Hailing from Argentina, Belgium, Brazil, Colombia, Denmark, Hong Kong, Italy, Mexico, Nepal, the Philippines, Spain, the U.S., Sweden, and Taiwan, gig workers allied to support the California Gig Workers Union’s appeal to the California Supreme Court to rule Proposition 22 unconstitutional. It was the culmination of a week full of events surrounding the first convening of the International Congress of Gig Workers.

For the first time since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, over 100 gig workers came out in force to shut down San Francisco International Airport’s Transportation Network Companies Staging Lot 3 on the morning of Thursday, April 27. The action sent a loud and clear message to Uber and Lyft: Gig workers are uniting to win fair wages, increased flexibility, health benefits, protections against unfair deactivations, and the right to form a union.

“Despite what corporations such as Uber and Lyft may say, driving for them isn’t just a side job for us to make a little extra money,” said Hector Castellanos, a worker leader with the California Gig Workers Union. “It is our job; it is our livelihood. It is our primary source of income for many of us.”

The show of force continued into the afternoon as gig workers descended upon Uber headquarters in Mission Bay, San Francisco. Gig workers from over 15 countries showed up, taking the fight directly to the ride-hailing and food-delivery gig corporation.

“In San Francisco and Los Angeles alone, more than 70% of us gig workers work full-time hours,”said Castellanos during the rally.“So many of us are working beyond that – we’re working six days per week, driving 12 or more hours daily to earn enough to make ends meet. My fellow gig workers, we’re out here today because these corporations need to be reminded that we are human beings, not machines they can throw away or treat as disposable. We are essential workers. Uber and Lyft would not be as successful as they are today without us. We will not be silent about the attacks we face on the job, the dangers we face when we work for these corporations, or the low wages that are barely enough to cover the cost of gas and car maintenance. With our union—the California Gig Workers Union—we can transform the gig economy from the inside out.”

The movement for gig workers’ rights continues. The California Gig Workers Union will not stop until Uber, Lyft, and other gig corporations can no longer ignore us and our demands for pay, benefits, flexibility, and safer working conditions.

That is why gig workers are gearing up for an action on Thursday, May 4—just four days before Uber’s annual meeting of stockholders. Gig workers are taking to the streets in cities across the country in coordinated direct actions and events, sounding the alarm over the dangerous working conditions they face due to the gig corporation’s refusal to provide adequate protection and pay for drivers.

In cities nationwide, drivers are rising up and organizing for safer working conditions, a fair and transparent deactivation process, better wages, and respect on the job. By shining a light on increasingly dangerous working conditions and shockingly low pay, drivers demand a fair return on the billions they make for these corporations.