[lbo-talk] NY Taxi Alliance to affiliate with AFL-CIO central labor council

Michael Pollak mpollak at panix.com
Thu Nov 30 09:19:29 PST 2006


[via Sam Smith's Undernews]

[First worker center group to do so]

http://blog.aflcio.org/2006/11/28/taxi-drivers-line-up-to-join-new-york-clc/

Taxi Drivers Line Up to Join New York CLC

by James Parks, Nov 28, 2006

They start each day $130 in the hole. They work 60-70 hours a week in

one of the most grueling and dangerous jobs around, all for between

$27,000 and $33,000 a year.

They are New York City taxi drivers, mostly immigrants from developing

countries looking for a better life for themselves and their families.

And soon they will have the backing of the 1 million members of the

New York City Central Labor Council. The council is expected next

month to make the Taxi Workers' Alliance, which represents 7,000 taxi

drivers, its newest member--the first worker center to affiliate with

a central labor council.

In August, the AFL-CIO Executive Council adopted a resolution that

paved the way for worker centers to affiliate with AFL-CIO central

labor councils and state federations. The purpose of the action, as

stated in the resolution, was to connect to the worker center

communities in a structured and meaningful way and to develop new

methods in partnership with these centers in order to expose abuses

and improve workplace standards in various industries to the benefit

of all workers--whether union or nonunion; whether immigrant or born

in the United States.

Half of the 200,000 taxi drivers in the United States work in New York

City, says Bhairavi Desai, executive director of the Taxi Workers'

Alliance. The drivers hope that by joining the central labor council

they can negotiate better benefits, especially health care. They

recognize, Desai says, there is power in being part of an

organization:

It took years for people to understand that taxi workers have the

right to organize. To us a working person is a working person. We

want to build our union. What can be stronger than workers who are

organized? We may not be in power, but we have power. And when we

unleash that power it benefits all people.

Under rulings from the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), the

drivers are considered independent contractors, not employees, and

therefore do not have a right to unionize and negotiate contracts with

the taxi garages.

But that didn't stop the taxi workers from joining together for a

better life. In 1998, the New York Alliance organized a one-day strike

of nearly 40,000-licensed taxi drivers. In 2004, the alliance won a

historic victory when New York City established the first-ever living

wage standard for the city's 40,000-licensed yellow medallion taxicab

drivers. The group also was instrumental in successfully negotiating

inclusion of taxi drivers for 9/11 federal disaster assistance.

Stewart Acuff, the AFL-CIO organizing director, says the Taxi Workers'

affiliation is an example of a very important way to build worker

power.

When workers are shut off from collective bargaining, it doesn't

mean they are shut off from building power. It's important for the

federation to embrace other forms of organizing and to support and

learn from groups, such as workers centers, that are organizing in

other ways.

Founded in 1998, the Taxi Workers' Alliance has chapters in 19 cities,

including Los Angeles, Omaha, Neb., and San Antonio. But New York City

is the main hub for taxi driver organizing. Desai describes what it's

like for taxi drivers who try to form a union:

This is a profession where you may not see another driver for days.

You work alone. You have top pay $130 each day to lease your taxi

and medallion. And you have to pay for fuel. So you start out each

day $130-$160 in debt. You have to make that much just to break

even.

If you take ill or get a bad fare, then you have to take the loss.

You travel long distances and expose yourself to danger. Being able

to organize under these conditions is testament to the courage of

these workers.

And it is a dangerous job. Last month, we noted a report from the

Chicago Tribune's Stephen Franklin and Darnell Little, which shows the

top cause of death on the job for foreign-born workers is homicide,

and most victims are clerks at gasoline stations and food stores--and

cab drivers.

Most of the deaths could have been prevented, the Tribune article

says:

A Tribune analysis shows that in 2005, when foreign-born workers

made up 15 percent of the nation's workforce, 188 were murdered on

the job, accounting for more than a third of the 564 workplace

homicides, the highest ratio since the government began keeping

track in 1992.

Much of this loss of life can be avoided with measures that are

both well-known and not costly, experts say. But protecting cab

drivers and store clerks hasn't been as big a priority as saving

lives on the factory floor.

It takes a lot of hard work to organize taxi drivers, says Desai, 34,

who says she grew up in a union household. "Reading my mother's union

newsletter was a family ritual," she says.

You hit the pavement, talk to the workers and build their

confidence. When you have confidence, there is no limit to your

vision.



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