Back in the 60's my cousin drove cab for the Yakima Yellow Cab
Company. Back then drivers wanting to make a living, drove 6 days a
week and ten hour shifts. My cousin found that he was sitting around
munching his way to a fat, early end, and left for a job with the City
Utilities District. For several years he read meters, walking an 8
hour shift, 5 days a week, with benefits. One of the benefits was
that he lost the fat he'd put on while waiting for cab fares.
But why do we think Uber is going to do better by their drivers? Why
not try to bring back collective bargaining? A drivers union? One in
which all drivers are involved if they wish to drive? A collective
power base that insists on participation and in which the leadership
is shouldered by all members, not just by a union president. A group
that makes decisions and then tells its spokespersons what to bargain
for. I was shocked years back when I read in the paper where the
Boeing Machinists Union President was given a big raise prior to the
president taking the members demands before the Boeing Management.
The Union came up on the losing side that year. But the president was
secure in his job. I would have thought that the members would have
told the union president that once he'd secured their new favorable
contract, they would vote on his salary increase. But what I really
saw was that the members had given away their authority and allowed
the president to dictate to them. Just like the company.
This is what we earn when we are unwilling to be fully involved in our
own well being.
Carl Jarvis
On 7/22/15, Frank Ventura <frank.ventura@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
Bob, I drove a cab in the Bronx and Manhattan duringthe early 90s. It was
pretty simple I paid the daily rate to use the cab (started at $60 and I
think it was $90 by the time I stopped) and was paid 10 percent of my fares
plus tips. There wasn't any paid vacation or health insurance. If I was
having a good day and could hustle I could voer the cost of the car with my
10 percent pay and my tips were the profit. Back then all that was required
was a class E chaufers license. Later on I got my "big break" and got the
opportunity to drive and work on tow trucks where there was still no health
insurance but I got two weeks vacation (same as I get now).
Frank
-----Original Message-----
From: blind-democracy-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
[mailto:blind-democracy-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Bob Hachey
Sent: Sunday, July 19, 2015 10:24 AM
To: blind-democracy@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [blind-democracy] Re: uber fined in cal partially for violating
ada
Hi Miriam and all,
No question about it; life is and has been deteriorating from a financial
perspective for the majority of Americans over the last 30 years. I'm
skeptical of how good working conditions are for the average traditional
taxi driver. I'd say that any guaranteed income is minimal and the bulk of
income is based upon tips and trips driven. I doubt that many taxi drivers
get paid vacation. They probably do get some sort of healthcare coverage.
It
sounds like Frank was once a taxi driver; if so, then perhaps he can
enlighten us further. Already, from what he has said, working as a taxi
driver appears to be no picnic.
Information on the Uber site suggests that they are doing background checks
on their drivers. I would be interested in a comparative analysis of
background checks done by companies like Uber VS. those done by traditional
taxi companies.
Finally, I just learned this morning that the Massachusetts Attorney
general
is looking into complaints against Uber for disability-related
discrimination. No question that local and state governments ought to be
vigorously investigating all such discrimination whether the perpetrator is
a ride sharing company like Lyft or Uber or a traditional taxi company.
Bob Hachey
