Last year, a gig economy strike on Valentine’s Day saw popular support from drivers for apps like Uber, Lyft, and DoorDash, with workers refusing to sign on that day in a push for better pay and conditions.
A year later, enthusiasm for a similar type of work stoppage isn’t gaining any traction.
On Reddit, a call for DoorDash drivers to strike on Feb. 14 drew more backlash than participants, despite thousands signing up the year prior.
The post eventually got deleted, with mods noting the frequent calls for strikes were getting to be too much.
The newest call to protest hoped to highlight a number of poor working conditions for DoorDash drivers, from hidden tip policies to low base pay that has not kept up with inflation, the initial post read.
"If we stand together, we can force DoorDash to take our demands seriously. They need us more than we need them! Who's in? Drop a comment and let’s make this movement grow!" the user said.
The push, however, seemed to fall on deaf ears, with many in the 49,000-member DoorDashDrivers subreddit doubting such a move would make any difference.
"Cool I'm gonna pick up so many extra orders that day," one person replied, pointing out just how ineffective strikes like these can be without widespread adoption.
"This again? I can understand and can’t argue on the basis behind it. But the fleet is just too large for this to have any real effect. Platforms just toss out some obnoxious peak pay they know will draw at as many drivers as possible," another user said.
"This is laughably silly. Not the concept, but the idea that you will have an entire nation of contractors (most who don't even probably use Reddit) unite for a driver's strike," a poster added.
But last year, an estimated thousand-plus delivery riders of popular gig economy apps did protest on Valentine’s Day.
The effort that year had institutional support.
Rideshare Drivers United, an independent association of U.S. rideshare drivers, called on its members to take the day off.
On pages on its site for individual cities, the organization asked workers to “turn off their apps,” hoping for “a global day of driver action” to push companies and lawmakers to address issues.
It also organized in-person protests in several cities.
The stoppage received widespread attention, covered in numerous media outlets, with the strike scheduled for a day when couples frequently used the apps, either to get rides to dates or order delivery.
But it’s unclear if the strike had any effect. A spokesperson for Uber at the time deemed it ineffective.
“In most markets, there are more drivers on the road today than there were during the same period last week,” an Uber spokesperson told the Washington Post.
Despite the push on Reddit, nothing official seems planned this year, with the union's calendar empty on that date.
Even the original organizer grew frustrated with the online apathy.
"Due to most people's response being to take advantage of the strike to make a couple extra dollars I'm giving up. My faith in humanity is all gone. Please disregard and continue to bend over for our overlord Tony Zu. Good luck and goodnight,” he said, referencing DoorDash’s CEO.
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