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[The audio for this piece will be aired on The Voice of DC Cab Drivers Sunday evening between 7:00-8:15 p.m. on WUST 1120 AM, wust1120.com]
“This is like a system of indentured servitude,” District 1 Councilmember Mary Lehman said of Prince George’s County’s taxicab industry. Lehman didn’t join with the majority of her Council colleagues who recently voted to prevent the county’s taxicab drivers from attaining financial independence from the handful of companies that dominate the industry.
Just a year ago, the Council unanimously voted to approve CB-36, which provided 390 medallions directly to independent drivers. At the May 24 meeting of the Transportation, Housing and Environment Committee, District 2 Councilmember Will Campos introduced legislation to overturn CB-36. As Campos spoke, the word “corruption” was uttered by taxi drivers, who filled the second floor hearing room. Campos offered an explanation for his reversal, sort of. “I voted for it, but I was not in favor of it,” Campos said of last year’s vote on CB-36.
From their seats, several taxi drivers took video of the public meeting using their phones. Committee member and Council Chair Ingrid Turned responded, saying drivers were “putting cameras in our faces.” Turner then left, saying she was going to get an opinion as to whether filming the public meeting was allowed. Turner’s comments led to drivers putting away their phones, and when she returned the matter wasn’t brought up again.
In the end, the Transportation, Housing and Environment Committee voted 3-2 to send the anti-taxi driver legislation, referred to as CB-3, to the full Council, but without any recommendation in favor or against the bill. July 5, in a 5-3 vote, the Council voted to approve the legislation.
“It is very hard to make a living as an average cab driver in Prince George’s County,” said Henock Wogderse, one of the leaders of the Prince George’s County Taxi Workers Alliance. “This bill [CB-3] was all about the companies keeping the status quo where they get to keep 50 percent or more of the drivers’ income.”
The Taxi Workers Alliance worked hard to pass CB-36, and now they’ll be working hard to overturn CB-3 by attempting to place it on the ballot as a referendum in November 2012. “We need to get 10,000 legitimate signatures from the voters registered in Prince George’s County within 90 days,” said Wogderse in a July 17 interview. The driver-led organization is working with the interfaith social justice group PRISM, Casa de Maryland, and other allies.
“This is a classic David vs. Goliath struggle,” wrote Lehman in a July 3 op-ed in the Sunday Washington Post. “While cab companies pay the county $200 per year per licensed vehicle, drivers who affiliate with those companies pay a staggering $335 per week – or about 50 percent of their earnings – to essentially rent the license from the corporate holder.”
“It’s shocking, really, that any industry in this day and age can operate legally in that fashion,” said Lehman. “It reminded me of Martin Luther King’s words back in 1968, right before he was assassinated when he went down to Memphis to talk to sanitation workers, and he talked about what a travesty it is for a man to work a full day for essentially half a day’s pay. I can’t think of a better analogy for these cab drivers… who have to affiliate with these companies.”
Related Stories:
PG County Pushes Forward with Anti-Taxi Driver Legislation, July 3, 2011
Related Links:
http://www.advancementproject.org/digital-library/publications/immigrant-justice