On Feb 10th, at the Wang Center in Stony Brook University, Prof. Biju Mathew, a Taxi Worders Alliance (TWA) organizing committee member and Assistant Professor for Information Systems at Rider University, gave a talk on the conditions of taxi workers in NYC.
Some of the conditions he described are outrageous: The 'yellow cab' medalions, with a market value of approx. a $1/4 million, are held by a few owners, that lease them to drivers on a daily basis for approx. $110 for a 12hr shift. Drivers then have to pay to stock the car with gas, i.e., they start their work day with a negative balance of something like $130. Then they try to make sure that after 12 hrs of work they actually take money home and not a deficit (which is not a rare event). The situation is worse when brokers lease the medallion and sell the car to the driver: this also transfers the cost of repairs to drivers.
Since the early 1990s, over half of the yellow cab drivers are from certain regions of South East Asia, 30% are Arab and Carribean. On top of financial hardship, drivers are frequently victims of racism, which occurred quite visably after 9/11.
In 1998, the Taxi Workers Alliance was formed. Perversely cold shouldered by the Taxi & Limousine Commission (TLC) for their organizing efforts, the TWA team called for a 24-hour strike. The strike was wildly successful. In describing the action, New York Magazine wrote, " Bhairavi Desai [TWA founding member] was the force behind the most impressive show of cabbie solidarity in the city's history." TWA boasts a 3,000 strong membership. Although New York City taxi drivers experienced a 50 percent drop in income after September 11th, they were systematically excluded from disaster assistance by government agencies and most private charities. In July 2002, in part through the efforts of the New York Taxi Workers Alliance, FEMA revised its Mortgage and Rental Assistance program eligibility guidelines to include cab drivers. The New York Taxi Workers' Alliance is providing outreach and helping thousands of eligible drivers apply to FEMA before FEMA's January 31, 2003 deadline.
Some of the conditions he described are outrageous: The 'yellow cab' medalions, with a market value of approx. a $1/4 million, are held by a few owners, that lease them to drivers on a daily basis for approx. $110 for a 12hr shift. Drivers then have to pay to stock the car with gas, i.e., they start their work day with a negative balance of something like $130. Then they try to make sure that after 12 hrs of work they actually take money home and not a deficit (which is not a rare event). The situation is worse when brokers lease the medallion and sell the car to the driver: this also transfers the cost of repairs to drivers.
Since the early 1990s, over half of the yellow cab drivers are from certain regions of South East Asia, 30% are Arab and Carribean. On top of financial hardship, drivers are frequently victims of racism, which occurred quite visably after 9/11.
In 1998, the Taxi Workers Alliance was formed. Perversely cold shouldered by the Taxi & Limousine Commission (TLC) for their organizing efforts, the TWA team called for a 24-hour strike. The strike was wildly successful. In describing the action, New York Magazine wrote, " Bhairavi Desai [TWA founding member] was the force behind the most impressive show of cabbie solidarity in the city's history." TWA boasts a 3,000 strong membership. Although New York City taxi drivers experienced a 50 percent drop in income after September 11th, they were systematically excluded from disaster assistance by government agencies and most private charities. In July 2002, in part through the efforts of the New York Taxi Workers Alliance, FEMA revised its Mortgage and Rental Assistance program eligibility guidelines to include cab drivers. The New York Taxi Workers' Alliance is providing outreach and helping thousands of eligible drivers apply to FEMA before FEMA's January 31, 2003 deadline.
posted by André Levy @ 12:28 PM
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