(Bloomberg) -- Uber drivers plan a strike outside the company’sNew York City offices Monday to protest price cuts.

Last week Uber Technologies Inc., the ride-hailing leader,reduced its uberX rates in New York City by 15%. A trip fromMidtown to LaGuardia Airport is now $37.12, compared with $43.67before.

The lower fares mean drivers don’t have as much down timebetween trips, said Matthew Wing, an Uber spokesman. Over theweekend, drivers spent 39% less time without a fare and as a resultsaw a 20% increase in hourly earnings compared with two weekendsearlier, Wing said.

"We expect this positive trend to continue, but if for anyreason the price cuts are not giving drivers more business andbetter earnings, we will consider changing them as we have in othercities," Wing said.

More than 1,000 people are expected to show up outside of Uber’sLong Island City, New York, headquarters at noon, according toPix11 news.

“It took me a lot of time and hassle and nerves and stress tomake the same amount of money I did in previous weeks, ” saidFarrukh Khamdamov, a driver with Uber for a year who spearheaded anonline campaign for the strike.

Khamdamov said it now takes five trips to make $20 whereasbefore the fare cut he could make that amount in two rides.

Last month, San Francisco-based Uber reduced rates by 10% to 45%in 100 cities across North America in an effort to increase demandin demandduring the winter slump.

In North America, Uber has come closer to profitability, evenwith lower fares, in large part by taking a bigger proportion ofdriver’s wages. The company now pockets as much as 30% of adriver’s fares, up from 20% two years ago. Over the first threequarters of 2015, Uber lost $1.7 billion on $1.2 billion ofrevenue.

Uber and Lyft have been criticized for a business model that’sbuilt on contractors, who typically pay their own expenses andaren’t protected by minimum wage and overtime laws. The companiesdon’t pay for drivers’ unemployment insurance, workers compensationor Social Security. Uber may have to change strategies if driversare able to win rights as employees or form unions.

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