In the backlash following President Trump’s “Muslim ban,” the sides in the ride-hailing universe are drawn more firmly than ever.
Following President Trump’s executive order suspending the U.S.-Syrian refugee program and barring travelers from several majority-Muslim countries, Uber found itself in a tricky spot. The ride-hailing company’s CEO, Travis Kalanick, now serves on a business advisory council to the president. But many Uber drivers—in fact, a majority in some cities—are immigrants.
Rather than show solidarity with those drivers—as the New York Taxi Workers Alliance did with theirs, halting pick-ups at JFK Airport for an hour on Saturday evening in the name of “a working-class movement that is rooted in the defense of the oppressed”—Uber took a different path. As protestors clogged JFK’s terminals, Uber turned off surge pricing there, effectively slashing the cost of a ride.
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