Uber and Lyft leaving Minneapolis: Council working towards solution

Work is underway at the Minneapolis City Council to change an ordinance that gives a pay raise to ride-hailing app drivers, which has Uber and Lyft threatening to leave the city.

The council overrode a veto by Mayor Jacob Frey to put the ordinance in effect. Afterward, Uber and Lyft both announced plans to leave Minneapolis by May 1, when the ordinance takes effect, with Uber saying they'd end service across the Twin Cities metro.

Governor Walz has pushed for a compromise to keep the ride-hailing apps in the city.

On Thursday, during a Minneapolis council meeting, Council Member Andrea Jenkins gave notice that she intended to move for reconsideration of the ordinance. Jenkins voted for the bill twice, first during initial approval, then again to override the veto.

On Thursday, Jenkins said her motion would give council members the chance to make changes to bring about a "broader resolution" to this issue. She also said two council members, Aurin Chowdhury and Emily Koski, have been working with state lawmakers on a resolution.

However, when asked, Jenkins admitted she doesn't have her own proposal ready to go to change the ordinance.

Another effort

Council Member Jason Chavez chided Jenkins for not giving the ordinance's authors a heads-up on her notice. He asked her to rescind her notice, saying the authors were already working on a plan. At the same time, Chavez said the city was taking steps to prepare for an Uber withdrawal.

First, council members are working with state legislators on a statewide bill.

Second, Chavez says several ride-hailing companies have expressed interest in coming to Minneapolis. He says the city is working to streamline the licensing process.

Third, the council is working with Metro Mobility to promote their service.

Chavez said plans were underway to submit notice at the following meeting, on April 11, for potential changes to the ordinance. Council Vice President Aisha Chughtai said members were awaiting some additional data on driver wages, specifically for drivers in Minneapolis, that is expected to come down after the April 11 meeting.

Council frustration

Chavez wasn't the only council member upset with Jenkins' notice. Some members criticized Jenkins for not communicating about her intentions, while others stuck up for Jenkins for working to get something done.

"I felt blindsided by that. I didn’t know it was coming," stated Chughtai, talking about her surprise at learning about the notice through a press release put out by the mayor's office.

"The authors of this ordinance were not made aware this was happening, we found out from the mayor's press release," added Chavez.

While Council Member LaTrisha Vetaw suggested politics might be why some were upset with Jenkins' move. "Clearly, someone is upset she beat them in giving notice. That’s the only thing that makes sense here. Somebody else wanted to give notice and Jenkins beat them to it."

Jenkins also leveled her own criticisms about transparency by other members.

"It’s going to be based on the data that many of you have been apparently secretly working on," said Jenkins about the ordinance fix.

"The authors of the ordinance were planning on bringing the notice on the 11th so that we could vote on the final action on the 25th," Chughtai further explained. "The whole thing would be done before the May 1st deadline."

Despite the controversy, the council is now considering both the state data report on ride-hailing driver wages and their own data. FOX 9 asked why council members didn't wait on the data release before passing the ordinance in the first place.

"We had been waiting on this data for quite some time," Jenkins explained. "I have been asking folks from the state personally and there was no clear answer as to what was going on."

Chughtai said she had no regrets about moving forward with the ordinance before getting the state data. "To be clear, none of us has any control over the actions of a multi-billion dollar corporation. They will do what they’re going to do. We will do what’s best for our city."

A solution from the state?

In a follow-up statement after the meeting, Council Member Koski said a state report that audited driver pay shows "conclusively" that ride-hailing app drivers have been paid below minimum wage.

"I’ve found myself saying the same thing time and time again at City Hall, and that’s that two things can be true at the same time," she explained. "And in this case, it’s that we can want Transportation Network Companies to do business in the City of Minneapolis, and we can want Transportation Network Companies to pay a minimum wage and ensure basic worker protections. We can want Transportation Network Companies to provide services that are reasonably priced and accessible, and we can want Transportation Network Companies to find a way to provide those services without imposing the cost, the burden on their drivers."

Koski says state lawmakers are considering their own legislation that would be "within pennies" of Minneapolis' ordinance. If that gets passed, Koski says she'd support changing the Minneapolis ordinance to match that bill.

Otherwise, she says, the Minneapolis ordinance "will be evaluated after six months, one year, and annually, with the first evaluation taking place in November 2024. After this evaluation, we will be able to review and make changes if necessary."

What's next?

Jenkins didn't withdraw her notice, as requested by Chavez. However, the city clerk clarified that the notice could be held over to the following meeting if needed. So, while the council is set to discuss a potential change to the ride-hailing ordinance during the April 11 meeting, it's likely a vote to change the law wouldn't happen until at least the April 25 meeting – if at all.

Minneapolis City CouncilMinneapolisUber