هام جدا.....الى كل الاخوة سائقي التاكسي بالولايات المتحدة!

Quote: More unrest in the taxi trade A recently approved pilot project will test the idea of having drivers operate as they once did — as employees with benefits and possibly even union representation. By Lornet Turnbull Seattle Times staff reporter PREV of NEXT KEN LAMBERT / THE SEATTLE TIMES Orange Cab driver Bashi Hassan, 34, waits for a fare outside the Westin in downtown Seattle. He objects to a new program that could change the taxi business. Ater Malath began driving a Yellow cab last year because he thought it would be a quick way to help pay his mounting bills. Instead, he found himself having to dip into his savings, not making enough in fares and tips some weeks to meet expenses — costly gasoline and a $400-a-week lease fee on the taxi. He gave the job up after a year. "You work seven days a week, worrying all the time about paying that lease," said Malath, a Sudanese refugee who lives in Tukwila. "It's the first thing you think about when you step in that cab each day. It's a lot of stress." Two years after King County Council members listened to drivers relate similar experiences about the daily struggle to earn a living wage, officials are looking at a new way to operate the region's taxi cabs. A recently approved pilot project will test the idea of having drivers operate as they did in the 1950s, 1960s and early 1970s — as employees with benefits and possibly even union representation — rather than as independent contractors, the way they function now. For the first time in nearly two decades, the county, which along with the city regulates the local taxi industry, will issue new taxi licenses — little decals, affixed to the back of taxi cabs, by which this immigrant-dominated industry lives and dies. The 45 new licenses were awarded to an association of drivers called Green Cab Taxi, which will use them to operate a fleet of hybrid electric cars across King County. Green Cab plans to have the cars on the road by January and the county expects the program will continue as long as is necessary to gauge its effectiveness. "If this is successful, it has the potential of moving this industry in this direction — pushing some of these [taxi] associations to the employer-employee model," said Laura Lockard, a county spokeswoman. The $60 million-a-year taxi industry is a complicated network of haves and have nots — in which those who own the 850 existing taxi licenses for Seattle, King County and airport cabs can command huge amounts for these coveted licenses. Some people hold a license but neither own or drive a taxi. And in arrangements outside the authority of city and county regulators, some sell those licenses for upward of $200,000 cash, and drivers can pay as much as $600 a week to lease them. But in an industry fraught historically with unrest, the county's plan has drawn criticism, with some drivers upset over the way the licenses were awarded. They accuse county officials of playing politics by giving the deal to a group of drivers who two years ago made campaign contributions to county politicians. "There are so many drivers who want a license," said Bashi Hassan, an Orange Cab driver. "They should have done it by lottery so everyone had a chance." But county officials say a lottery would only perpetuate existing problems, putting licenses into the hands of a few individuals who could then turn around and sell or lease them at huge profits. Under this test, Green Cab is prohibited from transferring the licenses — either selling or leasing them. "The point of the test is to give opportunities to those who have been shut out of the current system, those who have been disenfranchised," said Carolyn Duncan, spokeswoman for County Executive Ron Sims. "The political contributions are irrelevant." Tigabie Tekeba, president of Green Cab, said his critics' concerns are rooted in fear and greed. "Those with licenses don't want anyone else to have them; those who don't have them, fear change," he said. "People have operated as independent contractors for such a long time, it's a challenge for them to accept this new way." Wage plus commission The idea of cabbies working as employees is not new. It is the kind of arrangement that existed in Seattle and across the country before and up through the early 1970s. It was gradually phased out as many cab companies found it financially burdensome and believed they could do better leasing out their cars instead of employing drivers, said Craig Leisy, with the city's office that regulates the industry. These days, the city of Las Vegas is about the only big city still using the employer model. "We never changed ... ," said Kelly Kuzik, with the Nevada Taxicab Authority. "We think it's better for the riding public." Under King County's pilot project, Green Cab will employ 110 to 120 drivers to operate its fleet of 45 licensed hybrid electric cars. Tekeba said drivers must be at least 23 years old, insurable and with three years' experience. They will be paid minimum wage, plus a commission. Payroll deductions will cover dispatch, insurance and administrative fees, he said. The unique feature of this arrangement is these drivers will be employees with protection not only of the union contract but also of state law — workers' compensation, unemployment insurance and sick leave — "all these are things they don't now have," said Leonard Smith of Teamsters Local 117, which will represent Green Cab employees if they so choose. Immigrants make up more than 80 percent of the Seattle area's 2,230-plus licensed drivers. "Most drivers are non-English speakers, they have no job skill and their only option is low-wage jobs," Tekeba said. Clamor for change Seattle and King County separately regulate the industry, in which the licenses cover either city-only service; King County-only (including the airport) or dual city-county service. Cabbies have railed against the present system, which has capped the number of licenses at 850, bans cars older than eight years and requires all drivers to wear a uniform. They also complain about things outside the authority of regulators — such as exploitation by license holders who can decide without notice that a driver can no longer use his car. In 1990, the city and county capped the number of licenses, believing that too many cabs could lead to lowered standards and poorer service. Regulators believe passengers now have more options besides cabs — including for-hire limos and shuttles — making the issuing of new licenses unnecessary. Still, cab drivers have been clamoring for more, saying increased population and tourism have created greater demands in the 17 years since the last ones were issued. And Bashi, the Orange Cab driver who came here from Somalia eight years ago and has been driving a cab for two years, says rank-and-file drivers should have had an equal shot at any new ones. "What the county did is unfair," he said. It's why he and others are upset that the new licenses all went to Green Cab Taxi, whose two dozen members contributed thousands to the campaigns of local politicians two years ago through a different organization, American Taxi Association. They were later fined $4,500 by the Seattle Ethics and Elections Commission for skirting limits on contributions to a city-council candidate who supported issuing taxi licenses. Lornet Turnbull: 206-464-2420 or [email protected]