Footy fans waiting three hours for Ubers at Melbourne Airport amid rideshare driver strike

Fans flying into Melbourne for Friday night’s footy final have been forced to stand in three-hour long queues as Uber drivers walk off the job.

Travellers have been forced to wait in three-hour long lines for Ubers as drivers walk off the job in protest for better pay conditions. Picture: Supplied

Travellers at Melbourne Airport have been left to stand in a three-hour long queue as rideshare drivers refuse to pick them up in a strike for better working conditions.

A Melbourne rideshare driver who works for both Uber and Didi told the Herald Sun more than 100 drivers walked off the job, “trying to send a message to Uber” as footy-fans flew in to the popular pick-up location for Friday night’s Bulldogs v Hawks clash.

In app, users were told Ubers were just five-minutes away — but a nearby pileup of Uber cars sat unwilling to move. The scarcity of drivers available sent ride fees surging.

Footy fans were unable to get an Uber ride from to the city from the airport on Friday after Uber drivers walked off the job. Picture: Supplied

Melbourne Airport confirmed the Federal Police and Wilsons Security were at the scene directing traffic as drivers partook in the strike.

The protesting driver said rideshare companies had recently upped their own commissions while also decreasing fares, and that drivers had copped a whopping 15 to 20 per cent hit to their pay cheques.

Uber refuted the claim is was receiving an increased commission.

“Rider fares are going down by 3 per cent on average nationally. We anticipate this move will result in more demand for rides on the platform, which in turn will create more earnings opportunities for drivers,” an Uber spokesperson told the Herald Sun.

Under the new conditions, the driver said he was making just $25 for driving someone from the airport to the CBD — $10 less than he used to.

“These rideshare companies are just exploiting the drivers,” he told the Herald Sun.

“Uber doesn’t own anything — they don’t own the car, they don’t pay for fuel, for insurance.

“I don’t think the issue has been highlighted up until now.”

Uber refuted the driver’s claims, saying: “The fare structure for airport trips remains unchanged, so it isn’t possible that he’s earning less than he used to on airport trips.”

Rideshare bays go mostly empty as Uber drivers walk off the job. Picture: Supplied

The driver — who wished to remain anonymous worried Uber would deactivate his account — said travellers were forced to stand in a three-hour long line at the pick-up bay as rideshare services failed to show up.

Uber said claims it had threatened to deactivate the accounts of protesting drivers were “completely unfounded”.

The driver said taxi drivers and illegal touters wound up “doing a lot of business” during the strike.

Rideshare drivers are demanding better working conditions. Picture: Supplied

The Melbourne driver said he’d never seen such poor working conditions in his 10 years with the rideshare companies, and was struggling to make $4000 a month despite working 12-hour long days.

“We also have children and families. We have to pay the rent. We are humans as well,” he said.

“The government needs to regulate the rideshare industry like they do for taxi.”

He said he only made $180 on Thursday after 12 hours in the car.

The strikes have been ongoing over the past three weeks, but Friday morning’s significant queues saw the airport take to social media to encourage travellers to find alternate transport options.

“Protest action is currently reducing the number of Ubers available for pick-up at Melbourne Airport. Passengers may wish to consider other transport options including taxi, other rideshare or SkyBus,” Melbourne Airport said on Facebook.

An Uber spokesperson said: “We are aware of a protest at Melbourne Airport involving some drivers. We are in communication with Melbourne Airport and are working to reduce the impact on riders as much as possible.”