[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.