Taxi drivers rally for protections at City Hall after 5th suicide in 5 months

[JonesBones]

More than 100 taxi and black car drivers rallied outside City Hall Tuesday to call for tighter regulations of the e-hail industry after a fifth licensed worker took his life in five months, according to advocates.

Led by the New York Taxi Workers Alliance, a group representing licensed Taxi & Limousine Commission drivers, ralliers called for a variety of new policies.

They included a cap on the number of vehicles from ride-hail services like Uber, a requirement for those companies to follow taxi meter rates and new city services for yellow cab medallion owners struggling with expenses.

The rally followed the death of Yu Mein “Kenny” Chow, a 56-year-old Queens medallion owner and cabdriver whose body was found in the East River this past weekend, after he had been missing for more than a week. Chow’s family members have said that Chow was struggling financially to pay off loans as his wife was diagnosed with stage 4 cancer last fall.

“These are painful stories and heartbreaking losses that no words will heal,” said Austin Finan, a mayoral spokesman, in a statement.

Johnson, in a statement, said his “heart breaks” for the family and friends. The council leader will be listening to all sides as discussions on new legislation progress, his spokesman said.

“At the Council, we are keenly aware that new pressures on the for-hire-vehicle industry are causing pain and difficulties for many of those who depend on it for their livelihood,” Johnson said. “We are taking a hard look at what changes can be made to protect these drivers.”

https://www.amny.com/news/taxi-drivers-suicides-1.18833072

in related news:

San Francisco City Attorney Dennis Herrera has sent subpoenas to Uber and Lyft that asks them to provide information pertaining to how each company classifies its drivers (W2 employees versus 1099 contractors), as well as pay and benefits.

“The argument that these companies have tried to use in the past — that they’re just a technology platform — doesn’t pass the smell test,” Herrera said in a press release “People go to Microsoft or Salesforce for software. People go to Uber or Lyft for a ride.”

With the subpoenas, Herrera wants to ensure Uber and Lyft are legally classifying their drivers as independent contractors. If not, then Herrera wants Uber and Lyft to offer drivers minimum wage, sick leave, health care and paid parental leave.

“San Francisco’s laws help ensure that employers provide a fair day’s wage for a fair day’s work,” Herrera said. “Our laws also guarantee employees basic humane benefits like sick leave, health care, and paid parental leave. We are not going to turn a blind eye if companies in San Francisco deny workers their pay and benefits. We are not going to tolerate any company shirking its responsibility to pay for benefits and shifting that burden onto taxpayers when drivers without health insurance turn to the emergency room. If your company is valued at $62 billion, you can afford to give your workers health care.”


https://techcrunch.com/2018/05/29/s...-driver-pay-benefits-and-classification-info/

fuck tech

 

[Cubo de Sangre]

The only reason we'll still need cabbies is for tourists to score drugs.

 

[WaylonMercy5150]

No UBER in Vancouver

 

[Trotsky]

Chow was struggling financially to pay off loans as his wife was diagnosed with stage 4 cancer last fall.

JFC

A lot of really depressing realities of America packed into this story

 

[WaylonMercy5150]

JFC

A lot of really depressing realities of America packed into this story

Brother, have you read The Jungle by Sinclair?

 

[Trotsky]

Brother, have you read The Jungle by Sinclair?

Not since high school, but yes

 

[WaylonMercy5150]

Not since high school, but yes

I work with a local Socialism Party here in Mexico, but in the states the movement needs to grow and I think the youth are ready for it. The US just needs the working class to back it not the rich

 

[WaylonMercy5150]

Not since high school, but yes

I look up to the same guy as you.

 

[Trotsky]

I work with a local Socialism Party here in Mexico, but in the states the movement needs to grow and I think the youth are ready for it. The US just needs the working class to back it not the rich

To be certain, things are more desperate in Mexico.

I look up to the same guy as you.

Haha, yeah, I've been down to the Trotsky House too.

I have a love-hate relationship with old Leon, though. I wouldn't necessarily say I look up to him, at least not in the way I look up to guys like Sankara and Guevara.

 

[12ga.]

I look up to the same guy as you.

I wouldnt go that far. Capitalism with socialist undertones worked just fine for decades. This neoliberalsim spawning out of the 1980s isnt.

Do you know that Eisenhower a republican actually raised top marginal rate to 93%? Those day long gone. The richest people in the world pay less than 15% companies like Amazon pay zero and employ gig economy folks who use thier own gas and moms car to deliver.. Dog eat dog.

 

[Trotsky]

I wouldnt go that far. Capitalism with socialist undertones worked just fine for decades. This neoliberalsim spawning out of the 1980s isnt.

Do you know that Eisenhower a republican actually raised top marginal rate to 93%? Those day long gone. The richest people in the world pay less than 15% companies like Amazon pay zero and employ gig economy folks who use thier own gas and moms car to deliver.. Dog eat dog.

To be sure, though, that rosy era of social democratic capitalism here in the states also saw horrifying coercion and exploitation of Latin American countries for the purposes of the US economy. Eisenhower is a great example of that: a blue chip president on domestic matters and an absolute terrorist in foreign matters.

 

[aunshi189]

I'm not sure I see the link between a guy killing himself after his wife gets cancer and restricting Uber.

 

[12ga.]

To be sure, though, that rosy era of social democratic capitalism here in the states also saw horrifying coercion and exploitation of Latin American countries for the purposes of the US economy. Eisenhower is a great example of that: a blue chip president on domestic matters and an absolute terrorist in foreign matters.

I am aware of USA's imperial policies from beginning with Native Americans to now ... I read a people's history of the US.. Obviously that imperialism has no place but let's not throw baby out with bath water. Lot's of good policy was happening and built a middle class never seen before in history of man (maybe Inca Empire were close). Unions, business regs, reasonable redistribution so wealthy don't own everything.

 

[Islam Imamate]

JFC

A lot of really depressing realities of America packed into this story

I came in here poised to take a bit of a swing at these taxi drivers but reading that made my heart sink a bit.

I feel for these guys but I see them in a similar light as the coal miners and manufacturers. The economy has changed and is leaving them behind. The solution isn't to try and save their dying industries, it should be to try and help them transition to a new one. Of course for some of them, given their age and experience, that might be impractical so for those cases something else needs to be done.

The SanFran DA is saying that Uber and Lyft need to be responsible for their driver's healthcare and whatnot but I really think that's something that the state should be more involved in. Not saying Uber and Lyft and the like shouldn't face any newer regulations but I'll be more willing to support these calls when they come from the Uber and Lyft drivers themselves and not their competitors.

Haha, yeah, I've been down to the Trotsky House too.

I have a love-hate relationship with old Leon, though. I wouldn't necessarily say I look up to him, at least not in the way I look up to guys like Sankara and Guevara.

I feel I should read more about Sankara, seems like a very interesting individual. I remember he said something about foreign aid, something about how you haven't decolonized if you still wait for your colonizer to put food on your table.

 

[12ga.]

Should we be slaves to economy changing? Why are we here, for Wall Street? Why not institute chattel slavery again then? That would be good for Wall Street. Naw man you have to weight pros and cons of every decision. I think it bad having millions of gig economy folks who can't start a family, retirement, or even be that happy. Misery and destitution leads to all sorts of social disorders too. Crime drug use terrorism and so on.

I;m being hyperbolic on purpose just to illustrate where things are headed with fealty to bottom line.

 

[Trotsky]

I came in here poised to take a bit of a swing at these taxi drivers but reading that made my heart sink a bit.

I feel for these guys but I see them in a similar light as the coal miners and manufacturers. The economy has changed and is leaving them behind. The solution isn't to try and save their dying industries, it should be to try and help them transition to a new one. Of course for some of them, given their age and experience, that might be impractical so for those cases something else needs to be done.

The SanFran DA is saying that Uber and Lyft need to be responsible for their driver's healthcare and whatnot but I really think that's something that the state should be more involved in. Not saying Uber and Lyft and the like shouldn't face any newer regulations but I'll be more willing to support these calls when they come from the Uber and Lyft drivers themselves and not their competitors.

Well, I don't think we'll be holding back technology or efficiency just to keep taxi drivers in business after driverless cars become common.

However, while they are still needed as a relatively unskilled labor pool, we should aim to protect their wage standards in the same way we protected all other unskilled labor over the decades. Until we can get to a point where social democratic institutions are robust enough to allow true market wages (we are a long way away), it is imperative that the convenience of a commodity isn't considered to justify its dependence on slave labor: if our super-low cab fairs are because drivers are starving to death, then those fairs are too low.

I feel I should read more about Sankara, seems like a very interesting individual. I remember he said something about foreign aid, something about how you haven't decolonized if you still wait for your colonizer to put food on your table.

Great, great man. And, yeah, economic colonialism/odious debt was his thing. His creation of a self-sufficient Burkina Faso is probably the second most impressive economic feat after the USSR's modernization in one generation, but the former didn't rely on complete brutality and using citizens as machine fodder.

Also, his work on women's rights was a spectacularly trailblazing thing - not only as a matter of historical period, but also as a matter of regional culture. To have a Sub-Saharan African country become one of the most gender-equal countries in the world in a half-decade was truly unprecedented.

 

[Islam Imamate]

Well, I don't think we'll be holding back technology or efficiency just to keep taxi drivers in business after driverless cars become common.

However, while they are still needed as a relatively unskilled labor pool, we should aim to protect their wage standards in the same way we protected all other unskilled labor over the decades. Until we can get to a point where social democratic institutions are robust enough to allow true market wages (we are a long way away), it is imperative that the convenience of a commodity isn't considered to justify its dependence on slave labor: if our super-low cab fairs are because drivers are starving to death, then those fairs are too low.

That's generally pretty fair but I'll say that my impression of working for Uber or Lyft is that its expected to be a side gig, a way to make a little extra money off of your car. Maybe that's an excuse to exploit people but maybe over-regulating these services will kill their appeal for the drivers and customers alike.

Great, great man. And, yeah, economic colonialism/odious debt was his thing. His creation of a self-sufficient Burkina Faso is probably the second most impressive economic feat after the USSR's modernization in one generation, but the former didn't rely on complete brutality and using citizens as machine fodder.

Also, his work on women's rights was a spectacularly trailblazing thing - not only as a matter of historical period, but also as a matter of regional culture. To have a Sub-Saharan African country become one of the most gender-equal countries in the world in a half-decade was truly unprecedented.

I wonder what a guy like that could've done if he had the kind of time so many petty African dictators do in power.

 

[FacePunch]

Fuck taxi drivers. I hate them.

 

[The ScorpioN]

I look up to the same guy as you.

 

[KILL KILL]

Adapt or die.