LONG ISLAND CITY, NY, February 2—While tens of thousands of workers and youth were protesting at JFK and other airports against the racist travel ban on Muslims from seven countries, the NY Taxi Workers Alliance (NYTWA) called a one-hour strike on travel to JFK. This bold act of international, anti-racist solidarity was delivered by an immigrant, mostly Muslim workforce, and enjoyed widespread support.
Uber, on the other hand, tried to make a quick buck by quadrupling their rates on fares to and from JFK. The one-hour strike further exposed Uber as a strike breaker, union buster, and price gouger in the midst of an international crisis. A “Delete Uber” campaign erupted as thousands deleted Uber apps from their smart phones.
Today about 200 members and supporters of the NYTWA rallied in front of Uber headquarters to protest their actions during the strike, and Uber CEO Travis Kalanick’s plans to join Trump’s Council of Economic Advisors. Support came from other unions and community and immigrant rights groups A speaker from the National Writers Union said, “The answer to fascism is not to go back to the way things were before Election Day, but to move forward to a world with no bans, no walls and no borders; a world based on equality and in the interests of the international working class.” This is a good goal but it is unreachable as long as we live under this capitalist system of profiteering and exploitation. In order to get there, we have to stand shoulder to shoulder with workers and youth who are fighting back, and win them to see that this fight requires the long-term struggle for communist revolution.
Just hours before the rally, Kalanick told Trump, “Thanks, but no thanks,” to try to reverse Uber’s sinking fortunes of the past week. While Kalanick may have been forced to give up his seat at Trump’s table, he and Trump and all attack immigrant and Muslim families and make billions by forcing workers to work for less than the minimum wage and destroying other basic worker protections.
Speakers for NYTWA made clear that the solidarity strike was meant to escalate the fight against the racist Muslim ban, and exposed Uber as a corporate collaborator with the rise of fascism. Support for the strike also showed Uber bosses that drivers have mass support. Let’s up the struggle from worker solidarity to working class power. Join us in building a revolutionary movement for communism, a society run by and for the working class!