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United To Win
The Quarterly Newsletter of the United Taxicab Workers
Sponsored by Communications Workers of America, Local 9410
Volume XXII Number 3 Summer 2009
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UTW Sponsors
‘Driving Our Future’ Conference
By Bud Hazelkorn
UTW Chair
On Wednesday afternoon, Sept. 2, United Taxicab Workers will sponsor a conference
entitled “Driving Our Future,” aimed at developing concrete ways to strengthen cab driver
rights, survive the recession, and save Proposition K.
All drivers should plan to attend. The conference will be held at Mission Cultural Center,
2868 Mission St., from 2 p.m. until 6 p.m. Delegates from New York, Los Angeles, Oakland and San Jose are
also expected to attend. The Asian Law Caucus is co-sponsoring the event.
Topics for the open meeting...
click here to read this article
=================================================================================
Prop K Discussions Soon To Resume
Christiane Hayashi, the Municipal Transportation Agency's director of taxis and accessible
services, will soon be scheduling additional Town Hall meetings to discuss the sale of taxi medallions.
Previous discussions were put on hold after Supervisor Chris Daly introduced a proposed ballot measure
that would have placed the principles of Proposition K of 1978 in the City Charter.
Following Mayor Gavin Newsom's lead, the MTA included $15 million from the sale of taxi
medallions in its budget for the current fiscal year. But after hearing a huge outcry from drivers, the
agency's Board of Directors put the money in reserve. The withdrawal of the Charter Amendment clears the
way for the assault on Prop K to resume.
=====================================
Paratransit Debit Card Equipment Being Installed
After years of planning and much political wrangling, the paratransit program is
about to get a long-standing wish: a debit card system that will do away with hard-to-handle,
expensive-to-process, easy-to-cheat-on paper scrip.
Cab companies are currently installing city subsidized equipment that will accept
both debit and credit cards. That will allow the program to replace the coupons with a picture-ID
swipe card that should facilitate use, save money and help prevent fraud.
One casualty of the debit cards will be generous tipping by some scrip users. Scrip is
not supposed to be used for tipping, but it often is. The debit cards allow for a 10 percent tip if
the passenger wishes to add it.
click here to read this article
=====================================
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Bike Lanes Are Good
For Cab Drivers, Too
by Mark Gruberg
In recent weeks, the Board of Supervisors has given the green light to an Environmental
Impact Report on the city's Bicycle Plan, and the MTA has approved a slew of new bike lanes around town.
Taken together, these actions will mean more bikes on the road, and more potential for confrontations with
what many cab drivers regard as reckless, rude, self-righteous abusers of the road.
Let's admit, however, that the feeling is mutual, and that from their point of view, we're
the dangerous ones, navigating the streets behind the wheel of a mass of menacing metal.
First, because more bikes...
click here to read this article
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=================================================================================
Supervisor Daly Does an About-Face On Ballot
Measure to Preserve Prop K
He rode in on a white
horse, at the last minute, ready to rescue the damsel in distress. Then he rode out again, leaving her
trapped in the tower.
In this case, the damsel
is Proposition K of 1978, and the knight in tarnished armor, Supervisor Chris Daly.
On the day of the filing
deadline, Daly submitted a ballot measure that would have safeguarded the principles of Prop K in the City
Charter, thereby preserving the measure from the designs of Mayor Gavin Newsom and the MTA. The agency has
thus far seemed receptive to Newsom's call for the sale of medallions in order to raise millions for Muni.
In April, the agency placed
in its budget $15 million to be gained from medallion sales, without having held any discussion of the wisdom
of such a move, or its effects ...
click here to read this article
=================================================================================
SFO Seeking Replacement For
(Not So) SmartCard
The company that sold San Francisco International Airport the SmartCard system for taxis is
no longer willing to support it. As a result, SFO is seeking a replacement for the system.
SFO purchased the system from ERG America, Inc., and maintains a servicing agreement with
the company. The contract was to expire on June 30, but the airport extended it for two years while it
conducts a public bidding process for a new vendor. A Request for Proposals (RFP) is expected to be issued
by November.
From the outset, drivers have had numerous complaints about the system. In some instances,
money deposited in the machines has not been credited to the driver's card.
Henry Thompson, SFO's Assistant Deputy Director of Operations and Security, says this happens
when cards...
click here to read this article
=============================
Need Help with a Workplace Problem?
UTW has helped hundreds of drivers with job problems. Have you:
-
Had a job-related accident, illness or injury and want to apply for workers compensation?
-
Lost your job, and want to apply for unemployment benefits?
-
Paid a security deposit, and want to get it back?
UTW can provide counseling, referrals and, in some instances, representation for these and other work-related problems.
Call us at 864-8294.
=============================
Sherry Gendelman
Attorney at Law
Specializing in
Traffic & Criminal Defense and Personal Injury
421 Grand Avenue, Suite A
South San Francisco, CA 94080
(650) 615-0117
Fax (650) 589-3980
E-mail: sherrygendelman@aol.com
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Unlike San Francisco, where clean-air rules for taxis have been accepted
without a peep, New York City's and Boston's taxi industries have risen up against regulations intended
to green their fleets. Federal courts have twice sided with the industry against New York's regulations.
The city initially required new taxis to get at least 30 miles per gallon, but the court struck down the
rules, saying they were preempted by federal clean air laws. The city then enacted incentives for owners
to convert to hybrids. But in June, Judge Paul Crotty of the U.S. Southern District Court granted a
preliminary injunction against the revised rules. The city has appealed. A group of taxi operators in
Boston has started a similar lawsuit. The plaintiffs say they're not against hybrids, but don't want to
have to buy new ones, as the rules require. What's different about San Francisco? You can probably thank
Proposition K of 1978. Cab companies need to accommodate driving medallion holders, who like the gas
savings obtained in the hybrids.
Seven Los Angeles cab companies have failed in an attempt to stifle
advocacy on behalf of cab drivers. A judge in Los Angeles has dismissed a lawsuit against the Los Angeles
Taxi Workers Alliance (LATWA), the South Asian Network (SAN) and the network's Executive Director, Hamid
Khan. The lawsuit claimed the companies were “disadvantaged” by SAN's advocacy and its
participation in a “Justice for Taxi Workers” campaign. The judge ruled the case to be a
Strategic Lawsuit Against Public Participation (SLAPP), and threw it out of court.
Twenty cents won't buy much, but it can cost a lot. That's what National
Hockey league player Patrick Kane and a cab driver whose taxi he took are learning. The Chicago Blackhawks'
star — who made close to $4 million last season — and his cousin James were in Jan (or John)
Radecki's cab in Buffalo, NY about 5 a.m. on Aug. 12. According to the driver, his passengers started
pummeling him after he shorted them 20 cents change on a $13.80 fare, telling them he didn't have the coins.
According to the driver, they tore his clothes, broke his glasses and grabbed the fare back out of his
hands. The men were arrested on charges of robbery, criminal mischief and theft of services. But according to
news reports, Radecki has his own problems. After his drivers license in the name of John Radecki was revoked
for drunk driving in 1999, he applied for and was issued a new license under the name Jan Radecki. That
license has now been revoked as well, and he's under investigation for fraud. All over a measly 20 cents.
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