saving benefits by Uber in their darkest hour, and New York taxpayers will no longer have to subsidize the billionaires at Uber and Lyft. Drivers for the state’s largest employer will now be able to access unemployment benefits moving forward without endless obstacles and denials. We hope to see other states follow New York’s lead in holding Uber accountable so that drivers can access the help they need to support themselves and their families.
 
“It took two federal lawsuits filed by the New York Taxi Workers Alliance and Legal Services NYC to get to this point. In 2016, three NYTWA members filed for unemployment benefits but their cases were held up for more than nine months under “executive review.” NYTWA members had to sue the state in 2016 for failing to even process app drivers’ applications for unemployment benefits, and in 2017 we prevailed at the highest level of agency adjudication. But in 2020, we had to sue the state again for failing to provide unemployment insurance benefits in a timely manner at the height of the pandemic, resulting in 65,000 drivers winning the full amount of unemployment insurance benefits. Today’s settlement announced by the Governor builds off years of drivers refusing to give up.”
 
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