piece wages of cabbies?

Rakesh Bhandari bhandari at phoenix.Princeton.EDU
Fri May 15 20:59:25 PDT 1998


I am left confused by the strike. What percentage of collectively owned cabs are driven by the members of that collective itself. The owners or owners of the medallion are behind the workers' strike , right? Are the owners liable for any of the fines imposed on workers using their cabs? Are the owners worried that they will have to raise wages in order to allow workers to cover the new fines? Do the owners charge a daily rental fee or take a share of daily earnings?

If the latter, do they encourage unsafe driving to maximize the number of jobs? Are cabbie wages basically piece rate, encouraging overwork to turn out in unsafe conditions the maximum number of 'pieces' to increase the individual worker reward and giving the worker a monetary interest in increasing the length of the workday and intensity of labor to the manifest advantage of the owner or medallion owner but at the expense of the safety of both driver and passenger.

At any rate, this was not a strike against the owners over low wages, overwork, unsafe working conditions, no benefits, no paid vacation,etc, correct? Why not press for time wages and benefits equivalent to train and subway operators? Of course this would then make cab driving attractive to the native population and leave the immigrant workforce vulnerable to repatriation. Best, Rakesh



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