UTW
needs
Your
Donation

The notice on the left was posted at Yellow and Luxor as the Board of Supervisors considered whether to raise gates and meter rates. The letter on the right was sent to permit holders to get them to	come to aBudget and Finance Committee hearing on the subject. In case you're wondering about “the lunatics” behind the “mad scheme” of a health care plan for all cab drivers - that would be UTW.

Companies Use Scare Tactics
on Drivers and Permit Holders Holders
It was as predictable as the rising of the sun: cab companies would take the low road in their quest for higher gates.
Yellow and Luxor each posted identical notices at their garages leading up to a crucial hearing of the Budget and Finance Committee of the Board of Supervisors on whether to raise gates and meter rates. “Because 'gates' have not properly been adjusted for inflation,” the notices read, both companies would soon begin phasing out the leasing of taxis by the shift in favor of monthly leases.
Monthly leasing employs far fewer drivers than shift leasing, meaning many drivers would lose their jobs. The leases cost about $4,000 a month if the driver purchases and maintains the vehicle, and about $5,500 if the company provides vehicle and maintenance. Many drivers can't afford those costs, which usually entail advance payment and substantial deposits. Monthly lease drivers typically work extremely long hours in order to meet the costs and earn a living.
Cab companies also sent a letter to medallion holders urging them to come to the hearing on gates and rates. “The San Francisco Board of Supervisors Budget Committee will consider ways and means to force the taxi industry to pay for a health care plan to cover all the taxi drivers,” the letter claimed. “The potential cost of such a plan is projected to be about $12,000 (or more) per permit every year.” The letter went on to say that the cost “would in effect wipe out the income that the average medallion holder receives each year.”
The scare tactics worked: a couple of hundred permit holders showed up for the final committee hearing on the gate and meter resolution. But health care was not on the agenda that day. The Board's deliberations on a health plan and how to pay for it are still some months away. During public comment, Supervisor Aaron Peskin told members of the public who came thinking the hearing was about health care to stick to the subject of gates and rates.
If the threat to drivers of long-term leasing wasn't intimidation enough, Luxor President John Lazar had another scare tactic up his sleeve. He told Luxor drivers that if a health care plan was approved, they would all become company employees.