[NYTr] Pro and Con the Cabbies: NYC Taxi Strike

[All the News That Doesn't Fit]

sent by Andy Pollack

[First a great op-ed by NYTWA leader Bhairavi Desai. Below that a stupid
antistrike editorial, which however admits the TLC is rigged in favor
of the owners.-Andy]


NY Daily News - Oct 22, 2007

Op-Ed:

Why taxi drivers must strike

By BHAIRAVI DESAI

Thousands of taxi drivers are on strike today - the second time in six
weeks we have taken this dramatic step. And you've probably read news
reports that this is all about the Taxi and Limousine Commission's
attempts to install new Global Positioning System screens in cabs.

But the GPS screens are just one part of a much broader economic
struggle. For years, taxi drivers have been finding themselves at the
end of an ever-shorter stick - and nobody is hearing, much less
answering, their concerns.

Let's start with the much-ballyhooed screens. With all of the TLC's
boasting, you would think the new technology is the best thing since
sliced bread. But behind the hype is a crude system that does little
but return loud TV ads to the backseat, except now with the
"innovation" of an off switch. Riders rejected similar technology five
years ago.

Thanks to the new screens, drivers will suffer almost constant noise,
lost legroom and seat space, and will be forced to rest their backs
against a heated partition. There is also a new text message box they
will have to use while passing through toll booths and at red lights -
all so that the TLC can, for example, have the driver ask you if you
see a left-behind umbrella in the backseat.

Absurdly, the GPS units don't even provide navigation for the drivers;
they just track them to collect the number of hours they work and the
bookings they accumulate.

This intrusive technology will cost cabbies thousands of dollars per
year. Drivers will lose 5% on all credit card payments made through the
new system - including on tolls and tips. There is no minimum; even on
$7 fares, they take a hit. And there are bound to be other financial
losses to drivers when the system goes on the fritz, as it often does,
disabling the meter in the process.

The TLC claims drivers agreed to this system - but the city's own
attorney admitted in federal court that there was no such agreement.

But the GPS dispute is one small battle in a much bigger war against
the livelihood of taxi drivers.

I remember when one driver, Karnail Singh, died in an accident on the
job. The garage demanded a full day's lease payment from his partner,
Karnail's grieving son Paramjit. When another driver, Vivian, was four
months pregnant, the garage took back her car, claiming she owed money
from two years prior. There was no contract or even receipts to prove
that - and no one at the TLC to help her.

Those are two of hundreds of stories that, added up, show a power
balance fundamentally out of whack. Every day, drivers are told what to
wear and when to work and forced to abide by countless micromanaging
TLC regulations. Yet when it comes to their right to earn a decent
living and not be abused by the garages from which they lease their
cars, well, then, they're on their own.

Years ago, our industry had a commission system whereby drivers split
the bookings with the garage, didn't have to pay for gas and had union
rights. No more. Workers have steadily lost rights, money and power.

Next time you hop in a cab, think about this: The city's 40,000
licensed taxi drivers, the vast majority of whom are immigrants and
minorities, labor without health insurance or a retirement pension. We
have had only one fare increase since 1996. Yet because our financial
and political clout cannot match that of those who run the industry, we
have no voice on the nine-member TLC.

We have tried to get the TLC's attention through public hearings and
demonstrations, but our frustrations have only mounted. Drivers
ultimately believed they had no choice but to take this dramatic and
economically painful step of striking.

In the process, we hope to make our case to the powers that be - and to
our fellow New Yorkers, whose support can make all the difference and
improve the lives of taxi workers for generations to come. As we
sacrifice today, we hope you will stand with us for fairness.

[Desai is executive director of the 10,400-member Taxi Workers
Alliance.]

                              ***

NY Daily News - Oct 22, 2007

Editorial

Power to the cabbies

New Yorkers face the hassle today of getting around with fewer taxis,
thanks to a counterproductive strike called by the Taxi Workers
Alliance, the second in seven weeks.

The cabbies are justifiably angry that the Taxi and Limousine
Commission has placed the interests of fleet owners over the economic
well-being of drivers by forcing hacks to surrender 5% of fares so
passengers can pay by credit card. But disrupting transportation and
inconveniencing the public will only set back the cause of getting a
fairer deal. (Alliance head Bhairavi Desai explains her stand on the
opposite page.)

Instead, the alliance should take its battle to City Hall, where Mayor
Bloomberg and the City Council determine who sits on the nine-member
TLC. For too long, the panel has been dominated by the monied players
in the taxi industry - the owners of medallions, whose value has
tripled over the past three years to $600,000 each, and the agents,
brokers and financiers in the trade.

This bunch makes plentiful campaign contributions. They have gotten
their money's worth, while drivers have come up short. It's time to
change the balance of power. How?

Four TLC members are appointed by the mayor, and five by the Council.
In January, the Council-appointed seats become vacant. That's when
Speaker Christine Quinn must name at least one representative who will
battle on behalf of cabbies.

Although not a union, the alliance holds the distinction of membership
in the city's Central Labor Council. Surely, the CLC has many union
leaders who could represent the drivers on the commission. Some names
are being bruited about, among them James Conigliaro, an official of
the machinists union.

Giving labor a TLC voice would help avoid street battling of the kind
taking place over the commission's decision to put video screens, GPS
tracking and credit card readers in cabs. Whether the public takes to
the gizmos remains to be seen, but it's already clear that the
financial arrangements hammer drivers unfairly.

When a passenger uses plastic, 5% of the fare, 5% of the tip and even
5% of any tolls paid comes out of the driver's pocket to be split among
the credit card company, the GPS satellite provider and the cab's
medallion owner. That's a 5% cut drivers can't afford and shouldn't
have to suffer.

The TLC projects tips will be higher with credit cards, erasing the 5%
cut. The drivers should not have to bear the risk that the TLC's
prediction will come true, and the fee would be better placed with
fleet owners.

Striking is not the answer. The solution lies in gaining fair
representation in the halls of power. Quinn must give the drivers a
voice where it counts.