Limo Campaign Sparks City Action

Shivji Jayram rallies fellow drivers at City Hall during UTW’s March 1 protest against illegal activities by limos, town cars and others. About 100 cabs participated in the protest, circling the building and honking their horns.

Police, Airport, Parking & Traffic
Stepping Up Enforcement Efforts
United Taxicab Workers’ campaign against limousines and other vehicles acting illegally as taxis is starting to bear fruit. Every city department involved in the issue is taking steps to help end the plague.
Here is a brief resume of recent developments:
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How We Can Help Catch the Bandits
The Taxi Detail has requested drivers’ help during enforcement operations against vehicles acting illegally as taxis. Dispatch services have been asked to inform drivers when these operations are about to occur.
During an enforcement operation, the dispatch service will furnish the cell phone number of an officer on the street for drivers to call if they see a vehicle breaking the law. Drivers should report location and identifying information about the vehicle.
At all other times, drivers should call 553-1447 to report illegal activities. Give date, time, location, vehicle description, license plate and taxi or TCP number.

Gas Prices Hit Where it Hurts
Just when it looks like business is picking up a bit, the curse of the gas pump strikes.
As of mid-April, gas was averaging about $2.75 a gallon, with the cheapest coming in near $2.60. Yellow Cab, which requires drivers to top off the tank at the garage, was charging $2.89.
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Driver Health and Welfare:
A Vision for San Francisco
By Mark Gruberg
In late 2002, the Board of Supervisors committed the city to establishing a health care plan for cab drivers. United Taxicab Workers was the moving force behind the idea. Supervisor Tom Ammiano carried the ball, and cab companies, which were seeking a meter and gate increase at the time, went along.
The meter went up and cab companies got the higher gates they sought, but the health plan fell the victim of foot dragging. The board missed its Jan. 1, 2004 deadline for enacting the plan, and several subsequent deadlines have also passed with no health care in sight. But the Department of Public Health is now moving forward, and it may not be overly optimistic to hope that the plan will be up and running by year’s end.
The long delay has been frustrating, but it has given UTW members much time for reflection and discussion. It occurs to us that despite its enormous importance, health care is only one of a series of issues relating to driver health and welfare. There are also related but distinct questions of infirmity, disability, old age and retirement.
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Post And Discuss Ideas like this Here ! San Francisco Needs New Ideas !!!

Are you on the List?
By Brad Newsham
Any honest cab driver will tell you that one of the smartest (or the dumbest) acts of his entire life was putting (or not putting) his name on the infamous "Taxicab Permit Applicants List." (Disclosure: After 20 years as a driver and 15 years on the List, the author received his permit in January, 2005.)
Over the course of a career, a taxicab permit can easily mean $500,000 -- or even two or three times that amount -- to a cab driver. More than a few drivers have structured their lives around the hope of acquiring one of these treasures.
But many drivers are unaware of the existence of a new law that makes important changes to the List system -- and even those who do know about it often find it confusing. It's a whole new ballgame.
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Well, You Can Always Try Earplugs
Driver, what’s your preference as you negotiate the streets with your passenger? To have a pleasant chat? Listen to your favorite am-fm station? Monitor your dispatch radio? Or ride in silent tranquility?
Or perhaps you’d prefer to be subjected to a stream of audio advertising, repeated over and over again as long as someone is seated in the rear?
Not many of us would be likely to choose that last option — but, driver, you may have no choice in the matter. Not if you find yourself behind the wheel of one of the cabs Yellow and Luxor are equipping with “taxi kiosks” — an advertising and information delivery system that will subject passenger and driver to an endless stream of ad messages on a repeating loop. Control over sight and sound is in the hands of the passenger alone.
Last year, the Taxi Commission, over driver objections, approved a one-year “pilot program” for 200 of the ad screens. The vote was 4-3, with Commission President Arthur Jackson and cab drivers Paul Gillespie and Mary McGuire voting against. The commission’s other driver, cab company representative Martin Smith, voted with the majority to approve the devices.
Isn’t it great to lease your cab and be an “independent contractor,” so the company can’t control your workspace?
Say what?

‘Limo Action Week’ Catches City’s Attention‘
If workers in City Hall were hoping for peace and quiet before the March 1 Board of Supervisors meeting, they were sorely disappointed. About 100 cabs spent the hour before the meeting circling the building and honking their horns.
Police were at first tolerant of the noisemaking, but eventually asked drivers to tone it down. Most complied. After an hour of circling, some drivers seemed ready to go on for the rest of the day, but the protest concluded when the board meeting began. Half a dozen drivers then addressed the board about the limo plague during public comment.
The protest was part of UTW’s Limo Action Week, which included visits to half a dozen city and state boards and commissions. In addition to the Board of Supervisors, drivers spoke that week at the Taxi and Police Commissions and the California Public Utilities Commission. Drivers later testified at meetings of the Airport Commission and Municipal Transportation Agency.

TC Recommends Exemption
From Driving Requirement For Cab Company Employees
The Taxi Commission has approved a resolution recommending to the Board of Supervisors an extremely broad — but less than full — exemption from the Proposition K driving requirement for permit holders employed by cab companies in non-driving positions.
A court decision in a case brought by the permit holders’ association (PDA) authorized the city to “make some limited allowance, consistent with the strong policy of Proposition K favoring full-time operation of taxicabs by permit holders, for a permit holder’s leadership position in a taxicab cooperative” — a so-called “manager’s exemption.” But the commission’s resolution, adopted Dec. 28, would allow the exemption to extend to just about any cab company employee. These are the resolution’s main provisions:
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Commission Asks Board to Require
Proof of Workers Comp Coverage
The Taxi Commission has been trying for years to bring the cab industry into compliance with state workers’ compensation laws and court decisions requiring coverage for drivers. It now has asked the Board of Supervisors to enact a proposed ordinance that would require taxicab permit holders to file proof of workers comp in an annual sworn statement. Permit holders who fail to...
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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:
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UTW Drops Lazar Appeal — Welch Case Going Forward
On account of financial constraints, United Taxicab Workers has discontinued its appeal of a decision of the Taxi Commission awarding Luxor Cab President John Lazar two taxicab permits formerly held by his deceased father and brother. But our appeal of a similar decision involving the eight permits of deceased Yellow Cab shareholder Georgette Welch is going forward and will soon be heard in Superior Court.
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