MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — The future of Uber and Lyft in Minneapolis has garnered concern and debate in recent weeks after the City Council voted last month to require that ride-hailing companies pay drivers a higher rate while they are within city limits.
Uber and Lyft responded by saying they would stop serving the Minneapolis area when the ordinance takes effect May 1, causing the city to weigh the ordinance it passed. The state could also take action, while riders and drivers are left wondering what could come next.
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MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — The future of Uber and Lyft in Minneapolis has garnered concern and debate in recent weeks after the City Council voted last month to require that ride-hailing companies pay drivers a higher rate while they are within city limits.
FILE - An Uber sign is displayed at the company's headquarters in San Francisco, Monday, Sept. 12, 2022. The future of Uber and Lyft in Minneapolis has been a source of concern and debate in recent weeks after the City Council voted last month to require that ride-hailing companies pay drivers a higher rate while they are within city limits. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu, File)
FILE - Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz discusses the upcoming 2024 legislative session during an interview at his office in the state Capitol on Wednesday, Feb. 7, 2024. The future of Uber and Lyft in Minneapolis has been a source of concern and debate in recent weeks after the City Council voted last month to require that ride-hailing companies pay drivers a higher rate while they are within city limits. (AP Photo/Steve Karnowski, File)
FILE - Cars drive past City Hall, June 28, 2023, in Minneapolis. The future of Uber and Lyft in Minneapolis has been a source of concern and debate in recent weeks after the City Council voted last month to require that ride-hailing companies pay drivers a higher rate while they are within city limits. (AP Photo/Trisha Ahmed, File)
FILE - In this Jan. 12, 2016, file photo, a ride share car displays Lyft and Uber stickers on its front windshield in downtown Los Angeles. The future of Uber and Lyft in Minneapolis has been a source of concern and debate in recent weeks after the City Council voted last month to require that ride-hailing companies pay drivers a higher rate while they are within city limits. (AP Photo/Richard Vogel, File)
Here is what we know so far:
The Minneapolis City Council last month overrode a mayoral veto and passed an ordinance that requires ride-hailing companies to pay drivers a minimum rate of $1.40 per mile and $0.51 per minute — or $5 per ride, whichever is greater — excluding tips, for the time spent transporting passengers in Minneapolis.
Supporters of the ordinance said the rate would ensure that companies pay drivers the equivalent of the city's minimum wage of $15.57 per hour.
Council Member Jamal Osman, who co-authored the ordinance, said in a statement: “Drivers are human beings with families, and they deserve dignified minimum wages like all other workers. ... the Minneapolis City Council will not allow the East African community, or any community, to be exploited for cheap labor.”
Many East African immigrants in the Minneapolis area work as Uber and Lyft drivers and have advocated for the rate increase.
However, a recent study commissioned by the Minnesota Department of Labor and Industry found that a lower rate of $0.89 per mile and $0.49 per minute would meet the $15.57 per hour goal.
Uber and Lyft said they can support the rate from the state's study. But if the higher rate from the Minneapolis ordinance goes into effect, the companies said they will leave the market May 1.
Josh Gold, an Uber spokesperson, said the company plans on ending its operations in Minneapolis, St. Paul and the Twin Cities metro area — including the Minneapolis-Saint Paul International Airport.
The metro area includes more than 3 million people, which is more than half the state's population.
CJ Macklin, a Lyft spokesperson, said Lyft will end its operations only in Minneapolis. Lyft will still service the airport, but will not pick up or drop off passengers at any Minneapolis locations.
Both companies previously pulled out of Austin, Texas, in 2016, after the city pushed for fingerprint-based background checks of drivers as a rider safety measure. The companies returned after the Texas Legislature overrode the local measure and passed a law implementing different rules statewide.
Minnesota Democratic Gov. Tim Walz said he is “deeply concerned” about the possibility of Uber and Lyft leaving the Minneapolis area.
Walz said the move would have statewide impact and affect everyone who relies on the service, including people trying to get home safely from bars, people with disabilities, students and others.
State lawmakers could pass legislation that would supersede the local ordinance. But Walz said the most efficient solution is to ask the Minneapolis City Council to work out a compromise.
Minneapolis City Council members could vote to change the ordinance, take it back completely or leave it as is.
Council member Linea Palmisano said she plans to continue voting against it unless it is changed. Palmisano said she has heard from many community members who oppose it, including students, part-time and low-income workers, hospitals and more.
Palmisano said she has also heard from drivers who do not agree with it and “are now at risk of losing their livelihood.”
Council member Robin Wonsley, the ordinance's lead author, said the ordinance's rate is “the right thing to do.”
“For far too long, this industry has exploited workers of color and immigrant workers for cheap labor. We have the opportunity and the responsibility to build a rideshare industry that is not based on poverty wages and exploitation," she said.
Residents in the Twin Cities metro area are divided — some support the ordinance because it will help marginalized workers, while others oppose it because they don't want Uber and Lyft to leave.
Marianna Brown, an Uber driver in her 60s living in a suburb of Minneapolis, supports the ordinance and isn't worried, saying other ride-hailing companies — and even a local driver-owned co-op — are planning to enter the Minneapolis market. Brown, a Jamaican immigrant, said drivers have been abused by Uber and Lyft for too long.
Arianna Feldman, 31, of Minneapolis, said she supports the ordinance and has taken close to 2,000 rides on Lyft because she doesn’t drive, has health issues and doesn’t have access to reliable public transit.
“I think it’s really shameful that these multimillion-dollar companies are holding us hostage like this and punishing communities for demanding a very basic right to get compensated correctly,” she said.
Jake Clark, 44, of St. Paul, is an Uber and Lyft driver and opposes the ordinance. Clark said he has never earned less than $25 per hour and has earned up to $75 per hour because he prioritizes customer service and strategizes which rides to accept.
Michael Sack, 34, of Minneapolis, also opposes the ordinance. He has cerebral palsy and serves on the Minneapolis Advisory Committee on People with Disabilities. He urged the City Council and state Legislature to find a way to increase drivers' pay while keeping ride-hailing services affordable.
“It is critical to keep the cost of rides down because people with low incomes, which most individuals with impairments have, utilize Uber and Lyft,” he said.
Trisha Ahmed is a corps member for the Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on under-covered issues. Follow her on X, formerly Twitter: @TrishaAhmed15
FILE- Minneapolis city council member Robin Wonsley speaks at a news conference on Tuesday, July 25, 2023, at City Hall in Minneapolis. The future of Uber and Lyft in Minneapolis has been a source of concern and debate in recent weeks after the City Council voted last month to require that ride-hailing companies pay drivers a higher rate while they are within city limits. (AP Photo/Trisha Ahmed, File)
FILE - An Uber sign is displayed at the company's headquarters in San Francisco, Monday, Sept. 12, 2022. The future of Uber and Lyft in Minneapolis has been a source of concern and debate in recent weeks after the City Council voted last month to require that ride-hailing companies pay drivers a higher rate while they are within city limits. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu, File)
FILE - Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz discusses the upcoming 2024 legislative session during an interview at his office in the state Capitol on Wednesday, Feb. 7, 2024. The future of Uber and Lyft in Minneapolis has been a source of concern and debate in recent weeks after the City Council voted last month to require that ride-hailing companies pay drivers a higher rate while they are within city limits. (AP Photo/Steve Karnowski, File)
FILE - Cars drive past City Hall, June 28, 2023, in Minneapolis. The future of Uber and Lyft in Minneapolis has been a source of concern and debate in recent weeks after the City Council voted last month to require that ride-hailing companies pay drivers a higher rate while they are within city limits. (AP Photo/Trisha Ahmed, File)
FILE - In this Jan. 12, 2016, file photo, a ride share car displays Lyft and Uber stickers on its front windshield in downtown Los Angeles. The future of Uber and Lyft in Minneapolis has been a source of concern and debate in recent weeks after the City Council voted last month to require that ride-hailing companies pay drivers a higher rate while they are within city limits. (AP Photo/Richard Vogel, File)
BRETTEVILLE-L'ORGUEILLEUSE, France (AP) — On D-Day, Charles Shay was a 19-year-old U.S. Army medic who was ready to give his life — and save as many as he could.
Now 99, he’s spreading a message of peace with tireless dedication as he’s about to take part in the 80th anniversary commemorations of the landings in Normandy that led to the liberation of France and Europe from Nazi Germany occupation.
“I guess I was prepared to give my life if I had to. Fortunately, I did not have to,” Shay said in an interview with The Associated Press.
A Penobscot tribe citizen from Indian Island in the U.S. state of Maine, Shay has been living in France since 2018, not far from the shores of Normandy where many world leaders are expected to come next month. Solemn ceremonies will be honoring the nearly 160,000 troops from Britain, the U.S., Canada and other nations who landed on June 6, 1944.
Nothing could have prepared Shay for what happened that morning on Omaha Beach: bleeding soldiers, body parts and corpses strewn around him, machine-gun fire and shells filling the air.
“I had been given a job, and the way I looked at it, it was up to me to complete my job," he recalled. "I did not have time to worry about my situation of being there and perhaps losing my life. There was no time for this.”
Shay was awarded the Silver Star for repeatedly plunging into the sea and carrying critically wounded soldiers to relative safety, saving them from drowning. He also received France’s highest award, the Legion of Honor, in 2007.
Still, Shay could not save his good friend, Pvt. Edward Morozewicz. The sad memory remains vivid in his mind as he describes seeing his 22-year-old comrade lying on the beach with a serious stomach wound.
“He had a wound that I could not help him with because I did not have the proper instruments ... He was bleeding to death. And I knew that he was dying. I tried to comfort him. And I tried to do what I could for him, but there was no help," he said. "And while I was treating him, he died in my arms.”
“I lost many close friends,” he added.
A total of 4,414 Allied troops were killed on D-Day itself, including 2,501 Americans. More than 5,000 were wounded.
Shay survived. At night, exhausted, he eventually fell asleep in a grove above the beach.
“When I woke up in the morning. It was like I was sleeping in a graveyard because there were dead Americans and Germans surrounding me,” he recalled. “I stayed there for not very long and I continued on my way.”
Shay then pursued his mission in Normandy for several weeks, rescuing those wounded, before heading with American troops to eastern France and Germany, where he was taken prisoner in March 1945 and liberated a few weeks later.
After World War II, Shay reenlisted in the military because the situation of Native Americans in his home state of Maine was too precarious due to poverty and discrimination.
“I tried to cope with the situation of not having enough work or not being able to help support my mother and father. Well, there was just no chance for young American Indian boys to gain proper labor and earn a good job,” he said.
Maine would not allow individuals living on Native American reservations to vote until 1954.
Shay continued to witness history — returning to combat as a medic during the Korean War, participating in U.S. nuclear testing in the Marshall Islands and later working at the International Atomic Energy Agency in Vienna, Austria.
For over 60 years, he did not talk about his WWII experience.
But he began attending D-Day commemorations in 2007 and in recent years, he has seized many occasions to give his powerful testimony. A book about his life, “Spirits are guiding” by author Marie-Pascale Legrand, is about to be released this month.
In 2018, he moved from Maine to Bretteville-l’Orgueilleuse, a French small town in the Normandy region to stay at a friend’s home.
During the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020-21, coming from his nearby home, he was among the few veterans able to attend commemorations. He stood up for all others who could not make the trip amid restrictions.
Shay also used to lead a Native American ritual each year on D-Day, burning sage in homage to those who died. In 2022, he handed over the remembrance task to another Native American, Julia Kelly, a Gulf War veteran from the Crow tribe, who since has performed the ritual in his presence.
The Charles Shay Memorial on Omaha Beach pays tribute to the 175 Native Americans who landed there on D-Day.
Often, Shay expressed his sadness at seeing wars still waging in the world and what he considers the senseless loss of lives.
Shay said he had hoped D-Day would bring global peace. “But it has not, because you see that we go from one war to the next. There will always be wars. People and nations cannot get along with each other."
People walk by a bunker in Longues-sur-Mer, Normandy, Thursday, April 11, 2024. On D-Day, Charles Shay was a 19-year-old Native American army medic who was ready to give his life — and actually saved many. Now 99, he's spreading a message of peace with tireless dedication as he's about to take part in the 80th celebrations of the landings in Normandy that led to the liberation of France and Europe from Nazi Germany occupation. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus)
The monument called Les Braves, dedicated to the American soldiers who landed on Omaha Beach on D-Day, is seen on Omaha Beach at sunset, in Saint-Laurent-sur-Mer, Normandy, Thursday, April 11, 2024. On D-Day, Charles Shay was a 19-year-old Native American army medic who was ready to give his life — and actually saved many. Now 99, he's spreading a message of peace with tireless dedication as he's about to take part in the 80th celebrations of the landings in Normandy that led to the liberation of France and Europe from Nazi Germany occupation. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus)
Students walk by a bunker in Longues-sur-Mer, Normandy, Thursday, April 11, 2024. On D-Day, Charles Shay was a 19-year-old Native American army medic who was ready to give his life — and actually saved many. Now 99, he's spreading a message of peace with tireless dedication as he's about to take part in the 80th celebrations of the landings in Normandy that led to the liberation of France and Europe from Nazi Germany occupation. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus)
This photo taken on Wednesday April 10, 2024, shows crosses of the US cemetery of Colleville-sur-Mer, Normandy. On D-Day, Charles Shay was a 19-year-old Native American army medic who was ready to give his life — and actually saved many. Now 99, he's spreading a message of peace with tireless dedication as he's about to take part in the 80th celebrations of the landings in Normandy that led to the liberation of France and Europe from Nazi Germany occupation. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus)
The sun rises on the US cemetery of Colleville-sur-Mer, Normandy, Wednesday, April 10, 2024. On D-Day, Charles Shay was a 19-year-old Native American army medic who was ready to give his life — and actually saved many. Now 99, he's spreading a message of peace with tireless dedication as he's about to take part in the 80th celebrations of the landings in Normandy that led to the liberation of France and Europe from Nazi Germany occupation. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus)
The sun rises on Omaha Beach in Colleville-sur-Mer, Normandy, Wednesday, April 10, 2024. On D-Day, Charles Shay was a 19-year-old Native American army medic who was ready to give his life — and actually saved many. Now 99, he's spreading a message of peace with tireless dedication as he's about to take part in the 80th celebrations of the landings in Normandy that led to the liberation of France and Europe from Nazi Germany occupation. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus)
This photo taken on Wednesday April 10, 2024, shows crosses of the US cemetery of Colleville-sur-Mer, Normandy. On D-Day, Charles Shay was a 19-year-old Native American army medic who was ready to give his life — and actually saved many. Now 99, he's spreading a message of peace with tireless dedication as he's about to take part in the 80th celebrations of the landings in Normandy that led to the liberation of France and Europe from Nazi Germany occupation. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus)
This photo taken on Wednesday April 10, 2024, shows crosses of the US cemetery of Colleville-sur-Mer, Normandy. On D-Day, Charles Shay was a 19-year-old Native American army medic who was ready to give his life — and actually saved many. Now 99, he's spreading a message of peace with tireless dedication as he's about to take part in the 80th celebrations of the landings in Normandy that led to the liberation of France and Europe from Nazi Germany occupation. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus)
A man walks on Gold beach in Arromanches, Normandy, Wednesday, April 10, 2024. In the background are the remains of the artificial harbor of Arromanches. On D-Day, Charles Shay was a 19-year-old Native American army medic who was ready to give his life — and actually saved many. Now 99, he's spreading a message of peace with tireless dedication as he's about to take part in the 80th celebrations of the landings in Normandy that led to the liberation of France and Europe from Nazi Germany occupation. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus)
A girl watches the monument called Signal, dedicated to the American soldiers who landed on Omaha Beach on D-Day, on Omaha Beach at sunset, in Saint-Laurent-sur-Mer, Normandy, Tuesday, April 9, 2024. On D-Day, Charles Shay was a 19-year-old Native American army medic who was ready to give his life — and actually saved many. Now 99, he's spreading a message of peace with tireless dedication as he's about to take part in the 80th celebrations of the landings in Normandy that led to the liberation of France and Europe from Nazi Germany occupation. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus)
People walk on Omaha beach at sunset, in Saint-Laurent-sur-Mer, Normandy, Tuesday, April 9, 2024. On D-Day, Charles Shay was a 19-year-old Native American army medic who was ready to give his life — and actually saved many. Now 99, he's spreading a message of peace with tireless dedication as he's about to take part in the 80th celebrations of the landings in Normandy that led to the liberation of France and Europe from Nazi Germany occupation. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus)
Men of the American assault troops of the 16th Infantry Regiment, injured while storming a coastal area code-named Omaha Beach during the Allied invasion of the Normandy, wait by the chalk cliffs at Collville-sur-Mer for evacuation to a field hospital for further treatment, June 6, 1944. On D-Day, Charles Shay was a 19-year-old Native American army medic who was ready to give his life — and actually saved many. Now 99, he's spreading a message of peace with tireless dedication as he's about to take part in the 80th celebrations of the landings in Normandy that led to the liberation of France and Europe from Nazi Germany occupation. (AP Photo, File)
U.S. Army medical personnel administer a plasma transfusion to a wounded comrade, who survived when his landing craft went down off the coast of Normandy, France, in the early days of the Allied landing operations in June 1944. On D-Day, Charles Shay was a 19-year-old Native American army medic who was ready to give his life — and actually saved many. Now 99, he's spreading a message of peace with tireless dedication as he's about to take part in the 80th celebrations of the landings in Normandy that led to the liberation of France and Europe from Nazi Germany occupation. (AP Photo, File)
FILE - U.S. reinforcements wade through the surf from a landing craft in the days following D-Day and the Allied invasion of Nazi-occupied France at Normandy in June 1944 during World War II. On D-Day, Charles Shay was a 19-year-old Native American army medic who was ready to give his life — and actually saved many. Now 99, he's spreading a message of peace with tireless dedication as he's about to take part in the 80th celebrations of the landings in Normandy that led to the liberation of France and Europe from Nazi Germany occupation. (Bert Brandt/Pool via AP, File)
FILE - WWII veteran Charles Shay, 97, right, and Gulf war veteran Julia Kelly pay tribute to soldiers during a D-Day commemoration ceremony of the 78th anniversary for those who helped end World War II, in Saint-Laurent-sur-Mer, Normandy, France, Monday, June 6, 2022. On D-Day, Charles Shay was a 19-year-old Native American army medic who was ready to give his life — and actually saved many. Now 99, he's spreading a message of peace with tireless dedication as he's about to take part in the 80th celebrations of the landings in Normandy that led to the liberation of France and Europe from Nazi Germany occupation.(AP Photo/ Jeremias Gonzalez, File)
WWII veteran Charles Shay, is pictured at his home Sunday, March 24, 2024 in Bretteville-l'Orgueilleuse, Normandy. On D-Day, Charles Shay was a 19-year-old Native American army medic who was ready to give his life — and actually saved many. Now 99, he's spreading a message of peace with tireless dedication as he's about to take part in the 80th celebrations of the landings in Normandy that led to the liberation of France and Europe from Nazi Germany occupation. (AP Photo/Jeffrey Schaeffer)
FILE — WWII veteran Charles Shay, pays tribute to soldiers during a D-Day commemoration ceremony of the 78th anniversary for those who helped end World War II, in Saint-Laurent-sur-Mer, Normandy, France, Monday, June 6, 2022. On D-Day, Charles Shay was a 19-year-old Native American army medic who was ready to give his life — and actually saved many. Now 99, he's spreading a message of peace with tireless dedication as he's about to take part in the 80th celebrations of the landings in Normandy that led to the liberation of France and Europe from Nazi Germany occupation. (AP Photo/ Jeremias Gonzalez, File)
