Tuesday, May 21, 2013

I gave Bloomberg too much credit when I thought he was really out to screw the taxi medallion speculators by giving the recent fare increase to the cab drivers only

Yes, it seems now that this was a bargaining ploy to buy cooperation with some version of the Bloomberg taxi plan that got shot down in court. And to my wary eyes I see a deal going down, a deal at the expense of the taxi drivers.

The Taxi and Limousine Commission is mulling over a whole battery of new rules meant to even further the grip the owners have on the drivers, as though a sane person would have thought that the taxi drivers had too much clout against their bosses. The New York Taxi Workers Alliance is the group that some New Yorkers would imagine is the taxi drivers' union but is no such thing in reality, perhaps in aspiration.

They've mobilized a core of several score drivers and gone to TLC meetings where their presence seems to make the commissioners shy and so these political appointees are waiting out the core group, calling and postponing meetings on the rule changes, waiting for their chance to do their skullduggery without an audience.

Meanwhile the medallion owners are busily ignoring several rules already, confident that their drivers are so beaten down that there will be no formal complaints. For some odd reason overcharged drivers suspect that their complaints will be forward to their bosses who can make life pretty miserable pretty fast (note Louie DaPalma) and then leave them in the lurch.I cannot imagine why drivers would not trust the Bloomberg administration to treat them fairly and give them the protection of the law., .https://nytwa.org/


City Hall Steps Protest! June 11th 1:30pm

Make Victory Ours — We have the momentum! 

Thanks to the OVER 200 drivers who demonstrated outside the TLC on May 14th, the TLC lease caps vote was postponed again!  Our demonstration brought out the media and exposed the truth about garage/broker overcharges! 

Imagine what a Demonstration of 1,000 Drivers can win!

Brothers and Sisters … Come and Stand Together on the Steps of City Hall!

City Hall Steps Protest!
Tuesday, June 11th
1:30pm
Steps of City Hall

Take: R to City Hall or 4/5 to Brooklyn Bridge or 1/2/3/A/C/E to Chambers St.
Please Do Not Be Late.  You have to go through the security gate and the press conference ends by 2:30pm.
The TLC is now scheduled to vote at their June Public Hearing.
Mobilize for a NO Vote to Stop the Rules Once & For All!



<span style="color: #ff0000;">ACTION</span> – Click for full set of May 14th demo pics, taken by fellow taxi driver/photographer (Facebook)
ACTION – Click for full set of May 14th demo pics, taken by fellow taxi driver/photographer (Facebook)
 
<span style="color: #ff0000;">REACTION</span> – Click image to read
REACTION – Click image to read
 
Recorded by drivers, Thupten Norsang and KingofNewYorkHacks (Youtube)
Recorded by drivers, Thupten Norsang and KingofNewYorkHacks (Youtube)

 Download Flyer
Some of the 12 Proposed Rules:
  • Garage drivers pay for repairs • Every weekly driver pays for 7 shifts • Lease increase every six months if more passengers are paying by credit card – even though more volume and more new vendors means less costs for them • Lower TLC fine on garages and brokers from $10,000 to $1,000 for retaliation if a driver files an overcharge complaint.
This is absolutely UNJUST, and we will stand united and defeat this attack.
 NYTWA Submitted Comments on Proposed Lease Cap Rules (PDF)
Download Press Release from the May 14th Demonstration
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