“Billionaire tech bosses underestimate workers at their own peril,” said Bhairavi Desai, the executive director of the New York Taxi Workers Alliance. 🔥🔥🔥
https://t.co/8yVvK6qhCd
🤬 No-good, terrible, reckless, heartless, cruel Uber has sued to stop Local Law 52 (Intro 276), the historic just cause protections NYTWA members won to stop unfair deactivations by Uber and Lyft.
Uber — the same behemoth corporation that treats drivers and their families as expendable, whose unfair deactivations leave drivers devastated — now cries victim in their nonsense suit.
According to Uber, the grass is blue and the sky is green and Uber is the sufferer and drivers the oppressors.
These multi-billionaire gig lords, in their upside down world, claim that the Local Law 52 should be put on hold and drivers should instead use the useless, corporate-controlled process of Uber’s company union, the IDG.
Uber absurdly calls the protections of Local Law 52, which include independent fact finders, courts, city investigators, arbitrators, a kangaroo court.
Shame on Uber. Unfair deactivations destroy families. Without Local Law 52, Uber fires drivers at whim for no reason or any reason at all and drivers have no fair recourse, no independent appeal process, or opportunity to defend themselves.
Don’t fall for the “bosses are always right and are the only ones who deserve rights” gobbledygook of the Epstein class: just cause is a basic protection that should be afforded to all workers.
We stood up to these greedy gig lords, beat Uber at city council, and won just cause protections.
Now, the city must fight with all its might to beat Uber's nonsense lawsuit in the courts.
Drivers deserve the dignity of job security. We will settle for nothing less.
Aaron is the president of the Iowa Farmers Union. Amadou is a rideshare driver who is part of the New York Taxi Workers Alliance. We brought them together and this was their reaction
NYTWA Executive Director Bhairavi Desai's statement @GovKathyHochul's auto insurance reform proposals:
Governor Hochul is right to focus on lowering the cost of auto insurance, given New Yorkers pay higher rates than other states.
For Uber and taxi drivers, there's no doubt we need solutions to exorbitant premiums and to fraud, one of the leading contributors to inflated insurance rates. Insurance rates for Uber and taxi drivers have increased by up to 30 percent as professional drivers are left on the hook for the insolvency of the largest insurance carrier, American Transit Insurance Company, bearing the brunt of a crisis they did not cause, much like the medallion debt crisis. This is an unfair and unsustainable burden with serious long-term consequences of debt and job loss.
NYTWA supports Hochul’s anti-fraud proposals and her proposal to bar motorists driving under the influence or unlicensed from receiving benefits above the no-fault maximum rate, which we believe will make the streets safer. We oppose, however, the proposal to completely eliminate any coverage beyond no-fault for motorists found to be 51 percent or more at fault. That drastic reduction in coverage could be devastating for a workforce where many labor without Workers Compensation, wholly dependent on auto insurance in case of long-term injury on the job.
The bottom line remains: in order for the promises of the proposed bills to be meaningful to our sector, the Governor must address our crisis with specificity. Our union is calling for support to establish a captive insurance program to reduce premiums in the long-term and an immediate premium subsidy to address drivers' skyrocketing rates due to the insurance crisis in the industry.
The mayor iftaring at a packed party sponsored by the New York Taxi Workers Alliance, an important constituency for him, particularly with Waymo lurking. The mayor, as an assemblyman, helped broker the deal to write off lots of taxi medallion debt in the era of driver and owner suicides.
NYTWA members are excited to testify at today's 1 PM @NYCCouncil rules committee hearing in support of @NYCMayor's appointment of Midori Valdivia as the Chair of the NYC Taxi and Limousine Commission. We support Ms. Valdivia because of her years of experience in the industry and her commitment to workers' rights.
The hearing will be live-streamed here: https://t.co/NkuWdD1s2a.
Ms. Valdivia met with NYTWA yellow cab, Uber, and Lyft members at our office on Monday.
With such popular support, it would be a historic betrayal by electeds and organizers alike to not pursue more than one progressive tax. The $5 billion deficit is for a decades-long austerity budget. We need more to reach the full potential of a just and compassionate city.
Bhairavi Desai, the executive director of the New York Taxi Workers Alliance, which represents more than 28,000 cab, Uber and Lyft drivers in the city, said she welcomed the governor’s decision to pump the brakes on the upstate pilot programs.
“This is technology that is going to have a significant impact on livelihoods of hundreds of thousands of workers,” Ms. Desai said, adding that her group was skeptical of the industry’s safety claims.
https://t.co/9jLQwYsrmr
A beautiful article on the special friendship between @NYCMayor@ZohranKMamdani and drivers through the bond between the Mayor and our big brother Richard @RichardChow929, by @WinnHu@nytimes
“I lost my brother,” he said. “I woke up all the drivers."
https://t.co/8qw4XSvkK8
"It's incumbent upon this city council to do really strong, robust worker protection, and that's exactly what we're doing today." - The indomitable @SpeakerMenin on her support for Intro 276 - @voteshekar's historic just cause bill for Uber & Lyft drivers - and her support for Street Vendor reform.
We are so proud to work with the most pro-worker @NYCCouncil in NYC history under the leadership of @SpeakerMenin to protect Uber and Lyft drivers from losing their livelihoods due to corporate greed.
@VendorPower
NYTWA & @voteshekar are rallying on the steps of City Hall on Thursday at noon ahead of the @NYCCouncil's vote to override Adams' 11th hour anti-worker veto of Intro 276.
Under the leadership of @JulieMenin and our pro-worker mayor @ZohranKMamdani, we're going to uphold the will of the super majority of council members that voted to pass the strongest and most comprehensive just cause protections for Uber and Lyft drivers in the nation!
(And we might even stop by to bring @NYCMayor a warm winter hat!)
Nurses are on strike while the CEOs of their hospitals rake in millions.
It was an honor to visit the picket line with @SenSanders and demand a fair contract for NYSNA nurses so they can get back to work.
NYTWA members showed up and showed our support for our striking NYC nurses today!
Over half of surveyed NYTWA members get their care from @MountSinaiNYC, @nyphospital, or @MontefioreNYC where 15k @nynurses are on strike to protect patients and nurses.
We love our NYC nurses! And we will always have their backs. Solidarity forever.
NYTWA members caravanned to the @nynurses picket line this morning to show our support for the 15k NYC nurses on strike for patient and nurse safety.
NYC drivers say: Nurses are our heroes! Solidarity forever!
Yellow cab driver Richard Chow was on hunger strike for medallion debt relief with Zohran Mamdani a little over four years ago.
Today, he drove now Mayor Zohran Mamdani to City Hall for his inauguration in his taxi.