TLC Hearing and Vote on New Rules – Thursday, June 20th!
Tell the City Council Delegates on the TLC to VOTE NO!
The TLC is voting on 12 new rules that would take away any gains Taxi Drivers made from our fare raise in September 2012 – our first one in 8 years! We are finally at a livable income after almost a decade. We are calling on all City Council Members to send a strong message to the TLC to not Sell Us Out!
Mobilize for a NO Vote once and for all!!
TLC Public Hearing & Vote
Thursday, June 20th
9:00am
33 Beaver Street
See Pics, Video, and Articles from our May 14th Demonstration outside TLC!>>
Some of the 12 Proposed Rules:
- Garage drivers pay for repairs • Every weekly driver pays for 7 shifts • Lease increase every six months if more passengers are paying by credit card – even though more volume and more new vendors means less costs for them • Lower TLC fine on garages and brokers from $10,000 to $1,000 for retaliation if a driver files an overcharge complaint.
NYTWA Submitted Comments on Proposed Lease Cap Rules (PDF)
NY1 (5/14/13): Taxi Drivers Speak Out Against Proposed Rule Change
NY Daily News (5/15/13): TLC wants drivers to pay for car repairs
NY Daily News (5/20/13): Agony of the Fleet: TLC offers little help to cabbies ripped off
Court Rules in Favor of Livery Street Hails in Outer Boroughs
The New York Taxi Workers Alliance hails the decision of the Court of Appeals in upholding permits to liveries to legally pick up in upper Manhattan and the outer boroughs. All passengers – regardless of which part of the city they are in – will now get a safer, regulated service and enjoy a metered ride. And thousands of livery drivers will come out of the shadows, making their lives safer and their incomes more viable. As a union of yellow medallion taxi drivers, we firmly believe that restricting and regulating livery street hails will finally control the illegal pick-ups which have cost us thousands of dollars in income for years. The overwhelming 85% of taxi drivers who lease will now also have a viable alternative for work. The two-tiered system has plagued our one city for far too long. This legislation offers the first forward-thinking solution to an over 30-year problem. We are proud to stand on the right side of history on this issue. Simply put, this is the right way forward. (Download PDF)
READ MORE on the Outer Borough Service page!
(Press links, radio interviews, + NYTWA videos and publications re: the Five Boro Taxi Plan)
NYC Taxi Driver Short Film Project >>
Electric Taxi Project – Be Heard!
The city and industry are exploring use of electric cars as taxis. Tell them and us what YOU think!
Take this short survey online 
(20 questions) which asks taxi drivers about double-shifting, how you take breaks, how you fuel your taxi, and where you park your taxi.
You do not have to give them your name or any personal information and it will only take a few minutes. This is important. We call on all drivers to make our voices heard! Share the link: http://svy.mk/11jmFKy
NYTWA is a member of the Mayoral Commission on Electric Taxis. Taxi drivers pay for the cost of fuel 100% – there is no “cost-sharing” and never has been one even when fuel prices escalated through the years. Any solution that can reduce the economic and environmental burdens of fuel should be explored and any exploration involving taxis must have drivers at the table.
Punching Bags No More!
Fleet owners have filed law suit after law suit against the TLC’s new rules since our historic raise in July 2012. Their latest attempt to evade the law comes from Gene Friedman, owner of 28th St. Mgmt/Woodside Mgmt./Tunnel, who is finally facing fines for his lease cap overcharges. And what’s his legal strategy? Cry victim to the media. His gas station charged $5.50/gallon during Sandy and his garages were charging 5% per credit card transaction, even after the lease went up $10/shift. He was even collecting 6 cents per trip for the Healthcare and Disability Fund even though the TLC has not authorized it yet.
Adding insult to injury: he’s suing to stop the Fund, even though no owner has to pay a dime into it.
It would be criminal if this publicity stunt gets him off the hook for abusing drivers’ rights.
All Drivers Come Forward! File complaints and tell your stories! We are punching bags no more!
Read more
Taxi Driver Protection Act – News
We will soon be back in Albany pushing for the Taxi Driver Protection Act, calling for a sticker warning against assaults on drivers and stiffer penalties. Taxi drivers are 30 times more likely to be murdered on the job than other workers. (Go to TDPA page)
Latest NYC incidents …
Livery Driver Stabbed in Eye with Umbrella, Dead (June 14th, 2013)
Yellow Taxi Carjacked in Manhattan (April 22nd, 2013)
A passenger assaulted the driver then stole the taxi and crashed it in NJ. (NY Times Report / NorthJersey.com)
Taxi Driver Assaulted at Broker’s Office (April 15th, 2013)
A member, Imanul Khan, was assaulted at his broker’s office. (Wkly Bangla Patrika / 24:00 mark in this video)
Taxi Driver’s Foot Fractured After Pushed Onto Oncoming Traffic [March 15th, 2013)
Taxi driver Mohammed Alam, 43, had his ankle fractured and the skin pulled off after a car scraped it while he was punched and thrown into oncoming traffic during an assault by a passenger. Read more
Is Your Garage or Broker Forcing You to Pay for Accident Repairs?
Report All Overcharges!
The latest garage/broker scam is to force drivers to pay for accident repairs. If you have been overcharged, call NYTWA immediately. There are many ways to defend your rights. If we stay silent, the violations will spread.
- Is the garage/broker still charging you 5%?
- Are they charging you a “late” or “shift excess fee”?
- Did the garage/broker make you pay for car repairs?
- Are you owed money on an insurance claim after an accident?
- Are they charging you more than the lease cap?
Stand Up and Stop the Robbery!
Call NYTWA @ 212-627-5248
All lease cap numbers INCLUDE the credit card processing!
The NYS sales tax ($4.77) is extra.
See TLC Industry Notice. Download Flyer
Hurricane Sandy Disaster Aid
If you have applied for Disaster Unemployment Assistance (DUA) or FEMA and need follow-up, please contact the NYTWA Office at 212-627-5248. If you are among the driver families that have been displaced by the hurricane or are living in the impacted areas, we are here to help with resources. (Read prior entries).
Big Wins for Taxi Workers
The New York Taxi Workers Alliance (NYTWA) had several big wins on the week of July 12th, 2012. The Alliance successfully mobilized city officials and the Taxi and Limousine Commission for a 17% increase in taxi fares, the first change since 2006. The Alliance was also successful in getting the TLC to create a new six-cent surcharge on every taxi ride, which will fund a new account to provide health care to the largely uninsured community of cabbies. Sealing those two victories with a hat trick, the Alliance got the TLC to eliminate a 5% charge that fleets had been permitted to deduct from each driver’s credit-card sales at the end of each shift. The charge, intended to defray back-office costs of credit-card processing after card machines were made mandatory in 2008, had become a large source of tension with drivers after credit-card payments soared. As if that weren’t enough, the Alliance capped off an already stellar week by securing new rules that stop lease overcharges by taxi fleets, and successfully imposing new regulations onto a segment of the taxi industry that’s been unregulated for the past 30 years. (NYC Central Labor Council)
Fare Raise 2012 Campaign Article Collection (PDF, Set 1)