Transport Workers Solidarity Committee

San Diego cabbie strike likely to grow
http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/2009/dec/20/about-150-cabbies-go-on-strike/

San Diego cabbie strike likely to grow
BY DEBBI BAKER, UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER
LESLIE BERESTEIN, UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED DECEMBER 20, 2009 AT 2:21 P.M., UPDATED DECEMBER 21, 2009 AT 7:43 A.M.

Taxi cabs line up at Lindbergh Airport.

More San Diego taxi drivers are expected to go on strike Monday, joining striking Yellow Cab drivers who say they took at least 150 cabs out of circulation over the weekend.

Although drivers say it’s possible that 350 taxis could be out of service during the busy holiday week, the president of Yellow Radio Service put the number of cabs out of service this weekend at 30 or fewer.

“We have not missed a call or a customer,” said Anthony Palmeri, whose company handles dispatching and management services for the Yellow Cab owners.

Nearly 1,000 taxis have permits to operate in San Diego, and harbor police said yesterday that the strike by Yellow Cab drivers had not appeared to affect Lindbergh Field.

At a meeting of Yellow Cab drivers in City Heights Sunday night, a spokesman for the local taxi drivers association said about 400 drivers from other companies were expected to join the strike Monday. That could take about 200 cabs out of service because taxis that are not driver-owned are typically shared by two contracted drivers, each working a 12-hour shift.

The mass media and the PPA versus Philly Unified Taxi Workers Alliance UTWA Leader Ron Blount and the rest of us

http://phillylabor.org/truth-trial-mass-media-and-ppa-versus-ron-blount-and-rest-us

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Truth on Trial: The mass media and the PPA versus Ron Blount and the rest of us
Submitted by mica on Wed, 10/07/2009 - 9:07pm
in attacks on leaders mass media UTWA
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This Friday, Unified Taxi Workers Alliance (UTWA) President Ron Blount will stand trial in a court of law. Let’s hope that the courtroom is a more balanced venue than the mass media, which has had Ron on trial for quite some time. Case in point: The last time UTWA held a rally, hundreds came out to demand that the Philadelphia Parking Authority (PPA) stop their unjust practice of drive-by ticketing. While their demands directly affected the livelihoods of thousands of hard-working Philadelphia taxi drivers, the Metro “covered the story” by ignoring them and focusing instead on Ron’s trial, which was still months away. Their coverage, like so much other coverage we have seen in the last year, hid the very real concerns of many struggling Philadelphians with an individual distraction.

http://www.dailybreeze.com/ci_13150574

LA Cabbies plan City Hall protest today

From wire service reports
Posted: 08/18/2009 08:42:44 AM PDT

More than 100 cabs will circle City Hall today, beginning at 11 a.m., in a protest against what drivers call a "backroom" deal that awarded a $250,000 contract to a consultant assigned to help develop a new system regulating the taxi business in Los Angeles.

A spokeswoman for Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa conceded there were some "administrative issues" regarding the hiring of the consultant but said those would be addressed.

Gray Palmer of the Los Angeles Taxi Workers Alliance told City News Service that "for years, taxi workers have been complaining -- screaming, really -- about corruption and exploitation in the taxi business."

"Each time, the city failed to take action and now, when the city is to create a new taxi system, once again the officials cut backroom deals with industry insiders because they think no one's looking," Palmer said. "We insist that taxi workers must have a clear, legitimate vote in creating a new taxi system."

The alliance said Transportation Department General Manager Rita Robinson and Deputy Mayor Jaime de la Vega approved a contract with Nelson- Nygaard Consulting Associates without public hearings, bypassing the Board of Taxicab Commissioners and the Los Angeles City Council.

http://en.chinagate.cn/top_news/2009-06/19/content_17977053.htm

Cab Drivers Strike Mostly Ends in Qinghai
Most striking taxi drivers in Qinghai Province were back at work on Thursday, ending a four-day protest over a reported policy change that would shorten their operation rights.
About 2,690 cabs were running in Xining, the provincial capital, on Wednesday evening, and more than 3,000 cabs were taking passengers on Thursday, according to the municipal communication bureau, the public security bureau, and many taxi drivers.
The city has 5,116 registered cabs that run on odd or even days according to the last number of their license plates.
The drivers stopped work on Saturday after a newspaper reported on Friday that the province would cut their license periods from 12 years to eight, meaning most of their licenses would expire now or in a year.
Yuan Fuyu, director in the transportation department of the provincial communication administration, on Monday called the report "incorrect and misleading." He said the shorter period would only apply to new licenses, and that existing drivers would have unspecified advantages in renewing their licenses.
The old regulation stipulated an 8-year operating period for drivers. The city extended the period to 12 years in 2002 to reflect the odd-even plate number system.

http://www.insidebayarea.com/oaklandtribune/localnews/ci_12142737

Oakland Cabbies strike after owners refuse to lower weekly fees

By Tammerlin Drummond
Oakland Tribune
Posted: 04/14/2009 06:22:23 PM PDT
Updated: 04/14/2009 06:25:48 PM PDT

Driving a taxicab has never been what I would consider cushy work.
Drivers often work shifts as long as 17 hours. They sleep sitting upright in their cabs in airport holding pens while they wait their turn to pick up an arriving passenger. They are away from their families for days at a time.
It used to be a modest living, especially for immigrants whose skills back in their native countries weren't easily transferable to the U.S.
But with the economy in free fall, cabbies, like a lot of people, are facing tough times. Fewer people are traveling for business and pleasure so there are fewer airport fares. In the Bay Area, JetBlue and Southwest now offer flights out of San Francisco, which has cut into Oakland Airport cab traffic.
On Monday, the drivers at Oakland's largest taxi company, Friendly Cab, went on strike. About 30 drivers protested in front of Oakland City Hall. They were back again Tuesday.
They're demanding that the city allow them to purchase their own taxi licenses, known as medallions, so that they won't have to lease their cars from Friendly Cab's husband-wife team of Surinder and Baljit Singh.

SF Demo Mayor Pushes Privatization Of Taxis Hurting Many Drivers-United Taxi Workers Union Opposes Sale
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123915470679999637.html

U.S. NEWSAPRIL 8, 2009
Mayor Hails Taxi Revenue Plan
San Francisco's Newsom Says Medallion Sales Would Give Drivers a Valuable Asset

By GEOFFREY A. FOWLER

SAN FRANCISCO -- Officials are weighing a proposal to generate as much as $56 million in new revenue by selling, rather than giving away, the city's limited number of taxi permits known as medallions.

Mayor Gavin Newsom is promoting the move as a financial necessity with the city facing a projected $129 million budget shortfall for public transportation. But the proposal has divided the local taxicab industry.

Facing a steep budget shortfall, San Francisco lawmakers are weighing the idea of charging taxi drivers for medallions, a move that could raise as much as $56 million for city coffers. But drivers are worried.
Some say forcing its largely immigrant ranks of drivers to pay for medallions would overburden them with debt. But proponents argue that the plan would let drivers buy a stake in a valuable asset they could ultimately sell.

San Francisco has for more than 30 years issued its limited number of medallions -- currently 1,500 -- for a nominal fee to longtime cab drivers on a first-come, first-served basis. Drivers often spend more than 15 years on a waiting list for a medallion, but once they get one they can rent it out part-time to taxi companies for around $2,000 a month, and can do so as long as they continue to drive themselves. Companies then charge non-medallion drivers about $100 a day to rent a medallion.

Female KTX rail attendants win ruling on injunction
Court says Korail is the attendants’ real employer, but long court battle for their reinstatement is likely to follow

» KTX attendants urge Korail protest at Seoul Station on September 11. The women, who are irregular workers employed by a company called Korail Retail, want Korail to directly hire them as employees. Recently, the court accepted the women’s application for an injunction against Korail, finding that Korail is their actual employer and Korail Retail is just a division of the company.

A court ruling has said that the Korea Railroad Corporation, or Korail, is the real employer of the KTX female attendant crew. Following verdicts in previous criminal cases, the court has now clearly taken the side of the KTX female attendants in the case to determine “worker status” as well. As a result, attention is focusing on whether a first step will be provided toward solving a problem that has dragged on for over 1,000 days.

The Seoul Central District Court’s 50th civil agreements division (Judge Lee Dong-myeong) accepted an application for an injunction Tuesday submitted by 34 female KTX attendants, including Oh Mi-sun, who was fired in 2006. The injunction was filed against Korail and demanded that they acknowledge being the real employers of the female attendants and pay wages.

http://www.sfbg.com/entry.php?entry_id=6863&catid=&volume_id=317&issue_id=390&volume_num=42&issue_num=45

Cash from cabbies

Yellow Cab pushes driver prepayment plan that city officials say is illegal

By Maria Dinzeo

› news@sfbg.com

The largest taxicab company in San Francisco is trying to squeeze more money from its drivers, who say they're already being hit hard by increased gate fees and rising fuel costs.

Yellow Cab has ordered its drivers to prepay for the privilege of driving each month, amounting to thousands of dollars for full-time drivers. Compounding that financial hardship is the apparent intention of the company to use prepaid gate fees to change the employment status of its drivers from employees to independent contractors who are no longer entitled to unemployment insurance and workers' compensation coverage.

While local officials say Yellow Cab's new policy is illegal, they have little power to compel the company to abandon the plan, which was supposed to go into effect Aug. 15 but has now been moved to December under pressure from city officials and the United Taxicab Workers union. Drivers are also threatening to bring legal action to stop Yellow Cab, relying on a past ruling barring the company from requiring deposits from its drivers and misclassifying drivers as independent contractors.

Bob Egelko, San Francisco Chronicle Staff Writer, Wednesday, January 9, 2008

Taxi drivers working for Oakland's Friendly Cab Co. have the right to unionize, a federal appeals court ruled Tuesday, more than five years after the cabbies first tried to form a union.

The drivers are employees rather than independent contractors, and therefore are covered by collective bargaining rules under federal law, said the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco. Although drivers lease their taxis from Friendly Cab and keep all fares and tips, the court said the company acts as an employer in controlling most aspects of their work.

The company's 90 to 100 drivers have been seeking union representation since 2002, when a National Labor Relations Board hearing officer ordered a union election and the company appealed, said Caren Sencer, attorney for the East Bay Taxi Drivers Association, a Teamsters affiliate.

"When it takes over five years and a federal court to let an employer know you have the right to organize, something has to change," Sencer said.

Dear Friends,

Taxi workers are going out on our third strike! Support the New York Taxi Workers Alliance as we prepare for our upcoming October 22nd 24-hour Strike and 12noon demonstration at TLC Headquarters at 40 Rector St. to protest the GPS tracking, and to demand the right to health care, a retirement pension, and union recognition for all drivers

This is a historic moment in our struggle for justice and equity for 43,000 license holders. We have been organizing without a strike fund, mandatory membership and dues, operational support or collective bargaining which would require the bosses to come to the table and negotiate in good faith. Our strikes have become the building blocks to an independent union. We're looking for volunteers of all types, whether you have lots of time or only a little, whether you can help for months or just one day. Volunteer to hand out fliers, make phone calls to update our members, help us keep our office running smoothly, and more

For more information or to sign-up to volunteer

please contact Kavita Mehra at kavitamehra@gmail.com

You can reach New York Taxi Workers Alliance at 212-627-5248

The Taxi and Limousine Commission has refused to listen to the tens of thousands of strikers of September who sacrificed not only two days hard-earned income, but operating expenses which drivers pay up front to the bosses to lease the taxi and medallion for the shift. Rather than health care, retirement pension, an 8-hour work day or livable income, the Taxi and Limousine Commission would rather require costly equipment to track drivers and force riders to listen to ads on TV monitors in the backseat. The monitors heat up the partition against the driver's back for 12 hours. Drivers will also lose 5% of the fare, including tolls and tips, on every credit card transaction