Arthur Jackson, president of the Taxi Commission and a prominent businessman and civic leader, died the weekend of April 8, a few days short of his 59th birthday. He had been undergoing dialysis for a number of years on account of kidney failure. Jackson was president of the Jackson Personnel Agency, which he started when he was 23. It was named Business of the Year by the San Francisco Black Chamber of Commerce in 1998. He served on the boards of many charitable and community organizations, including the National Kidney Foundation and the San Francisco United Way, where he was chairman of the campaign in 1995 and 1996. His numerous awards for community service included Citizen of the Year from the National Council of Negro Women in 2001. click here to read this article

Taxi Commission President Arthur Jackson died the weekend of April 8 after a long battle with kidney disease. A memorial service will be held April 30 at 2 p.m. in the Green Room of the War Memorial Veterans Building, 401 Van Ness Ave.

Supervisor Fiona Ma Wants to Eliminate Gate Control
Removal of Cap Would Allow Companies to Raise Gates
As High as They Want

Supervisor Fiona Ma has introduced legislation at the Board of Supervisors to eliminate the gate cap that limits the amount cab companies can charge drivers for leasing taxis by the shift.
The cap, which first went into effect in 1999, is currently $85 per shift, according to a legislative analysis prepared for the Board of Supervisors in connection with the Ma legislation. The gate should be reduced by an additional $1.50 per shift owing to the Jan. 1 expiration of a taxi industry subsidy to the paratransit program.
click here to read this article

A Short History
Of Gate Control
Supervisor Fiona Ma’s proposal on behalf of her cab company benefactors to end gate control would undo cab drivers’ main economic protection and steal away one of United Taxicab Workers’ hardest-won victories.
For years before the gate cap came into effect, drivers saw their gates go up at more than twice the rate of inflation. Gates were under $40 a shift in the early 1980’s, but had reached $90-95 by late 1998, when the Board of Supervisors enacted the cap.
click here to read this article

Update: Taxi Commission Reaches No Decision on Gate Cap Even though cab companies are backing off on their support for Supervisor Fiona Ma’s legislation eliminating the gate cap, on April 25 the Taxi Commission refused to take the hint and failed to approve a motion opposing the removal of the cap. Commissioners Paul Gillespie, Mary McGuire and Michael Kwok voted to reject the attempt to eliminate the cap. But Commissioner Martin Smith — elected commission president earlier that evening — and Vice-President Patricia Breslin voted against the motion. With Commission Min Paek absent and one seat vacant owing to the death of President Arthur Jackson, opponents of the Ma legislation fell one vote short of the four needed to oppose the legislation and send the supervisor a message to drop it. On the other hand, Ma’s cab company pals — who have contributed heavily to her campaign for State Assembly — must have concluded that getting rid of the cap looks like a no-go. Their new strategy seems to be to aim for a gate increase, along with a “fuel surcharge” to be added to the fare. But a fuel surcharge with a gate increase is not a fuel surcharge at all, since the driver pays for the gas. So the fight ain’t over yet. If Supervisor Ma does drop the idea of eliminating the gate cap, UTW would be willing to sit down with cab companies — as long as health care is a major part of the discussion.

Thinking Globally, Working Locally:
N.Y. Taxi Activist and Author Visits S.F.
By Ruach Graffis
Several months ago, UTW got a call from a group of drivers in New York who are trying to get a health care plan. They heard we were well on our way to that goal, and wanted to know how we had done it. That started a wonderful and profitable dialogue. On April 5, we met one of their organizers, Biju Mathew, in person.
Biju teaches computer science at Rider College in New Jersey, but his heart, and most of his energies, are devoted to the New York taxi industry, through the New York Taxi Workers Alliance. He has written a book about the NYTWA that finally focuses attention on the drivers, the people who do the work. Up until 2005, the book most often referenced about the taxi industry was written as a historical document about cab companies, by a former member of the New York City Taxi & Limousine Commission (TLC). Drivers were little noted, and not well regarded. With the arrival of TAXI! Cabs and Capitalism in New York City, our day has come. Part social critique, part history, part memoir, and an unabashedly political analysis, he reveals us to ourselves

click here to read this article Biju Mathew in the N.Y. Taxi Workers Alliance office.

UNBELIEVABLE!!! These people are heartless and immoral . . . drivers labor 70-hour back-breaking weeks with no health insurance, pensions, let alone SAFETY or Guaranteed Incomes! Meanwhile, owners are guaranteed super profits and bear none of the risks. Owners have the upper hand but they prefer to have drivers' necks. Truly Shameless. Drivers in every city in every corner of this globe need to organize and build up the union. That is the only answer to these kinds of lowly attacks on the dignity of working people! Bhairavi Desai Director, New York Taxi Workers Alliance

At the Taxi Commission
The Taxi Commission meets the second and fourth Tuesdays of each month at 6:30 p.m., in room 400 of City Hall. Special meetings may be scheduled as needed. The following is a summary of significant commission proceedings at recent meetings:
click here to read this article

Taxi Treason!
Taxi Commission Vice-President Patricia Breslin is helping to eliminate the Kearny St. taxi stand in front of the newly opened Chinatown Hilton. Hilton management seems to prefer limos waiting on their property so they can steal our fares.
Drivers: the white zone in front of the hotel is still a legal taxi stand. New taxi stand signs have already been ordered. If the doorman tries to send you away, do not obey. Stand your ground.
It’s simply scandalous that a taxi commissioner is openly working against San Francisco’s long standing ‘Public Transportation First’ policy by destroying taxi stands! Commissioner Breslin, it’s time to step down!

Commission Elects Martin Smith as President
The Taxi Commission elected cab company representative Martin Smith as its president at its April 25 meeting. The commission was without a president on account of the recent death of former President Arthur Jackson. Immediately after his election, Smith voted against a motion to oppose Supervisor Fiona Ma’s legislation eliminating the gate cap, even though the cab companies he represents said they were no longer pursuing elimination of the cap.
click here to read this article

Appeals Board Upholds Settlement On Veterans Corporate Permits When the Board of Appeals in 1998 upheld a Police Commission decision refusing to approve stock transfers of Veterans Cab, Veterans’ 25 corporate permits seemed destined for the hands of permit applicants. That’s because Proposition K of 1978 says corporate permits are void if 10 percent or more of a company’s shares are transferred without commission approval. click here to read this article

Contribute to UTW’s Legal Fund

UTW maintains a legal fund to pay the expenses of the appeals we have taken.

Checks should be made out to United Taxicab Workers. Please note “Legal Fund” in the memo space. Our address is 2940 16th St., Rm. 314, S.F. 94103.

Commission Approves Resolution
On Medallion Holder Disability
The Taxi Commission has approved new rules relaxing the driving requirement for medallion holders with temporary disabilities.
Under Proposition K of 1978, taxi medallion holders must meet an annual driving requirement, now defined as 156 shifts of at least four hours or 800 hours per year.
The Americans with Disabilities Act, a federal law, permits some flexibility in program requirements, but does not allow for elimination of a requirement deemed essential.
click here to read this article 

Commission Decides Against Adding Cabs
The number of authorized taxis in San Francisco will remain at 1,381 as the result of a unanimous decision of the Taxi Commission not to approve more taxicab permits. The vote took place Feb. 28 at the commission’s public convenience & necessity (pc&n) hearing, held annually to determine whether the public is being adequately served.
click here to read this article

Vehicle Standards Approved
The Taxi Commission has approved new standards for the service life of taxis. The rules are a simplification of previous regulations that had become complex and difficult to administer after several rounds of amendments.
The new rules drop a requirement that a vehicle be no more than four model-years old when placed in service as a taxi, but retain a 60,000-mile maximum for placing a vehicle in service. The vehicle may remain in service until it reaches 350,000 miles or until it exceeds eight model-years of age.
The rules require annual vehicle inspections up to 200,000 miles and semi-annual inspections thereafter.
London cabs placed in service before the adoption of the new rules will be able to operate for seven years, regardless of mileage.

thE SHORT linE
Taxi drivers vow to shut down LAX. The national call for a May 1 “Great American Boycott of 2006: No Shopping, No School, No Work” to demand full rights for immigrant workers and their families is gathering momentum. Organizers have likened the action to the Montgomery, Ala., bus boycott of 1955. May 1 is celebrated in many immigrants’ home countries as a day to commemorate the working class struggle and is marked with marches and rallies worldwide. In Los Angeles, taxi drivers have vowed to shut down LAX airport...
Taxi drivers unite against attempt to take away workers' comp. Arizona taxi drivers are asking the governor to quash a bill that will make them ineligible for workers' compensation if they suffer an on-the-job accident. The legislation exempts taxi companies from paying for workers' compensation insurance for its drivers who are independent contractors. Mansa Massaquoi, a driver from Tempe and the president of United Taxi Workers at Sky Harbor International Airport, said...
$425,000 for a medallion! New York's best-performing economic engine appears to be the yellow taxicab. Rich returns are embedded in the metallic medallions affixed to hoods and bodies of the city's taxis - which hit a record high this past week of $425,000 each. In just five years, the gritty medallion's value has soared 70 percent, far outstripping the returns of stocks...
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Post And Discuss Ideas Here! San Francisco Needs New Ideas !!!

Problems at SFO?
Taxi drivers who observe problems or have disputes with dispatchers inside the garage or at the terminal stands at San Francisco International Airport should contact the on-duty shift manager at one of the following numbers:
(650) 821-2700 or (650) 821-2704
Problems or complaints can also be addressed to Landside Operations: (650) 821-6528

Report Illegal Taxis
If you witness limousines acting as taxis or out-of-town or unlicensed cabs picking up in San Francisco, please report the following to the Taxi Detail: 1) date and time; 2) location; 3) license plate; 4) if a limo, the TCP number; 4) if an out-of-town cab, the company and cab number; 5) any phone number on the vehicle. The number to call 24 hours a day is 553-1447.

UNITED TO WIN is published quarterly by United Taxicab Workers. 
We welcome the submission of letters, photos and articles to be considered for publication.
Printer: Graffik Natwicks, 760 Bryant St., S.F. 94107.  Editor: Mark Gruberg