Shawdesh desk:

Uber and Lyft drivers who will receive a payout from a $328 million wage-theft settlement joined New York Attorney General Letitia James for a press conference after James’ office secured the settlement recently.

“They stole money from our wages,” said Lamin Jadda, who drives for both companies. “We worked hard, but the money was not showing in our wage.”

James said it’s the largest wage-theft settlement in the history of the office.

“Thank you for refusing to give up because together we won,” she said. “Three-hundred and twenty-eight million dollars that will go back to all of the drivers who were denied their fair pay.”

Her office accused Uber and Lyft of withholding drivers’ wages as sales taxes and black car fund fees.

“Drivers came to our union office saying there’s something off,” said Bhairavi Desai, executive director of the New York Taxi Workers Alliance. “Why is this money that we thought the passenger is supposed to pay? Why are they taking it from us?”

The New York Taxi Workers Alliance first went to the attorney general’s office in 2015, but says it only took action under James.

“Uber owes me $25,000,” said Malang Gassama, who is also a driver for both companies. “Lyft owes me about $3,000.”

Despite working 60 hours a week, Lamin Jadda, a Gambia native, said he only made about $500 weekly.

He’s expecting about $10,000 from the settlement.

“I’m going to help my family,” Jadda said. “And I was going to school but I couldn’t afford to pay it so I’ll go back to school again.”

“The first thing I will be doing with it is to pay my daughter’s college tuition, which means a lot,” said Ibrahima Gory, a driver for both companies.

Lyft will pay $38 million of the settlement, and Uber will pay $290 million.

In a statement, Jeremy Bird, chief policy officer for Lyft, called the settlement a win for drivers.

“We look forward to continuing this work in order to provide New York drivers the independence and full range of benefits available to those in other states, like California and Washington,” he said.

In a separate statement, Tony West, chief legal for Uber, said: “We look forward to continuing this work in order to provide New York drivers the independence and full range of benefits available to those in other states, like California and Washington.”

The settlement delivers paid sick leave and a minimum driver earnings floor — or the lowest amount of income drivers can expect. It also requires Uber and Lyft to provide sufficient hiring and earnings notices.

“We should be dealing with each other in an honest manner,” Jadda said. “So we work. They pay us, not we work, they steal our money.”

The attorney general’s office also wants to remind eligible drivers not to be taken advantage of by scammers.

They have clarified that only one company is handling the payouts: Rust Consulting.

Drivers can visit the attorney general’s website to apply for compensation.