Uber and Lyft made a deal to raise drivers’ wages. It was

Minneapolis cracked a deal with the companies, but it preserves integral parts of their model, allowing the firms to undermine the compromise later

Who came out ahead when the Minneapolis city council announced a deal with Uber and Lyft to increase driver pay and improve working conditions last month?

On 20 May, the city council heralded a compromise with the ride-hailing companies. Uber and Lyft would agree to an inflation-pegged wage floor matching Minnesota’s minimum wage of $15 an hour after expenses. Some lawmakers have hailed this as a 20% raise for drivers –however, the deal’s pay rates are lower than almost every proposal made over the past two years amid a bitter fight between Uber, Lyft, their drivers and lawmakers.