[lbo-talk] Taxi Alliance calls for cabbies to strike

[Joseph Catron]

(New York- WABC, August 23, 2007) - Leaders of the 10,000-member New
York Taxi Workers Alliance want cabbies to strike, and they've
announced dates on which they're urging the city's 13,187 medallion
yellow taxicab drivers to walk off the job.

If drivers heed the call, the strike would start at 5 a.m. on
September 5th and run through September 6th.

"We call upon on all drivers to stand in unity and demand to be
heard," declared Executive Director Bhairavi Desai. "And we ask the
public who drivers serve 24-hours to stand with us in our fight for
dignity."

Medallion yellow taxicabs serve over 800,000 riders a day, including
14,000 trips from the city's two airports.

The Taxi Workers Alliance says it's making the call for a strike
because of the Taxi and Limousine Commission's effort to equip all
cabs with equipment that includes GPS-based maps. The initiative will
also allow passengers to swipe a credit card in virtually all yellow
cabs.

http://abclocal.go.com/wabc/story?section=local&id=5597525