"Because we have the Super Bowl happening here, we have them by the balls," "Uber Drivers United" leader Mario says in a video posted to YouTube Sunday. That why, he says, between 1500-2000 drivers are expected to drive slowly through San Francisco Monday afternoon, protesting what he says is Uber's practice of "screwing over" drivers.
According to Mario (who did not give his last name in the video), Uber is planning on dropping driver wages to "50 cents per mile before [the] Super Bowl," and this protest is an effort to register displeasure over that as well as to indicate interest in "Cityride," which he says will be "a new company that is not going to screw over the drivers anymore."
(It's unclear if Mario is referring to the CityRide car service app, which was recently established by a trio of local limo services, or another, similarly-named service.)
Mario says that today, drivers will meet at 2 p.m. at "the big parking lot" at the former site of Candlestick Park. From there they'll proceed slowly, caution lights on, to protest at Vermont and 16th Street, which is apparently Uber's San Francisco driver's office.
After a pass there, drivers will proceed to San Francisco City Hall to stage another slow-driving demonstration. Then it's off to protest at Uber's headquarters at 1455 Market Street, which is between 10th and 11th Streets — yes, a significant distance from the road blocks near Super Bowl City, but given how rotten the downtown closures have made traffic overall, anyone traveling on surface streets should expect to find themselves at a standstill.
In the video, Mario suggests that drivers are shooting for even more of an impact than their "honk-in" on January 25.
"You saw the damage we caused two weeks ago, when we lit up all of SF with 6.9% surge pricing," he says.
"If you want to do that again, before the Super Bowl, this is our opportunity."
Previously: Uber Drivers Stage 'Honk-In' Protest Over Wages In Front Of Uber HQ
Concerned Citizen Predicts Likely Super Bowl 50 Traffic Impact
Amid Massive Losses, Thirsty Uber Gambles On Lower Prices, Higher Volume