Uber employees received a memo from their boss on Wednesday, saying he is cutting his ties with the Trump administration after days of protests and pressure.
Uber founder and CEO Travis Kalanick announced he is stepping down from the president's advisory council. The news came just hours before two protests were scheduled against the ride-hailing company here in the Bay Area. The protests were in response to President Donald Trump's immigration orders.
A protest was scheduled for Thursday night at Uber headquarters in San Francisco. Earlier Thursday, about a dozen protesters gathered outside the Uber office in Palo Alto to voice their concerns with the tech giant's perceived involvement with the Trump administration.
Grace Martinez helped organize the planned protest in San Francisco targeting Kalanick. She’s applauding the announcement that Kalanick will resign his post on the advisory council.
Another protester said they were making a statement.
"We need to tell President Trump there is a cost for your hate," Jeffrey Buchanan said. "This is what we need to see from Uber."
Earlier this week, Kalanick tweeted that he would use his position on the council to stand up for what is right. A statement from the company Thursday said in part, "Uber strongly opposes the president's unjust immigration ban, which is harming many innocent people, many of whom are drivers."
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The statement went on the say that the company created a legal defense fund to help Uber drivers who are stranded abroad by the president's new travel ban.
In his memo to employees, Kalanick wrote that joining the advisory council was not meant to be an endorsement of the president or his agenda.
