AOC and Bernie Sanders back striking Uber and Lyft drivers: 'The greed has got to end'

[Uncle Joe]

Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders (D-VT) and Queens Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) were among prominent Democrats voicing their support on Wednesday for striking Uber (UBER) and Lyft (LYFT) drivers, just two days before Uber goes public.

Several 2020 Democratic presidential campaigns said they would honor the strike, including those of Sen. Kamala Harris (D-CA), Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ), entrepreneur Andrew Yang, Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-CA), Mayor Pete Buttigeg (D-IN), Rep. Tim Ryan (D-OH), and Sen. Kristen Gillibrand (D-NY).

“Uber and Lyft drivers are struggling as they work for billion-dollar companies,” tweeted Sanders, also a presidential candidate. “I stand in solidarity with them as they strike today for a dignified life.”

(snip)

The striking drivers also received support on Wednesday from leaders at some of the country’s largest labor unions, including SEIU President Mary Kay Henry and AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka, who combined represent nearly 14 million workers.

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https://finance.yahoo.com/news/aoc-bernie-sanders-uber-lyft-194939469.html

[PoliticAverse]

1. "are struggling as they work for billion-dollar companies" - well Uber is a company that has lost...

billions of dollars. Still not apparent there's a sustainable business model there in the end. Good luck to Uber drivers, they need it.

[madville]

3. They reportedly lose money on every ride

I believe it was an average of $0.51 per ride in the red. After the IPO they will have to raise fares regardless to satisfy shareholder's profit expectations.

[uawchild]

4. "Still not apparent there's a sustainable business model there in the end"

Unless hyping the company in anticipation of an ipo and then cashing in counts as a business model.

Oh, wait, you said sustainable.

No, there isn't one.

[Celerity]

6. Why companies like Lyft and Uber are going public without having profits

The last time unprofitable companies went public at this rate was in 2000 — the year the dot-com bubble burst.

https://www.vox.com/2019/3/6/18249997/lyft-uber-ipo-public-profit

Lyft filed paperwork to become a public company last week, with a valuation of $15 billion. But the ride-sharing company is still deeply unprofitable.

The company had a net loss of nearly $1 billion last year. To put it another way, Lyft lost about $1.47 for every ride* it gave in 2018. Lyft’s main competitor Uber, which is poised to file for an IPO as well, is also posting losses on a per-trip basis (though it’s tricky to estimate how much since Uber includes Uber Eats deliveries and Uber Freight shipments, in addition to taxi and scooter rides, in trip estimates). Uber’s valuation is expected to be anywhere from $76 billion to $120 billion.

So why aren’t the public markets more concerned about these negative-balance-sheet behemoths?

Because IPOs by money-losing companies are more common than ever. In 2018, 81 percent of US companies** were unprofitable in the year leading up to their public offerings, according to data from Jay Ritter, an IPO specialist and finance professor at the University of Florida. That’s a statistical dead heat with the rate in 2000, the year the dot-com bubble burst, plunging the US economy into recession. It’s the only other time unprofitability was this high, according to Ritter’s data, which goes back to 1980.

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[RandySF]

2. I honored the strike today.

[Uncle Joe]

5. Cool.

Thanks for sharing Randy.