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UTW Chair Fired From National Cab
By Thomas George-Williams

National/Veterans Cab fired me because I am politically active for the dignity of San Francisco's taxicab drivers. They used an outrageous newly made-up rule: "Drivers who drive brake pads down to metal have to pay $100 to replace the brake rotor."
I drove National Cab #561 for several months with the brake lights on and I shopped it several times for that reason. The shop never managed to turn the brake lights off. I had to drive with them on.
One night I heard a grinding noise and drove slowly back and shopped it. A week
later National/Veterans manager Jane Bolig informed me that I had to pay $100 for new brake rotors. Of course I refused to pay. I am the good guy who shopped the cab more than once.
The following week I drove the same cab and used this opportunity to inspect the brake rotors. National never changed the rotors. It was a scam from the beginning. Even with this information National/Veterans President Dan Hinds decided not to override Jane's "authority" and gave me a 30-day notice of contract termination with no reason.
Since than I have been scheduled on outrageous dangerous cabs. (See accompanying photo.) I guess they're trying to get rid of me even faster.
After driving nine years for many different San Francisco cab companies I am tired of this treatment. The moment we speak up they try to shut us up, intimidating, threatening and replacing us with uneducated new drivers. They use fear to control us. Cab drivers have a right to dignity and respect, we have a right to justice on the job.
I can come to only one conclusion. We have to start our own cab company. A real co-op, owned by all drivers and not just by medallion holders, like the hypocritical Yellow Cab "co-op" or DeSoto
Cab. A company that is a safe haven for active drivers, growing to be the future of San Francisco's taxi industry.
Cab companies that disrespect and mistreat your drivers: this is the beginning of your end.