Regarding the CIty Law requirement that drivers must submit records to DCS for review to determine an appropriate fare increase, Faarax J. w rote "What I suggest ... every ... cabdriver ... keep a complete and accurate record of your business for a month - how many hours a day you work, how many fares you had per day, the pick up and drop off locations of each fare, the price on the meter, how much tip you received, how much in gas you spent, how much in lunch you spent - take all that information, organize it into an easily accessible format and submit it to the commissioner and City Council. They have told us what they need from us before granting a fare increase. Let's give it to them and see what happens. Then, if they still don't want to act, we can explore other options."
OK, I'm doing it! Pass the word. Reyes wants 40 or 50 drivers with a week's worth of records -- a receipt for each trip and gas receipt as well as any other direct expenses incurred.
A "log" or trip sheet would also do. See above.
Badda bing!
Trip sheet or receipts, keep it honest. Don't ashamed if you have a slow, unprofitable shift. And don't be afraid that if you had a good shift, that it count against a meter raise.
In all my studies of labor movements and their reasons for striking, I have never heard of or read about an action by any labor organization in which a strike was used simply to "send a message."
A letter, fax or email is a much more efficient way to send a message.
Thumbs Up to the sacrifices made by the cab drivers for better working conditions. We are suffering from the cost of living and staying behind it. We have to depend on regulators as if we work for them. We pay for everything, and often cannot make our own business decisions , particularly in the investment of technology. Take a survey of the lives of your veterans, and you will find them suffering from ailments that aren't treated because of having no health insurance. Take a survey of the regulators and fleet owners, and compare. Don't give up organizing. We are all going to come together throughout this country, and end the exploitation in our lives. We have the same issues in Philadelphia, where I am from and been driving a cab for 20 years. We are not independent anymore. ORGANIZE, ORGANIZE, ORGANIZE!
In solidarity,
Steve Chervenka, member, Taxi Workers Alliance of Pennsylvania
