Long lines show taxi strike's success

The New York Taxi Workers Alliance (TWA) carried out a two-day strike in New York City Sept. 5 and 6. While billionaire Mayor Michael Bloomberg and the New York Times attempted to minimize the impact of the strike, anyone familiar with traffic here without a reason to lie about it could tell that there were far fewer cabs on the roads of New York City during the strike.

Driver Loabon Duclair wants ‘dignity and respect.’ WW photos: G. Dunkel

Bhairavi Desai, the executive director of the TWA, said that 90 percent of the drivers honored the strike.

According to the Associated Press, the strike caused disruptions at times in midtown Manhattan and for arriving passengers at LaGuardia and John F. Kennedy international airports in Queens. Since it was during Fashion Week, the foreign press picked up some stories on the strike.

“The numbers can be spun as much as the opposition wants, but the reality is, the waiting lines speak for themselves,” said Desai.

The strike’s main issue was the Taxi and Limousine Commission’s insistence that taxis use a Global Positioning System (GPS) device. This GPS would not give directions but would be tied into the taxi’s meter and let the TLC track the cabs in real time. Cabs would also have to put in a credit-card reader and drivers would have to pay 5 percent of charges to the credit card company, the GPS company and the owner of the cab.

The Shahid family.

Cab owners have also increased the weekly rent on their cabs by $30, claiming this was needed to pay for this new technology.

Workers World spoke with Loabon Duclair, a driver for 10 years, who was picketing at Penn Station in midtown Manhattan. Duclair, originally from Cayes in Haiti, said: “This strike is about dignity and respect. Drivers do not receive what we deserve. There’s no reason to live without respect, and politicians do not consider cab drivers to be human beings.”

The TWA, which is an association, not a union, had nevertheless joined the New York City Central Labor Council in March and got a significant amount of support from the local unions during the strike. TWU Local 100 gave space in their building for a strike headquarters and the PSC/AFT 2334, which represents faculty and professional staff at the City University, got members out to join the TWA’s picket lines.

Desai said that if the city government does not modify the deal it is trying to impose on the drivers, there will be further job actions.