NYTWA to Launch Campaign for Livable Income & Health Care!

Press Conference WEDNESDAY, MAY 4th

@2PM @ 33 Beaver Street (TLC HQ)

Join our Press Conference on Wednesday, May 4th at 2pm at 33 Beaver Street (TLC HQ) as we submit our official petition to initiate rulemaking by the TLC for a 15% fare raise, with monies for a livable income and a Taxi Workers Health and Wellness Fund.  We will also outline our proposal for increasing service from Manhattan's central business district to the rest of the city and for street hail service within the outer-boroughs and Upper Manhattan.   

May 4, 2011 will mark seven years since our last raise.  Back then, gas was $1.80 and leases were $600/week.  Today, gas is over $4.15/gallon and the lease is over $850.  Meanwhile, 50% of taxi drivers are uninsured - double the rate of their fellow New Yorkers - and no driver is covered under state disability insurance or receives any type of benefits, despite working a job that requires 60-70 hour work weeks.  NYTWA's announcement for a fare raise proposal has already received wide media coverage, including a guest interview on NY1's Inside City Hall and editorial support from the New York Post. 

Our Outer Borough Proposal  

and the Politics of the Taxi Wars

The political wars continue over increasing outer borough street hail service.  We say it can be done without selling out the drivers:  first, set up taxi and livery stands outside subway stations, shopping malls and nightlife where the need for street hail service exists; second, require liveries to call in all pick-ups to their bases to register rides as pre-arranged; third, require liveries to post fare rates; and fourth, enforce against illegal pick-ups, especially in Manhattan and the airports where yellow cabs have no other source of income and post a sticker in all taxis:  "Only Medallion Yellow Taxicabs Are Authorized and Insured to Legally Pick Up Street Hails in NYC."  Enforcement will also increase the number of liveries serving the outer boroughs so there won't be a shortage in the first place!

We don't want more vehicles - medallion taxis or a new livery taxi - on our already congested and over-competitive streets.  And we don't want a plan that will only multiply the illegal pick-ups that are already crushing us and leaving a shortage in the outer boroughs.  Street hails are not feasible throughout the outer boroughs.  The city should maximize service where it is needed most.  By setting up stands outside of major subway stations, busy retail areas and thoroughfares, riders will find service quickly and drivers will find passengers without cruising aimlessly and burning fuel.  This also makes our proposal a more environmentally friendly, 'Green' one.  Stands are already used outside of main transit hubs in Manhattan.  Why would we not have them in the outer boroughs if there is comparable demand? 

The TLC's plan to create a livery taxi with meters and a distinctive color like our taxis will only increase illegal pick-ups as the new cars that look like us will operate on the streets like us.  And riders used to paying neighborhood-based rates will now pay an "indiscriminate" city-wide rate. Under this plan, East New York residents will pay the same metered rate paid by Bayside residents. 

The fleets' plan is even worse: sell 900 new medallions and require every taxi driver to complete one full shift a week only in the outer-boroughs.  They're happy to require yellow cab drivers to cruise aimlessly in the outer boroughs for a whole shift but, of course, they won't reduce the $105 - $129 daily lease or make up for loss of driver income.   Even liveries who have their cars for 24-hours (maximizing the best service hours), pay in weekly expenses what we pay in a day and have dispatched/pre-arranged calls, can't survive on cruising alone.  We would be destroyed.  The fleets' real end game is getting more medallions, increasing their already sky-high equity.  Meanwhile, their livery base owner friends - not wanting to lose their over thirty year-old privilege of flying outside the regulation radar - say paying more for street hail insurance will bankrupt them. 

Presiding over the war between the fleets/livery bases/TLC/ and us is City Council Transportation Committee Chair, James Vacca.  The TLC needs council legislation in order to act.  Mr. Vacca, who came out against a raise for us, has been meanwhile negotiating with the fleets in their quest for more medallions.      

Latest Media:  "Livery Cab Plan Hits A Dead End" [link to article]

OUR BOTTOM LINE:  A solution that ensures service to riders without crushing the drivers. 

Read NYTWA's full proposal and statement here (PDF).

Here's what you can do now:

• Call Transportation Committee Chairman, James Vacca, and tell him you oppose the garages' and Mayor's plans and you support NYTWA's proposals @ 718-931-1721 & 212-788-7375. Insist that he negotiate with the union and ask him why he thinks we don't need a raise at $4 gas prices.
• Join us for our City Hall Action Day on Thursday, May 26th! Speak directly with your representatives about making changes in the industry. 

Taxi drivers had a big legal victory when, on March 25th, the Second Circuit Court of Appeals decided our appeal in Nnebe v. Daus, a case concerning the TLC's policy of suspending the licenses of taxi drivers who are arrested -- not convicted of any crime, just arrested.  Criminal cases can take months to resolve, all the while leaving drivers with the unjust choice to either give up their right to plead their innocence or give up their livelihood.  The case, brought by NYTWA and four drivers, is being fought by attorney Dan Ackman, a long-time champion of drivers' due process rights, along with David T. Goldberg.  The court said there was little or no evidence that the TLC hearings do anything other than confirm that a driver was, in fact, arrested.  So, most of the district court's decision was vacated and the case was ordered for further fact-finding to determine what the TLC actually does at its hearings.  The decision made the front-page of the New York Law Journal.  Download the court's full decision here.

Almost 1,200 illegal street hail tickets were issued in March, announced TLC Chairman David Yassky at the agency's first public hearing, on April 21st, at its new 33 Beaver St. headquarters.  The stepped-up enforcement strongly urged by the NYTWA at private meetings with Yassky marked a dramatic increase over the average 300 tickets per month.

In a matter of great concern to medallion owners, new Owner Must Drive rules (the first revision since 1990) were proposed by the TLC.  Among the new requirements up for approval is a reduction of the owner's mandatory shifts from 210 to 180, far less of a reduction than the 90 called for by NYTWA.  Failure to meet the new requirement would result in whopping new fines.  Fines currently between $500 and $2,500 would soar to an onerous $1,000 to $10,000.  NYTWA promises to vigorously fight the planned fines.  A vote is slated for June at a hearing to be held in the Bronx (the first ever outer-borough TLC public hearing) at a location to be announced.  The Alliance urges all owner-drivers to testify.  

In yet another vital matter, while vowing to seek the elimination of illegal street hails, the Livery Roundtable, an umbrella group of livery associations, offered a complex and rather lenient livery base fine schedule in answer to the TLC's plan to fine livery bases $100 each time one of their drivers pick up illegally.  Pleading that people in the boroughs deserve street hail service, livery spokesmen shamelessly aimed to pull the commissioners' heart strings and largely seemed to succeed, although no vote was taken.

The next monthly public hearing will focus on a new fine structure for yellow cab drivers.  Fines would be less if pleading guilty without a hearing and more than before if found guilty after a hearing.

Council Divided Over Refusal Penalties

Declaring zero tolerance for refusals at an April 27th hearing, City Council Transportation Committee Chairman James Vacca (D-Bx) endorsed higher fines for violations.  The new fine schedule has been proposed by the TLC.  Under the plan, the fine for the first refusal would be $500 and $1,000 for the second plus a 30-day suspension.  A third conviction would lead to revocation.

Calling refusals an "economic problem needing an economic solution," NYTWA Executive Director Bhairavi Desai blasted the "scapegoating" of drivers.  She declared that the hefty fines and revocation essentially constituted "economic capital punishment."  Desai recommended the creation of group rides to destinations outside Manhattan during evening rush hours.  Outreach Coordinator and veteran driver, Victor Salazar, held a sign that explained that the 500 complaints filed in March (other months averaged 100-250) represented a miniscule 0.0000034 percent of all completed trips.  Organizing Committee Members, Beresford Simmons and Mohan Singh, movingly recalled their own incidents and those of fellow drivers who were forced to take passengers who had called them racial slurs.  Simmons, a driver of 35 years, began his powerful testimony asking Chairman Vacca, "I feel stomped on, beaten down, after listening to you.  Do we taxi drivers have any rights?"  He ended his testimony by announcing his candidacy for the next City Council election.

TLC Chairman, David S. Yassky, noted that higher fares were only part of the answer.  That assertion was echoed by panel members who suggested incentives for drivers to take trips to outer borough destinations.  Almost all committee members represent areas outside Manhattan.

Praising the hard work of drivers, Council Member Peter Koo (D-Flushing) urged the creation of taxi stands in the boroughs and other possible incentives for drivers.  Yassky said he was open to suggestions but declared that any bonus should be built into the fare structure.  Brooklyn Council Member, Darlene Mealy, suggested unemployed neighborhood youth could staff the stands.  Mealy, noting she would not sign on to the legislation, suggested warnings rather than fines.

NYTWA's complaint of overcharges by SLS Jet Management has led to a TLC investigation of the garage.  Another garage is facing a padlock summons (the city could seize their property for continued violations).  The charges were made by the union on behalf of members whose identities have remained confidential throughout the process.  NYTWA strongly encourages drivers to come in with complaints so we can follow up on your behalf. 

It was just two years ago, March 2009, when NYTWA won a number of landmark regulations to protect drivers against garages and brokers.  Before the new rules, only drivers could file complaints.  During the first almost thirty years of leasing, even undercover TLC inspectors or executive staff could not file an overcharge complaint against fleets and brokers.  Only drivers, left defenseless to retaliation, could file complaints.  Today, TLC inspectors can issue the overcharge summonses and NYTWA can file on drivers' behalf.  Also, drivers who file themselves are protected by a strong anti-retaliation rule: 

"An Owner must not retaliate against any Driver for making a good faith complaint against any Owner for violation of the leasing provisions in §58-21 of this chapter. "Retaliation" will be broadly construed, and will include imposing any adverse condition or consequence on the Driver or withholding or withdrawing any beneficial condition or consequence from the Driver."  Fine:  $1,000.  TLC rule §58-21 (j) Leasing a Taxicab or Medallion.

You can now make your license renewal payment on-line, speeding up the process for you and TLC. You still have to mail in a completed renewal form and any other documents requested by the TLC, as well as meet the other requirements in order to be renewed.  Money orders will still be accepted via mail.  All drivers are welcome to the NYTWA office for free internet use and assistance.  Pay on-line and save some time.  And remember, renewal applications are every two years, but the drug test is annual.  For any help, come by 250 Fifth Avenue!  Download full license renewal instructions here.

Celebrate the 13th Anniversary of our May 13th Strike with a performance of the brilliant classic, Clifford Odet's Waiting for Lefty.  One of the most important and acclaimed American plays, Waiting for Lefty takes place at a union meeting of New York taxi drivers in a heated argument over whether or not to strike for a living wage and better working conditions.  Sound familiar?  Written in the 1930's, it is a timeless story of the working-class struggle for justice, rights, respect and of the dignity and the heroism of taxi workers. 

Produced by the Portmanteau Theatre Company, the play will be staged at The Hartley House (413 West 46th Street, between 9th and 10th Avenues), May 8th - May 29th, 2011.  Performances will be Saturdays at 5:30pm and Sundays at 7:30pm.  Come out and join us for NYTWA's night on Sunday May 15th. 

In case you missed it, NYTWA was profiled for a feature story in the April 18th issue of New Yorker magazine.

Reporting by Lizzie Widdicombe

         While cabbies are required to allow service animals, stupid me thought that only meant dogs trained to help blind people.  But under a liberal interpretation, any animal providing emotional support could be considered a service animal.  At least one man was able to claim his iguana.  With the hope that the TLC would clarify its definition of a service animal, I sent the letter below to Chairman David Yassky.

Dear Chairman Yassky,  

         Holy cow!  We must not go ape, but not act like sheep either.  I, for one, can't bear this monkeying around with the definition of a service animal.  Doggone it, we no wanna iguanas.  Drivers shouldn't be sitting ducks for Mullings' Marauders.  Let these TLC inspectors eat crow or they'll descend upon drivers like a pack of wolves.

        Please be clever as a fox and wise as an owl regarding this whale of a matter.  Seal the deal.  Please, don't horse around.  Be a tiger, not a chicken, and you may find yourself lionized.  Oh, be sure to restrict the constrictors.   

                                                         See you later, Alligator -  

                                                         In a while, Crocodile,

                                                                  Bill Lindauer

P.S. Be sure to stop the vultures' lease hike plan (MTBOT's).  Don't be gull-ible.   

P.P.S. Can you imagine trying to get a service horse into a Prius?