I agree. I've been fighting this issue for many years. In fact this was a feature the very first issue of the Chicago Dispatcher. If you recall the city used to dump medallions on the street every time it needed money. We'd like to think with our pressure that we've had something to do with dramatically stopping it, thanks to Commissioner Reyes listening to us.
I'm glad the utcc has finally caught up with us on this. The last time I spoke with one of their handlers, they were advocating more medallions on the street. That's right. The people who created the utcc thought that putting more medallions on the street would be good because more people would get a chance to drive cabs. I actually let this guy know in no uncertain terms that I was against this. The example I gave him was that if I'm in a cabstand at a hotel and there's five cabs in front of me, I don't want to see seven! Glad the utcc finally figured out what we all knew intuitively for a long time.
2. NO FARE INCREASE,
We're already discussing this with the commissioner. The UTCC is jeapordizing a fare increase for the selfish motives of their handlers, not for the good of drivers. A fare increase should be at a time when we have a more sympathetic riding public. Let things smooth out with the economy and it'll be better for everyone. People are being laid off right now and looking to save money. Taxiing is not the cheapest form of travel!
3. UNFAIR CREDIT CARD ORDINANCE,
Our attorney likes this issue and wants to take it on and he will as soon as the AFSC stops distracting everyone with their nonsense. We need to get to work.
4. WIEDSBERG LAW NOT ENFORCED!
We already addressed this to Commissioner Reyes and she has promised to help us with this. If there is a driver who has been attacked whose attacker was not charged with a felony, let the Chicago Taxi Drivers Union know about it and we'll take it to Commissioner Reyes who will assist us with this.
5. SKOKIE AND BURBANK MUST BE METER & HALF AS IT WAS BEFORE
I think I agree with you on this. We did get our shared ride rates increased though. I think the whole meter and a half issue needs to be studied to determine what's best for Chicago drivers. There is a school of thought that says meter and a half is worse for us than straight meter because meter and a half invites too many people to call for suburban cabs. What do you think?
Goerge, you seem to agree with my concerns and you have said somehting like you guys have talked about these issues with her, but what is she doing, where is the proof that these are being dealt with?
Who is fighting to outlaw this credit card rules?
cabbies waste 5% each time, someitmes they waste whole money if the cards get declined at company cash registery although it worked on meter, cabbies are not given cash for the card receipts but instead made to wait weeks and then get credit only on leases not actual cash.
skoike and burbank must be meter & half, who is doing sharerides? increasing shareride is nothing. i have been driving for 8 years and during those whole 8 yrs, i have done only 2 or 3 sharerides.
