City Hall Action Highlights Uber Threat by Chris Chandler

WWW . GOUTCC . O R G

The newsletter of the United Taxidrivers Community Council CITY HALL ACTION HIGHLIGHTS UBER THREAT BY CHRIS CHANDLER

undreds of cabs circled City Hall on February 17, protesting against Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s refusal to regulate companies like Uber, allowing that company to take Htwo million trips a month bite out of the taxi and limo transportation for hire business without investing in adequate insurance, background checks or accountability. (UberX cars are just taxis without medallions, and with little to no regulatory oversight by the city) At a City Hall press conference that morning, mayoral challenger Jesus ‘Chuy’ Garcia pledged to “level the playing field” between the cab companies and rideshare companies like Uber if he is elected on April 7th. The UTCC had called all of Mayoral Candidate Chuy Garcia the Mayoral candidates to attend and address the speaks at the UTCC press state of the Taxi Industry, but Mr. Garcia was the conference at City Hall Feb, 17 only one to attend. The United Taxidrivers Community Council called the protest to highlight the danger that Uber is creating for the cab industry. Thousands All this because Emanuel has allowed Uber to have no vehicles, no drivers and no insurance li- of cab drivers have quit the industry, thousands operate in Chicago with virtually no regulation ability. No wonder they’re making money. of cabs sit empty in the garages, and hundreds of or oversight. As a result, Uber is making millions Emanuel’s brother Ari, the Hollywood agent, is medallion owners face bankruptcy. by taking 20 per cent of fares while claiming to CONTINUED ON PAGE 6

ANOTHER VICTORY FOR LEASE INSIDE THIS ISSUE

OVERCHARGE CAMPAIGN! Common Sense Corner ...... 2 Driver wins $5780 in Restitution, Company fined a total of $35,000! The Battle with AFSCME...... 3 BY PETER ALI ENGER History Gets Rewritten: in Bold ...... 3 ohd A. came to us about a year ago UTCC and the UberX campaign...... 4 with a stack of leases about 6 inches high. Mr. A. is a relatively new and 1 Cop, 3 Drivers, 9 Tickets...... 5 Myoung driver, from Palestine, and after Call 911, Get 3 Tickets...... 5 hearing about our previous victories helping drivers file complaints about lease overcharges at Dispatch Report on the Taxi Driver Cab company, he decided to come to us for help. Fairness Task Force...... 7 After a thorough analysis, we decided he had Uber, Lyft Lawsuits Could Spell a good case and advised him to go ahead and file Trouble For the On-Demand Economy . . . . 7 his complaint. His complaint had to do with Dis- Occupy the Loop Photos ...... 8-9 patch cab company practice three years ago of re- quiring drivers to sign fourteen 12-hour leases to Uber Halts Low-Cost Ride Service get a weekly 24-hour cab lease from them. This is in Seoul, Seeks to Avoid Ban...... 11 in clear violation of city rules for Taxicab Medal- Mohd A celebrates Court Victory Chinedu Madu— lion Holders under the rules that were in place in The Murdered Cabdriver...... 12 2006 thru July 1, 2012: Financial Essentials...... 13 “The practice of entering into a series of leases same individual lessee within a seven-day period.” with the same individual lessee for th purpose of This is the exact same violation that Dispatch What You Need to Know About exceeding the lease rate caps as set forth in para- has been found guilty of numerous times over the the Flu and Ebola...... 14 graph (a) is also expressly forbidden. For example, last two years. Beginning with Sandra V.’s case two The Case for the Universal Taxi App— a lessor may not charge more than the 24-hour rate years ago, for which she received $5370 in restitu- City versus Cab Companies ...... 15 by entering into two consecutive 12-hour lease with tion, the city has won case after case against them. the same individual lessee, nor may a lessor charge For most of the cases, after the drivers got a judg- An Open Letter To George Lutfallah, more than the weekly lease cap by entering into ment of restitution, the company has only had a Publisher of the Chicago Dispatcher. . . . . 16 a series of 12-hour and/or 24-hour lease with the CONTINUED ON PAGE 6

Amer ican Friend s S e r v ice C o mmittee , C ommunity A l ly March 2015 — Volume 8, Issue 1 1 2 UNITED TAXIDRIVERS COMMUNITY COUNCIL

COMMON SENSE CORNER

he United Taxidrivers what UTCC’s Secretary Peter Ali Community Council Enger wrote about this subject. (UTCC), is the name we He said : Tpicked over seven years CONSIDER AND THINK ago, when more than thirty leaders ABOUT THE FOLLOWING: from the drivers’ community had our first meeting in January of Your cabdriver union, the UTCC, 2008 at “Baba Palace Restaurant” has been in Chicago for 7 years now. Our Vision We have been fighting for drivers’ in Chicago. And you see in the To organize and unify all licensed name the word “United” which rights on many different fronts, and implies unity or Union. And we have succeeded in many areas. We chauffeurs in the Chicago area, so we wanted “Taxidrivers”—one word have the experience and expertise can collectively overcome oppression and that the driver’s movement in Chi- not two to express some of this achieve economic and social justice. “Unity”. Then comes the reasons cago needs to go forward in this behind the word “Community”, new era of working with the City which I believe is obvious—to imply not only for reform in the Taxi Industry. Writers to the drivers themselves, but to include all the We have spent 1000’s of hours of analysis, re- people who are related to them and to their work search, consultation, investigation, brainstorming, Fayez Khozindar, Chris Chandler, as drivers; workers in the companies where they testing, meeting with drivers, meeting with city Peter Ali Enger, Rocky Orok lease their cabs from, mechanics in garages, etc.. officials, meeting with other driver organizations, etc. And lastly, the word “council” which implies meeting with aldermen, and carrying out cam- Editors paigns including rallies and strikes. to the democratic principles our organization is Chris Chandler adhering to. NO amount of MONEY spent by AFSCME can On the other hand, AFSCME, which means, compare with or replace the experience we have Peter Ali Enger American Federation of State, County and Mu- in challenging and analyzing the TAXI INDUS- Rocky Orok nicipal Employees - A Government Worker’s TRY here in Chicago! Union; and “Municipal Employees” would in- When you are considering which union to sup- Photos port and join, THINK! Simply going with the clude those who write us tickets and prosecute Jeff Lucas and Brittany Harthan us at 400 W. Superior hearing facility. And to money and name of AFSCME is NOT as smart as clarify more, I would like to share with you you might think! The PROS are, of course, AFSCME has money Design and is willing to spend some of it. They have re- Rachel K . Dooley lationships with city officials, because they are a GOVERNMENT WORKERS UNION. They have many contracts with the City of Chicago, and negotiate with them all the time. We welcome your contributions THE CONS ARE: feedback and letters! • AFSCME workers are some of those who write us tickets, and prosecute our cases at United Taxidrivers 400 w. Superior Community Council • They spend money because they expect to 2040 N Milwaukee Ave, 2nd Floor get something in return—a big percentage of your union dollar, and numbers of member- Chicago, IL 60647 ship to add to their rolls. One way of spending money is on bringing out-of-state orga- E-mail: utccchicago@gmail com. nizers to chicago. Phone: (773) 342-UTCC • Their government contracts with the city can be threatened by the mayor in negotiations Let common sense lead you to your choice: Independence with a driver-led organization Two AFSCME organizers like UTCC? walking away from their car Or sign over your future to a government work- at O’Hare Staging Area THE UTCC VOICE IS ers union to negotiate for you? —FAYEZ KHOZINDAR, UTTC CHAIRMAN SPONSORED IN PART BY

NOTICE: Shannon Liss-Riordan, the Boston lawyer who has been battling Uber in the courts for more than three years, is looking for a Chicago cabdriver who was using the Uber App in 2012.

VERY IMPORTANT! If you know anyone who was using the Uber taxi App in 2012, or you are that person, please contact UTCC as soon as possible. Call 773-342-8822. Or you can call Shannon herself: (617) 994-5800.

March 2015 — Volume 8, Issue 1 UNITED TAXIDRIVERS COMMUNITY COUNCIL 3

The Battle with AFSCME A recap of history BY PETER ALI ENGER

any of you have come up to us, the UTCC Steering Committee members, and asked us, “Why don’t you and the CDU/ AFSCME drivers get together Mand get united?” The truth is that we probably never would have been divided except that an ancient feud intervened, and the two organizations have had difficult relations ever since. UTCC has long aligned itself with the National Taxi Workers Alliance, started by cabdrivers in New York and now a network of unions in four cities. The newly formed CDU, which has no transparent structure or decision- making process, no recognized leadership body, no officers, no dues-paying membership, and no Constitution or Bylaws, has allied itself with AFSCME, the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, a government worker’s union. FACTS: UTCC Steering Committee members • In March, 2014, an AFL-CIO organizer was showing solidarity at CDU Rally assigned to work with UTCC to help our organizing efforts. AFSCME lobbied with AFL-CIO to have him removed, hurting the AFSCME lobbies against National Taxi Union union dues. In New Orleans, the only other city work of UTCC. Last year the National Taxi Workers Alliance, our where they are attempting to organize cab driv- • June-Aug.: AFSCME forms CDU/AFSCME friends from New York, had their membership ers, we were told they are charging $40 a month Local 31 in the AFL-CIO come up for a vote for a perma- dues , and the national union collects 75 % of that. • On Sept. 5, AFSCME , CDU , NTWA and nent charter. AFSCME lobbied against this vote, AFSCME’s plans have hit some roadblocks in UTCC hold a meeting to work out our differ- and also kept filing complaints with the AFL-CIO the last few months. A Federal Judge dismissed ences. UTCC brought a compromise proposal: about UTCC’s activities in Chicago, and tried to the Callahan vs. City of Chicago lawsuit, which We could form an “umbrella organization”— hold the NTWA responsible. That is why with AFSCME had hoped would turn cabdrivers into a Coordinating Committee, with CDU and great reluctance the UTCC broke off our relations Chicago city workers. So that plan is gone. In ad- UTCC driver-leaders to communicate and with the National Taxi Union. We decided to re- dition, the vote for a permanent charter with the strategize together and provide a UNITED main independent so we could have a free hand, AFL-CIO for the National Taxi Worker’s Alliance FRONT when dealing with the companies and so our actions would not get the National was successful. So now we have a National Taxi and the city. CDU and AFSCME refused this Taxi Worker’s Alliance in trouble. Last month the Union. It seems that AFSCME will not be able suggestion. They told us, “CDU is open to NTWA was finally granted its permanent charter to form another national taxi union. At least, not membership of any UTCC members.” with the AFL-CIO. within the AFL-CIO. We don’t know what they Chicago cabdrivers! This is an insult to the We do not believe that AFSCME is the best are telling their Core Committee driver-leaders UTCC. We have been working for reforms for fit for Chicago cab drivers. AFSCME stands for now, but eventually their organizing project may seven years. We have granters and funders who AMERICAN FEDERATION OF STATE, COUN- run out of time and funds. we are responsible to. We are a 501C-3 Not-For- TY AND MUNICIPAL EMPLOYEES—A GOV- In the meantime, we remain open to an umbrel- Profit organization, with hundreds of dues pay- ERNMENT WORKER’S UNION. AFSCME union la organization that could coordinate our actions. ing members and run on democratic principles. members are some of the government workers Representatives from UTCC and CDU sit on the Were we supposed to fold our tent? We believe a who ticket and fine cabdrivers in the field and new city Task Force. We attended the AFSCME taxi driver organization run by drivers is the best at 400 W. Superior. This is a strange mix! Who action at City Hall last week. We are prepared to chance for a strong union. does AFSCME really represent? We also believe cooperate. n AFSCME has not been clear about its expected HISTORY GETS REWRITTEN: IN BOLD BY SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT

ts official! The National Taxi Workers Montgomery (DC METRO) are the new affiliates. were present in Atlanta, GA for the charter an- Alliance is now a Permenant Chartered Dave Passmore President of the Taxi Drivers As- nouncement. affiliate of the AFL-CIO. In an unanimous sociation of Austin which was NTWA’s third af- With the charter now permanent, NTWA is vote of the Executive Council of the AFL- filiate was categorical in his celebration. “Nobody now in a position to lead a national level cam- CIO on Monday Feb 23rd, the NTWA ever believed that taxi drivers must be unionized paign on the bandit taxi or the rideshare sector. Icharter, first granted in October 2011, was or could be unionized, till New York and Phila- “A national movement of taxi drivers is crucial declared permanant. delphia came along. NTWA’s permanent charter as the taxi industry takes on its biggest challenge The AFL-CIO’s 2011 decision to give a charter is an historic door that has been opened in the in over five decades and battles the Ubers and to the National Taxi Workers Alliance with New labor movement. Now, we know that everybody Lyfts. UTCC and Chicago drivers congratulate York and Philadelphia as its first two locals, was who goes out there and labors 10 to 12 hours a NTWA on its historic achievement. We are keen an historic one. It was the first new charter in over day is a worker in every sense of the word. We are to bring Chicago drivers into the national move- 50 years and the absolute first recognition by the proud of our movement and NTWA will be the ment and play our role in defeating Uber and AFL-CIO of independent contractors as workers. union for every taxi driver in the United States.” other TNCs in partnership with our brothers In the three years since the 2011 charter, NTWA Bhairavi Desai, President of the NTWA and and sisters from NYC to SF,” said Fayez Khozin- now has five affiliates. San Francisco, Austin and Victor Salazar, member of the NTWA board dar, UTCC’s Chairman. n

March 2015 — Volume 8, Issue 1 4 UNITED TAXIDRIVERS COMMUNITY COUNCIL UTCC and the UberX campaign

he UTCC has been trying to sound the alarm about the invasion of the “Ride-Steal” drivers and industry represented in Chicago by UberX and Lyft for over a year now. It just didn’t Tmake sense! How can the city allow drivers without Chauffeur Licenses, city background checks, any training, city safety inspections on their cars, and no commercial insurance to work as taxis? Not only that, but the city has given up their authority to regulate rates of fare for public transportation to a private company! (Or companies) When African-Americans on the south side do the same thing—to serve their neighbors where cabs don’t cruise the streets, to take people to the doctor, the grocery store, the bus and train stations, or to the airports--they are called “gypsy cabs”, and their cars are impounded and they are fined $1000! For the most part, our message has fallen on deaf ears. The media does not seem to understand it. The politicians agree to believe the May- or and the Uber PR people, who tell us all that the “Rideshares” are not in the business of trans- On Strike No UberX! portation, they are only a “technology” company. Yet they set rates of fare for transportation. They adjust them all the time, without city oversight. They charge customers for providing car servic- Recap of UTCC UberX industry—and started having meetings with driv- es. Everyone seems to be afraid of challenging campaigns of the last year ers to figure out how to bring them back. The or opposing this $40 Billion dollar monster, and Last year the UTCC attended the City Council UTCC was part of that process. We told them— the “technology” jobs they claim they will bring meeting where the TNP ordinance was being de- drivers are leaving because of TOO MUCH REG- to Chicago. And so the Taxi Industry suffers, the bated and discussed. We met with many Aldermen ULATION and NOT ENOUGH MONEY. That is drivers lose money to the ride-stealers, the city beforehand, to educate and inform them about the when they decided to adopt parts of our 10-Point loses money (millions of dollars) from the col- true costs and disruption that would happen if the Plan for Cabdriver Income Improvement, called lapse of the Medallion markets, and soon we will “ridesteals” were legalized. We also attempted to for the passing of the Taxi Driver Fairness Ordi- have no cabs to lease, because most Medallion lobby the State legislators and the Governor to pass nance of 2014, and created the Taxi Driver Fair- owners will go bankrupt! the more stringent legislation at the state level. All ness Task Force, to reduce regulations. This is bad public policy. This city in particu- to no avail. The Uber-money prevailed, and both UTCC addresses issues at City Hall hearing lar depends heavily on the Tourist and Conven- the State legislators and the lock-step Aldermen at At the hearing at City Hall to debate the Taxi tion industries, and they need taxis to service City Council passed legislation that was weak and Driver Fairness Ordinance, UTCC organizers them. No tourist wants to land at O’Hare and be ineffective in bringing UberX and her sister com- testified that while we were happy at its passing, told they must download an “App”, submit their panies, Lyft and Sidecar, under regulatory control. we felt it might be “too little too late” for the Taxi credit card information to a private company, And so the onslaught continued. Every week we Industry, unless we do something about the ride- and pay whatever that company feels like charg- saw more and more UberX cars picking up our shares. Our conclusions in this testimony can be ing that day. The same goes for conventioneers. passengers. Right in front of us. Is this the public face that Chicago wants to show summed up like this: the world? It seems this Mayor and his policies UberX to be Ex-UberX at Chicago airports 1. Yes, pass this ordinance—but consider it will oversee the end of the Taxi Industry as we The UTCC heard that Uber was trying to encour- only a first step towards revitalizing the know it. And the subsequent loss of up to 40,000 age their UberX drivers to pick up at the airports, health of the Taxi Industry—we ALL need jobs that service that industry. And all to ben- and we worked to inform the city to stop them. a LIVING WAGE, and we in the UTCC efit the Emanuel family and their investments That was in May of last year. By late summer, the will be continuing our lobbying efforts for in Uber. Well, that is how this “pay-to-play” city city seemed to realize that cabdrivers were leav- more income for drivers. The city recent- works, historically. ing the industry in droves—to join the rideshare ly passed a law to increase the minimum wage in Chicago—but most cabdrivers work for less than minimum wage, and the city is not doing enough to improve that. 2. Second, We are calling for an update on the Nygaard study, to update and report on what the Ride-Steal industry has done to the Taxi Industry in the last two years. 3. Third, let’s all consider that we need to amend the TNP Ordinance recently passed by this city council—it is deeply flawed, and not nearly robust enough to protect our Taxi Industry nor our riding public. UberX invasion continues— 13,000 drivers and counting! By January of this year, the situation for cabdrivers—and the fleet owners—was getting more and more dire. Information began to emerge. Uber claims to be “facilitating” two million fares per month in Chicago. An Atlantic Monthly article about Uber claims that Chicago has 13,000 UberX drivers working our streets. Medallion prices have Feb 17 Rally of Cost of UberX CONTINUED ON PAGE 10

March 2015 — Volume 8, Issue 1 UNITED TAXIDRIVERS COMMUNITY COUNCIL 5 1 COP, 3 DRIVERS, 9 TICKETS as this ever happened to you? Last summer, Mirza Baig, a cabdriver for 40 years, was sitting in the second position Hat the cabstand in front of the Omni Hotel. Right behind him was a space with a “Tow Zone” sign and a fire hydrant. A policeman, badge #13839, started to write him tickets. Mirza reports that the officer was rude and threatened to write him four tickets, but then only wrote him two—one for the Tow Zone, and one for parking next to the Fire Hy- drant. There was a Flash taxi behind Mirza, and the officer wrote that driver the same tickets. This third taxi actually WAS in the Tow Zone. When Mirza tried to get out of his taxi to take a picture, Mirza reported that the officer yelled at him, “Stay in your cab! When I tell you to get out, then you can!” So Mirza stayed in the cab until the police officer left. When Mirza first brought us this case, we thought he had a pretty good chance to beat the tickets. The Flash taxi behind him had the same tickets for the same offense, and two cabs cannot be in the same place at the same time. But the city lawyers at 400 W. Superior do not work like that—to apply thought and logic to the mer- Mirza Baig at Omni Hotel cabstand its of a case is not what they do. It is part of the UTCC’s Legal Plan to keep struggling with the city about this issue. What the city lawyers do THREE tickets, and the third driver got FOUR were written wrongly by a police officer over- is require EVERY case to go to a hearing, even TICKETS! This was too much! stepping his bounds, the city decided to dismiss when we all know they will lose, and it is a So—the UTCC Legal team collected all the all nine of the tickets! waste of everyone’s time. What we want is for drivers’ Incident Reports, and the tickets, and One thing this case highlights for us is the need there to be a review of the MERITS of a case sent them to the Commissioner and her BACP to struggle with, and work with, the BACP to im- before going to a hearing. staff we work with for review. We also collect- prove their systems at 400 W. Superior to better Luckily for Mirza, the next month we got 2 ed the UTCC members’ co-pay for the legal de- defend drivers’ rights, and seek due process and more cabdrivers getting tickets in the SAME fense. It was too much to expect three drivers justice. This is one of the things we are working PLACE for the SAME OFFENSES from the to have the exact same story about the exact on in the Taxi Driver Fairness Task Force. SAME officer! In each case, the drivers report- same police officer in the exact same place. [If cabdrivers have complaints or incidents ed they were in the SECOND spot in the cab- We were told to have all the cases continued to report, please come and join your Taxi Union, stand, a completely legal spot. And they each to the same day, so a decision about what to do the UTCC, pay your dues ($120 per year, or $10 reported that they got tickets for being in the could be made at the same time. a month), fill out an Incident Report with us, THIRD spot, behind, next to the fire hydrant, Finally, on the day of the case for all three and we will do what we can to address your is- and in the Tow Zone. The second driver got drivers, and a total of NINE tickets that we claim sues and your tickets] n

CALL 911, GET 3 TICKETS Improving Relations onstantin T. is a Rumanian fare and ran away. But when they spoke to the with Police cabdriver and a member of UTCC. customer, he told them that Constantin had Last year on Aug. 7, 2014, he picked up mad remarks on his sexual orientation. He told The UTCC recognizes the need to im- Ca passenger and took him on a short the police Constantin had been abusive, saying prove relations with the Chicago Police ride up Western Avenue to an address on 2541 racist and homophobic things. He cried. Con- Department, and has made steps to W. Fitch Ave. He asked his passenger if the stantin heard the police officer say, “You know create an ongoing relationship and a street was north of Touhy and the passenger how these immigrants are.” Constantin tells us structure, where both sides can work responded yes. As he passed the street, the he did not even know the young man was gay, out differences and grievances . Both passenger told him, “You went past my street. nor did they have any conversation at all in the police and cabdrivers work on the Let me out here. I’m not paying you.” Constantin 10 minute ride, except to discuss the route. But calmly told him that he was only a half block the police refused to listen to Constantin at all. streets of Chicago 24 hours a day, 365 past, and he stopped the meter to turn around After telling him that he was stupid for wasting days a year . By our analysis, the police and take him to his address. The passenger his time instead of working, yelling at him to get work in a functional way as our super- then told Constantin he did not want to pay and back in his car, and refusing to file a report for visors . Not only do they write tickets exited the cab without paying. the customer running away without paying his for traffic violations, and enforce crimi- After a back and forth dispute for several min- fare—instead wrote Constantin TWO tickets! nal matters, but also enforce our work utes, Constantin called 911 to report a Theft of And when he objected to signing them, he got a Service, the name of the crime that passengers THIRD ticket for not signing the other two!! rules, the Rules and Regs that govern who leave without paying commit. Passengers Luckily for Constantin, audio from the cam- cabdrivers . can be taken to jail, if the driver insists on it. Con- era in his cab was available from the forward We are in negotiations, as part of the stantin then followed the passenger to his home, facing camera, and he was able to get it from his BACP Task Force, to establish regular while waiting for the police. garage. He brought it to the UTCC office and meetings between police and cabdriv- By this time, the passenger was offering to pay we took his testimony and reviewed the tape. ers in hopes of creating a better work- the $8 charge on the meter, but Constantin re- We took the case to the city lawyers at 400 W. ing relationship, and working to edu- fused payment, instead waiting to see what the Superior, but they refused to listen to the story police would do. Well—we hate to say it, but the or review the audio, and instead scheduled a cate both the cabdrivers and the police police officer who came did not behave properly. hearing. We knew we had a good case, but once officers about how to better interact At first they asked Constantin what happened, with each other . and he told them the customer did not pay the CONTINUED ON PAGE 11

March 2015 — Volume 8, Issue 1 6 UNITED TAXIDRIVERS COMMUNITY COUNCIL

City Hall Action Highlights Uber Threat Continued from Page 1 a major investor in Uber, the Sun-Times revealed last year. They used to call that nepotism and cro- nyism. When the first Mayor Daley steered a little city business to his son’s insurance company, he was lambasted in the press. Where is the outrage while Emanuel destroys the cab business to ben- efit the family fortunes? The media attention our protest brought to the Uber problem is a first step, but everyone in the cab industry must realize that the re-election of Emanuel will mean victory for Uber, and bankruptcy for many in the cab industry, drivers and medallion owners alike. n Feb 17 Rally–UberX show us your Another Victory For Lease insurance Overcharge Campaign Continued From Page 1 fine of $500 or $1000 to pay, and the deals were worked out in private without a hearing. Until Domingo Carino’s case of last year, where the fine on Dispatch was $16,000! (Reported in the UTCC Voice last year) After several continuances granted to Dis- patch, Mohd was getting tired of coming to 400 W. Superior. This is exactly what Dispatch wanted—for the driver NOT to show up, and then the case could be dismissed. But we turned the ta- bles on them in December. This time, Mohd was there, the BACP investigator was there in court to testify, and a UTCC organizer was there—but the Dispatch lawyer was not! Our UTCC organizer, Peter Ali Enger, had been pushing the city to not keep granting con- tinuations for the company, as it was disrespect- ful to the city employees and Mr. A., who were spending their time and energy to show up to court. And this time we were successful. The city attorney decided to hold a “default judgment hearing”, to hold Dispatch accountable for wasting all of our time. Our argument: “You do it to cabdrivers all the time. Why not do it to the companies?” And they did it. In December, Dispatch Cab Affiliation was found liable for a $50,000 default judgment against them! We knew it would not stick, as they would move to “set aside” the judgment, just like cabdrivers do, but it was a step in the right direction. Last month the hearing for City v. Cavala Cab Corporation and Dispatch Affiliation was finally held. After a four and a half hour trial, Dispatch Affiliation was fined $10,200 and the Cavala Cab Corporation, the owners of the medallion Mr. A. was driving for, was fined $25,500. Mr. Alafaghani received a judgment for restitution of $5780. The city lawyer made an excellent case, and Mr. A. was a good witness in his testimony, and the Hearing Officer found Dispatch liable for all the charges the city brought against them. There were a total of 102 charges brought against Kavala and 51 charges against Dispatch. We know that Dispatch is now fighting these charges, and appealing the cases to 50 W. Wash- ANNOUNCEMENT ington. We heard all their arguments at 400 Any cabdrivers who believe they have been overcharged for their leases, please bring any W. Superior, and we were not impressed. They do not have any legal defense for their prac- evidence to our offices at 2040 N. Milwaukee for a review and a recommendation. Companies tices that violate the city ordinances we quoted are required to keep leases for three years. You may petition the city for retrieval for leases even above. It is annoying, and it will mean drivers if you don’t have them, up to three years ago. We are setting up a “lease compliance team” to waiting longer to receive their money, but after one or two losses at 50 W. Washington, we ex- handle the evidence and your allegations. Even if you don’t have leases in your possession, we pect Dispatch to go back to settling the cases out may still be able to assist you in processing your complaints. We are open Mon-Wed from 2-7 of court, like they were doing in the beginning. pm. We are also available other hours by appointment. Another VICTORY for CABDRIVERS, another VICTORY for the UTCC LEASE OVER- Call (773) 342-8822 for more information CHARGE CAMPAIGN! n

March 2015 — Volume 8, Issue 1 UNITED TAXIDRIVERS COMMUNITY COUNCIL 7

Report on the Taxi Driver Fairness Task Force n the lead up to the passing of the Taxi Driver Fairness Ordinance of 2014, the UTCC had many discussions with the Commissioner Iof DBACP and her staff. These discussions included the need for many more reforms to the rules and regulations that govern the cabdrivers and the Taxi Industry as a whole. The main ideas we told the city were: ONE, the city of Chicago needs a healthy and robust Taxi Industry to serve the riding public, the Tourist Industry, and the Convention Industry; TWO, the industry was suffering because it was not keeping cabdrivers working in cabs that were available at the garages; THREE, cabdrivers were either not staying in after going thru the training, or they were leaving and not coming back; and FOUR, the reasons for cabdrivers not staying in the taxi business were two main reasons—not enough pay and too much regulation. The UTCC had already addressed the “not enough pay” issue by submitting our 10 Point Plan for Cabdriver Income Improvement. The City responded by accepting about 5 of our suggested reforms. The UTCC is continuing our campaign to Following is a list of areas we recommended the • 2 members from the UTCC achieve the rest of them. Following is the 10 Point city work on reforming, improving and changing • 2 members who are owner-operators Plan, with highlights of the ones the city indicat- the rules and the practices that affect cabdrivers • 2 members who are independent of other ed they were accepting. lives and income: categories 1. Create “Chicago City App” to outcom- • Rules and Regulations for Chauffeur Li- • 2 members who are WAV drivers pete with rideshares, provide better cense holders • 2 members of CDU service to Chicago (Central Dispatch • Practices of enforcement by Police, BACP We in the UTCC hope that the creation of this System) (In process) investigators (ticketing and treatment of Task Force to reform the Taxi Industry and how it 2. Charge $4 only on departure from air- drivers) affects cabdrivers’ lives is not just a political ploy ports (no more lost $2 for going to air- • Practices at “kangaroo court” at 400 W. Su- to make the Mayor look good before the elec- ports empty) (In process of negotiation perior tion. We understand that he needs all the help he with MPEA—a State of Illinois agency) • Practices and conditions at both airports— can get. We hope that whoever is elected in the 3. Increase short trips to one hour (In rule enforcement, behavior of starters, con- upcoming election will accept the recommenda- process) ditions of shelters, snack bars, availability of tions created by this Task Force and work to im- decent bathrooms, etc. plement them. 4. Decrease maximum fine at 400 W. Su- In response, when the city passed the Taxi We also have the hope and desire that this perior (was $750—now $400) Driver Fairness Ordinance of 2014 last November Taxi Driver Fairness Task Force can be an ongo- 5. Mandatory Registered Mail to drivers for they codified (meaning that they mandated by ing entity, an advisory committee that can be a complaints (must be signed for) ordinance) the creation of the Taxi Driver Fair- permanent fixture on the landscape of the cab- 6. Remove straight meter rates to suburbs ness Task Force to work on all these issues. They driver workforce here in Chicago. We hope that 7. Charge $1 per each extra passenger seemed to be listening to UTCC and our well- whomever becomes our next Mayor will create 8. Decrease lease cap 20% after first year thought-out suggestions and proposals! this permanent body, and create a process where of use of vehicle The Task Force as it was created pulled driv- cabdrivers can elect members to serve the func- 9. Increase mileage rate on meter to $0.20 ers from five categories, to address the different tion of being an advisory committee of cabdrivers per 1/12 mile kinds of interests for different modes of work. from our industry for the city regulatory bodies 10. Increase wait time to $0.20 per 24 seconds The five categories are as follows: who govern our lives to such a degree. n Uber, Lyft Lawsuits Could Spell Trouble For the On-Demand Economy Judges allowed the lawsuits over drivers to be heard by juries BY KATY STEINMETZ, REPRINTED VIA TIME.COM

he ride-app services Uber and Lyft the status of the drivers. were dealt a setback by two separate “This is a huge milestone and major vic- California judges Wednesday, who tory for drivers in both cases,” says Shan- Truled that juries would decide the fate non Liss-Riordan, a Boston-based labor of lawsuits that could have broad implications lawyer working on both cases. Her firm has for a range of tech startups. brought cases on behalf of a range of low- The lawsuits were filed by workers who allege wage workers, from Starbucks baristas to they are misclassified as independent contrac- exotic dancers to house cleaners. “There’s tors so the businesses don’t have to reimburse this whole wave of companies who seem to the drivers’ expenses like they would for employ- think that they’re above the law and don’t ees. The plaintiffs believe they’re owed money need to comply with employment and for outlays like gas, insurance and vehicle main- wage laws,” she says. “They’re claiming tenance—costs that could be enormous if juries there’s something new and different be- determine they’re owed to tens of thousands of cause their services are provided through active drivers working for Lyft and Uber in Cali- technology, through a smartphone … but fornia. The companies had sought separate sum- there’s nothing new about this.” mary judgments dismissing the cases, but the A spokesperson for Lyft says they are judges in California’s North District Court denied not commenting on pending litigation. them, saying their peers would have to determine Uber sent TIME a similar statement. n

March 2015 — Volume 8, Issue 1 The UTCC would like to thank all the drivers who came out to Occupy The Loop on Feb. 17, 2015! Your support is crucial to the building of the cabdriver Movement and the UTCC—your Chicago Taxi Union!

8 March 2015 — Volume 8, Issue 1 March 2015 — Volume 8, Issue 1 9 10 UNITED TAXIDRIVERS COMMUNITY COUNCIL

UTCC and the UberX campaign Continued from Page 4 fallen to ZERO. [In past years, 6-800 medallions would be sold in a year. In the last 6 months, only 6 were sold.] The city has lost millions of dollars in “transfer fees” for medallions not sold—two years ago the fees were averaging about $17,000 per transfer! Cabs are sitting empty in the company lots due to not enough drivers. Fleet owners cannot make their mortgage payments, and are facing bankruptcy. Medallions are being surrendered to the DBACP by fleet owners for financial relief. No one is talking about this—to educate and inform the Mayoral Candidate Chuy GArcia at public, as discussion in the media, by public policy UTCC Press Conference makers, or even as talking points in the upcoming Mayoral election! So the UTCC decided we needed to bring this issue up for a public debate. UTCC decides to “flip the script”— calls for industry deregulation The UTCC consulted and surveyed many drivers about their opinions. We had been calling for more regulation for the rideshares for months now, to deaf ears. And besides, in our Task Force, we were already asking for less regulation for cabdrivers! How could we ask for more regulation for rideshares, and less for us? We are already over-regulated! Why would we wish that on anyone else? So we thoroughly analyzed the UberX model of transportation for hire, and decided that there were certain things we liked! We decided to “flip-the- script” and call for taxi industry deregulation! We called for a Day of Action (reported on page one of this paper) and held a Press Conference on Feb. 17, 2015. Following is part of our press release: Feb 17 Rally-line of cabs peace sign After hundreds of cabs circled City Hall for four hours last Tuesday morning, United Taxidrivers Community Council (UTCC) held a press confer- quirements, so why should cabdrivers? tinue going forward. In preserving and defending ence where it proposed that deregulation is the only 5. No more Complaint System. Remove 311 the Taxi Industry, we have some common inter- way to level the playing field between UberX and stickers from taxis. Replace them with a ests. Some fleet owners even agreed to give their the taxi industry. “We think that if the UberX mod- 5-star rating system, like Uber has. Custom- drivers a break if they supported and participated el for transportation is good enough for the Mayor, ers can rate taxis just like Uber. in our action. This is a positive step forward. the Aldermen, and the citizens of Chicago, then it 6. No more bi-annual city safety inspections on The topic of what UberX is doing to the drivers should be good enough for the cabdrivers,” stated taxis. Similar to Uber, “third party” inspec- and to the taxi industry in Chicago is continuing Peter Ali Enger, Secretary of the UTCC. “Deregula- tions should be done for taxis. to be addressed in the media, and we will continue tion may be the only way.” 7. Uber sets it’s own rates of fare. Taxis should to press for more attention. Our incomes and our The UTCC’s ten demands highlighted the City’s have the right to do the same. livelihood and the future of our families depend lack of regulations for rideshare companies and 8. Taxis should also have the right to “surge on it. The UTCC will not let go of this issue until responded by arguing that, in order to make trans- price”—tied to UberX surge-pricing. we citizens of Chicago can come up with some so- port for hire more competitive, taxi regulations 9. Taxis should be able to carry the same “hy- lution that makes sense for ALL the stakeholders. should be lifted. “Everyone knows that new regula- brid” insurance as UberX drivers. Vehicles We believe the only thing that makes sense at tions for the rideshares will never pass city coun- should be covered by commercial insurance this point is that a Taxi Industry Fairness Task cil if the mayor doesn’t want them,” stated Rocky from “log in” to “log off,” or “meter on” to Force be created after this Mayoral election that Orok, board member of the UTCC, “The mayor has “meter off” – In between, vehicles can be would consist of the following—members from the a vested interest due to his brother Ari Emanuel be- covered by the medallion owner’s noncom- UTCC, from the ITTA, from the riding public, and ing a major investor in Uber. Since the transporta- mercial insurance. from the policy makers here in Chicago. We will tion-for-hire industry is already on its way toward 10. Issue 13,000 new medallions to all the trans- continue to press for this Task Force to be cre- deregulation under this mayor, we think the taxi portation network provider (TNP) cars – OR ated no matter which candidate is elected Mayor. industry should be included in this trend. It could – eliminate need for medallions altogether. In addition, to prevent the imminent collapse of be argued that the highly regulated cab industry All four mayoral candidates were invited to the Taxi Industry, we believe the TNP Ordinance has brought about a monopoly and economic ineffi- the press conference to speak about their ideas should be rescinded until the Task Force finishes ciency, so introducing more regulations only serves for the future of the taxi industry in Chica- its deliberations. At the very least, emergency leg- to impede true and healthy competition among the go. Only Jesus “Chuy” Garcia and Amara Enyia islation should be passed to put a cap on “ridesteal” players in the industry. It seems obvious that con- from Alderman Bob Fioretti’s campaign were in drivers allowed to work in the city of Chicago. We sumers don’t care much about those regulations.” attendance; both voiced their support for the cab cannot continue to compete with the ever-increas- The demands are as follows: industry, calling for fair competition between ing numbers without relief. It just is not fair. 1. No more Chauffeur’s Licenses for taxi drivers. rideshare and taxi services. Chicago cabdrivers—let’s be clear about one 2. No more chauffeur’s classes. To become a Day of Action— Occupy The thing. The city will not deregulate the whole industry like we are asking for. Nor will they Ban cabdriver, people should be able to sign up, Loop! Feb. 17, 2015 have their driving record checked, and then UBERX, like other organizations are calling for. As reported elsewhere in this paper, our actions should be able to start driving the next day. But there is a middle ground---some more regula- and the media were wildly successful! We spoke 3. Taxi drivers should have the same back- tion for them, and less regulation for us. That is with over 15-20 reporters and hundreds of drivers ground checks as UberX drivers. what we can continue to work on. We need you participated in the Occupy the Loop action! We 4. There should be no more fingerprints, yearly drivers to JOIN the MOVEMENT, JOIN YOUR also began to form some points of unity with af- physicals, or drug tests for cabdrivers. Uber UNION, the UTCC to create a strong and united filiations and fleet owners that we hope will con- drivers do not have to adhere to these re- voice for the cabdriver. n

March 2015 — Volume 8, Issue 1 UNITED TAXIDRIVERS COMMUNITY COUNCIL 11

Call 911, Get 3 Tickets Continued from Page 5 again, this was a waste of everyone’s time. The next step was forward the Incident Report and the audio to the Commissioner and her staff at BACP for review. By the time the hearing date came up, Constan- tin was tired and demoralized and took the deal, and paid a fine of $95 for a reduced charge of “not displaying Chauffeur’s License”. Which was not even true. After the Commissioner and her staff reviewed the audio, they reported to us that they were “shocked” at the behavior of the police officer. After many months, the city finally vacated the order finding Constantin liable for the $95 fine on Sept. 11. He can now petition for a refund of that fine. But the UTCC is not done with this case. This kind of thing happens all too often. The police officer in question needs to be told he did wrong, and his supervisors need to be informed of what he did. We will assist Constantin in filing a complaint with the Police Review Board to see that some small measure of justice is attained, and some small measure of consequences for the officer come out of this incident. n

GET INVOLVED IN THE STRUGGLE! Join the fight for rights, respect and human dignity! Call UTCC Today! 773-342-8822

Uber Halts Low-Cost Ride Service in Seoul, Seeks to Avoid Ban REPRINTED FROM REUTERS

nline taxi service provider Uber Technologies Inc said on Friday it would suspend its low-cost uberX ride service Oin South Korea, in another concession by the U.S.-based firm trying to avoid a total ban in Asia’s fourth-largest economy. Uber said the decision to suspend the service in Seoul, effective Friday, was part of its efforts to bring its business in line with local regulations. The service matches customers with private drivers without a commercial license, a practice South Korean regulators say is illegal and which has also angered the taxi industry. “We stay committed to cooperate to reach a compromise with the city and taxi industry, and look forward to working together to bring regulated options to Seoul,” Uber said in a statement. An official at the city of Seoul said the authori- ties would review Uber’s decision in detail before deciding on a response. Uber has come under scrutiny in South Korea and other countries across the globe for alleged violations including using unlicensed drivers. transport through Uber. mercial licenses from providing or facilitating South Korea’s transport ministry has vowed to Uber chief executive Travis Kalanick and the transportation services. shut down Uber and the city of Seoul is offering company’s South Korean unit have been indicted Japan’s transport ministry has also banned rewards of up to 1 million won ($910) for people by local prosecutors for violating a local law pro- Uber’s pilot ride-sharing service in Fukuoka, add- who report private or rented car drivers offering hibiting individuals or firms without proper coming to the a growing list of regulatory problems. n

March 2015 — Volume 8, Issue 1 12 UNITED TAXIDRIVERS COMMUNITY COUNCIL

Chinedu Madu—The Murdered Cabdriver n Jan. 8, 2015, Chinedu Madu, a 51-year-old Nigerian cabdriver, was murdered by a passenger. We lost one Oof our own. Driving a taxi is one of the most dangerous jobs in the United States, and it is always a shock when it happens to someone for some random reason, like robbery attempt by a passenger. We all feel, “Why, that could have been me! I work that street, I deliver passengers to that neighborhood!” The UTCC was founded on principles of to- getherness, unity and commonality of all of our cabdriver workforce. We may come from more than 80 nations, we may speak more than 100 lan- guages, but we all do the same work, we all suf- fer the same indignities in our work spaces, and we all want the same things—a living wage, safe working conditions, justice, workers’ rights, and to be treated with dignity and respect as human beings. It is always a common loss when one of us is murdered in such a random, pointless and cruel way. The UTCC reached out to the family to get ap- proval for raising funds (Chinedu left behind a wife and a five year old son) We set up a Dona- tions Page online to collect benefits for the family. And then we hit the streets. UTCC organizers collected money from drivers all over this city—from O’Hare drivers, from Mid- way drivers, from the restaurants and cabstands downtown. We even went to the Nigerian Mosque on the northside to request donations—and collected $500! The drivers responded—so well! Twenties, tens, fives, fistfuls of ones, even $1 was not too little to donate. It is the spirit of the donation, not the amount, and almost 100% of drivers we asked gave something. If every one of 10,000 drivers gave only ONE DOLLAR, the family would have $10,000. That was the message we took out, and we got an overwhelmingly positive response. If we don’t look out for each other, who will? This action was in keeping with our found- ing principles. Cabdrivers do not have jobs with insurance or death benefits. At least not yet.. Yes there are some small benefits from the Workman’s Compensation fund we donate millions of dollars to every year, but they are based on our reported incomes, which as you all know are very low. So we in the UTCC try to make up some small mea- Upper right: Rocky Orok, Fayez Khozindar and Peter Ali Enger present donation sure of difference for drivers who lose their lives check at the wake held for Chinedu Madu on Feb. 14, 2015” “List of donors and where in doing their jobs in our industry. n donations collected” “Check for $3101 presented to family at the wake

UTCC: YOUR ORGANIZATION! a r egi s t e r ed 5 0 1 ( c )3 n o t - f or-pr ofit o r g anizat i o n

March 2015 — Volume 8, Issue 1 UNITED TAXIDRIVERS COMMUNITY COUNCIL 13

CHICAGO CABDRIVERS! Be alert and FINANCIAL ESSENTIALS aware where and how you are driving! Here are the locations of: Speeding Taxation for Independent contractors Camera Locations throughout Chicago BY ROCKY OROK • Abbott Park, 49 E . 95th St . • Bogan Tech High School, Things you should know. your gross income from credit 3939 W . 79th St . You are often referred to as an in- card transactions . Since the cab • Burr Elementary School, dependent contractor when you companies do not withhold any 1621 W . Wabansia Ave . taxes from the payments, you are drive a cab, limousine, UberX, • Challenger Park, 1100 W . Irving Park Rd . Lyft, etc . What is an independent responsible for paying the SE tax • Chicago Agricultural High contractor? and the federal and state income School, 3807 W . 111th St . According to the Internal Rev- taxes . • Christopher Elementary School, enue Service-IRS, “the general It’s important to know that by 5042 S . Artesian Ave . rule is that an individual is an law, if you are self-employed and independent contractor if the you owe at least $1000 in taxes, • Columbus Park, 500 S . Central Ave . payer has the right to control or you are supposed to pay your • Curie High School, 4959 S . Archer Ave . direct only the result of the work estimated taxes to the IRS each • Douglas Park, 1401 S . Sacramento Ave . and not what will be done and quarter and not wait until you file • Frances Xavier Warde how it will be done” . To simplify your tax return . If you fail to do School, 751 N . State St . it, in the context of a cabdriver, it this and end up owing taxes, you • Gage Park, 2415 W . 55th St . means you decide where to lease may be required to pay the IRS a • Garfield Park, 100 N . Central Park Dr . your cab from, when to lease the cab, how long tax underpayment penalty . • Gompers Park, 4222 W . Foster Ave . to lease the cab (12/24 hrs) and when and what You have to first estimate your income in or- • Hancock Elementary School, days you choose to work . der to estimate your taxes due . In order to figure 4034 W . 56th St . As an independent contractor, you are con- out your net business income, you deduct your • Harvard Elementary School, sidered to be self-employed and subject to self business expenses from your gross business in- 7525 S . Harvard Ave . come- mainly cash and 1099MISC . Your business employment tax . As a self-employed individual, • Horan Park, 3035 W . Van Buren St . expenses include your: depreciation, repairs, gas, generally you are required to file an annual return • Horner Park, 2741 W . Montrose Ave . and pay estimated tax quarterly . insurance, MPEA stamps, tolls, car washes, all re- • Humboldt Park, 1400 N . Humboldt Dr . Self-employed individuals generally must pay newal costs to the city and state, licensing costs, • Icci Academy, 6435 W . Belmont Ave . self-employment tax (SE tax) as well as income cost of training, etc . As a lease driver, you may be tax . SE tax is a Social Security and Medicare tax limited to what you can deduct since you don’t • Jefferson Park, 4822 N . Long Ave . primarily for individuals who work for them- own the car . You are better off taking the stan- • Jones High School, 606 S . State St . selves . It is similar to the Social Security and dard mileage rate . • Lane Tech High School, Medicare taxes withheld from the pay of most It is advisable to always keep the receipts for 2501 W . Addison St . wage earners . In general, anytime the wording your expenses for at least 3 years . This could be • Legion Park, 3100 W . Bryn Mawr Ave . “self-employment tax” is used; it only refers to cumbersome to keep track of, especially if you • Lorca Elementary School, Social Security and Medicare taxes and not any have a ton of receipts . Most times, those receipts 3231 N . Springfield Ave . other tax (like income tax) . fade out with the passage of time . My advice to • Major Taylor Park, 970 W . 115th St . Before you can determine if you are subject to help you keep track is to designate a credit or • Marquette Park, 6734 S . Kedzie Ave . self-employment tax and income tax, you must debit card for all related business expenses and • McGuane Park, 2901 S . Poplar Ave . figure your net profit or net loss from your busi- make copies of the receipts if you paid cash to • McKinley Park, 2210 W . Pershing Rd . avoid the fade off . ness . You do this by subtracting your business • Merrimac Park, 6343 W . Irving Park Rd . The IRS allows you to take these deductions or al- expenses from your business income . If your ex- • Morgan Park High School, ternatively, you can take the standard mileage rate penses are less than your income, the difference 1744 W . Pryor Ave . is net profit and becomes part of your income on of 56 cents per mile driven, whichever is greater . • Ogden Park, 429 N . Columbus Dr . page 1 of Form 1040 . If your expenses are more The two amounts go on to Schedule C, which is • Orr High School, 730 N . Pulaski Rd . than your income, the difference is a net loss . You where you calculate the net profit from your busi- usually can deduct your loss from gross income ness . From your net earnings, you now calculate • Park 499, 3925 E . 104th St . on page 1 of Form 1040 . But in some situations your SE tax . Self-employed individuals are entitled • Parsons Park, 4701 W . Belmont Ave . your loss is limited . See Pub . 334, Tax Guide for to deduct 7 65%. of their net earnings from self em- • Pickard Elementary School, Small Business (For Individuals Who Use Sched- ployment before multiplying the result by 15 3%. 2301 W . 21St Pl . ule C or C-EZ) for more information . to get the SE tax . The social security component • Portage Park, 4100 N . Long Ave . You have to file an income tax return if your (OASDI) is 12 4%. of SE earnings while the Medi- • Prosser Vocational High net earnings from self-employment were $400 care component is 2 9%. making a total of 15 .3% . School, 2148 N . Long Ave . or more . If your net earnings from self-employ- Remember, you still have to pay your income tax . • Riis Park, 6100 W . Fullerton Ave . ment were less than $400, you still have to Now there is the new health insurance require- • Roberto Clemente High School, file an income tax return if you meet any other ment (ObamaCare) that most Americans obtain 1147 N . Western Ave . filing requirement listed in the Form 1040 in- health insurance by 2014 or pay a penalty . If you • Rosenblum Park, 2000 E . 75th St . structions (PDF) . don’t have the minimal essential coverage, as re- • Sauganash Elementary School, quired under the affordable Care Act, then you 6040 N . Kilpatrick Ave . How do I make my Quarterly payments? have to pay the greater of $95 per adult or $47 .50 • Schaefer Park, 2415 N . Marshfield Ave . Because you do not have an employer withhold- per child (up to $285 for a family) or 1% of your • Senn Park, 5887 N . Ridge Ave . ing these taxes for you, you are required to make household income - whichever is greater . You will quarterly estimated payments for Social Security pay 1/12 of the total fee for each full month in • Sherman Park, 1307 W . 52nd St . and Medicare taxes and income taxes using Form which a family member went without coverage or • St . Genevieve School, 4854 1040-ES, Estimated Tax for Individuals . an exemption . W . Montana St . The problem with estimating your taxes is that In 2015, the fee increases to $325 per adult and • St . Rita High School, 7740 sometimes you may estimate it too high or too $162 .50 per child (up to $975 for a family) or S . Western Ave . low for each quarter . Not to worry, there are 2%of your household income . If you are receiving • Union Park, 1501 W . Randolph St . forms for you to fill to make the adjustments the any tax credit to help pay insurance premiums, • Warren Elementary School, next quarter . However, the IRS will not come af- you are required to report it . Now due to signifi- 9239 S . Jeffery Ave . ter you because you did not make quarterly pay- cant cuts to the IRS, the numbers of tax audits • Washington Park, 5531 S . Dr . ments provided you pay your due taxes . were significantly reduced last year to the lowest Martin Luther King Jr . Dr . As a self-employed independent contractor, it level in a decade and chances are the number of • Welles Park, 2333 W . Sunnyside Ave is advisable to always set aside enough money audits this year could even be lower . Plan in ad- • Broadway and Sunnyside (Target) to cover your taxes . The cab companies are now vance . Good Luck . required to issue you a form 1099-K showing —ROCKY OROK, FINANCIAL PLANNER

March 2015 — Volume 8, Issue 1 14 UNITED TAXIDRIVERS COMMUNITY COUNCIL

What You Need to Know About the Flu and Ebola Who is at Risk of Getting Ebola? People most at risk of getting Ebola are • Friends and family who have had unpro- tected direct contact with blood or body fluids of a person sick with Ebola . • Healthcare providers taking care of patients with Ebola . • People with a travel history to countries with widespread transmission or exposure to a person with Ebola . Signs and Symptoms of Ebola The signs and symptoms of Ebola can appear 2 to 21 days after exposure . The average time is 8 to 10 days . Symptoms of Ebola develop over several days and become progressively more severe . A person infected with the Ebola virus is not contagious until symptoms appear . • Fever • Severe headache • Muscle pain • Feeling very tired (fatigue) • Vomiting and diarrhea develop after 3–6 days ecent media coverage and poll regard- tween 1976-2007 . ing the most important public health Unlike Ebola, for which there is presently no • Weakness (can be severe) concern in the United States right now is vaccine, the flu can almost always be prevented, • Stomach pain REbola . Though only 2 deaths have been or at least mitigated, is you get a flu shot and take • Unexplained bleeding or bruising recorded so far in the US, the public sees Ebola as a preventative actions . Ebola can only be spread major threat to public health . by direct contact with blood or body fluids of an How is Ebola treated? In reality, we are worrying too much about infected person, while the flu is mostly spread by There is no FDA-approved vaccine or medicine (an- Ebola and too little about the flu, which is more contact and airborne viruses . tiviral drug) for Ebola . Experimental vaccines and likely to kill thousands of Americans and send Many of us have had the flu at some point or treatments for Ebola are under development, but hundreds of thousands more to the hospital . the other and survived it, which gives us confi- they have not yet been fully tested for safety or ef- This is a divergent and inconsistent view of how dence that we would survive it again, however, so fectiveness . we perceive risk . We tend to underestimate the many adults (mostly older) and children will die Symptoms of the virus are treated as they appear . risk of common perils and overestimate the risk of the flu this year . Given the above statistics, we Treatments include: of novel events . According to the CDC, more should pay more attention to this dangers of the • Providing intravenous fluids and bal- than 23 thousand people died from the flu be- flu compared to the dangers of Ebola . ancing electrolytes (body salts) • Maintaining oxygen status and blood pressure WHAT IS THE FLU? How Can I Protect Myself Against the Flu? • Treating other infections if they occur The flu is a common contagious respiratory illness 1. Everyone 6 months and older should caused by flu viruses . get a flu vaccine each year For more information about Ebola visit: http://www cdc. .gov/vhf/ebola/index .html The flu is different from a cold . 2. Wash your hands regularly; avoid contact Flu can cause mild to severe illness, and compli- with sick people; avoid touching your eyes, cations can lead to death . nose, and mouth; and cover your nose How Does the Flu Virus Spread? and mouth when you cough or sneeze The flu is spread mainly by droplets made when 3. Use antiviral drugs (pills, liquid, or inhaled GET people who have flu cough, sneeze, or talk . Viruses powder prescribed by the doctor) to treat can also spread on surfaces, but this is less com- your illness if you have the flu . Antiviral mon . drugs are different from antibiotics and People with flu can spread the virus before and can shorten your illness and make it milder . INVOLVED during their illness . They can also prevent serious flu complications, like pneumonia . Antiviral drugs are Who is at Risk of Getting the Flu? not a substitute for the flu vaccination . Anyone can get the flu . Some people—like very IN THE young children, older adults, pregnant women, and For more information on the flu visit: people with some chronic health conditions like http://www cdc. .gov/flu/ asthma, diabetes, cancer, heart and lung diseases, STRUGGLE! and kidney or liver disorders—are at high risk of serious complications . WHAT IS EBOLA? Signs and Symptoms of Flu Ebola is a rare and deadly disease caused by infec- Join the fight for The signs and symptoms of flu usually develop tion with an Ebola virus . Sporadic outbreaks have within 2 days after exposure . Symptoms come on occurred in some African countries since 1976 quickly and all at once . rights, respect and How Does Ebola Spread? • Fever or feeling feverish Ebola can only be spread by direct contact with • Headache blood or body fluids from human dignity! • Muscle or body aches 4. A person who is sick or who • Feeling very tired (fatigue) has died of Ebola . Call UTCC Today! • Cough 5. Objects like needles that have been in contact with the blood or body flu- • Sore throat ids of a person sick with Ebola . • Runny or stuffy nose Ebola cannot spread in the air or by water or food . 773-342-8822

March 2015 — Volume 8, Issue 1 UNITED TAXIDRIVERS COMMUNITY COUNCIL 15 The Case for the Universal Taxi App— City versus Cab Companies

BY ROCKY OROK

he UTCC wrote a proposal for a company apps--e.g. yellow app, carriage Universal Dispatch System or Taxi app and flash app just to count a few. App (UTA) for the taxicab industry This absolutely makes NO economic or and presented it to the city as far back financial sense whatsoever. The idea of as 2009; however, the city disregarded having numerous apps each of which Tthis proposal and did not act on it until the can only hail cabs from a particular cab appointment of the current commissioner, Maria company is hurting the customers and Guerra Lapacek. After her appointment, she the taxi drivers alike. Customers don’t took time to study and investigate the problems want to have to download several differ- of the cab industry by having a town hall meeting ent apps just to find one cab. to listen to the concerns of the cab drivers and The TNC model has proven that cus- subsequently had meetings with the different cab tomers want a single app that can con- unions and groups to discuss and address their nect them with any cab, with payment concerns. It was during the meeting with the integration and a communication chan- UTCC that she adopted our proposal for the nel with the driver. They don’t really “Centralized Electronic Dispatch System” care about the cab company; they just or Universal Taxi App and promised to put want to get from point A to B. in motion the mechanism to implement If they had a good consultant to work it. This was way back in the summer of with like Uber has, they would have re- 2014. The ordinance was introduced in alized that the largest fleet would end October of 2014 and we are still waiting up having the most pickups with shorter for the outcome of the process. turnaround times resulting in more reve- The problem is that the city works like nue for the driver and companies includ- the government, and as usual, the govern- ing the non-affiliated cab drivers. Being ment has a terrible track record of inefficiency. closer to the customer will reduce the travel They are going to take their time to study it and a good idea then, it’s now highly detrimental to time thereby reducing the cabdrivers rejection of maybe after 2 or more years then decide to issue their survival. Yet they are still stuck in their old fares, reduce gas, reduce cancellations/no-shows a request for proposal (RFP). By then, most of the ways and bound for liquidation if no preventive and improve customer relations. A lot of money cab companies may have folded up. collective action is taken sooner rather than later. has been wasted by the cab companies to devel- On the other hand, the cab industry, as usual, They had a good idea when they formed the op their App. However, it’s not too late--they can is still living in the past not realizing that the in- Illinois Trade and Transportation Association still come together to develop a unified App from dustry is fast changing and before too long, they (ITTA); however, they have not been able to come a private vendor with the right oversight rather may as well be history. They are very slow, like up with the right strategy to combat the influx than waiting for the city to develop one. I am op- the snail, to adapt to new technology and when of the Transportation Network Providers. You timistic that if this done, the rideshare companies they do, hardly get the best product the market would think this should have been a no brainer would not have the field day as they do right now can offer to enable them to compete efficiently and an easy fix. However, that’s not the case. Rath- because most customers, believe it or not, still with the competition. For years, the cab compa- er than ignoring their differences and coming to- prefer to ride in the good old cab with a profes- nies have been competing with each other for the gether to develop a unified app to compete with sional cab driver who knows what he is doing and same customer base. While such competition was the TNC’s, they are busy developing individual where he is going. n

March 2015 — Volume 8, Issue 1 An Open Letter To George Lutfallah, Publisher of the Chicago Dispatcher FROM THE UNITED TAXIDRIVERS COMMUNITY COUNCIL

n your editorial of the March 2015, horn and bring the conversation to the attention the Mayoral election to bring this issue to the Dispatcher, you got one thing right: The of the riding public, the citizens, and the voters table for public debate. For your information, UTCC job action on February 17 that who are responsible for electing the next Mayor. our date and plan was already decided upon hundreds of cabdrivers participated in was And it worked! For a whole week, everyone in weeks before the action, however, we decided a “show for the media”. That was exactly the media was talking about Uber and UberX! to keep our plan secret for obvious reasons. Ithe objective of the protest. And it worked beyond Let’s address the other things in your article On Jan. 28, after one of the Task Force meet- our wildest imagination. We had more media that you misrepresented. ings, we reached out and consulted a couple of coverage than ever before. We were interviewed First of all, most of the features of the Taxi CDU drivers to let them know that we have a by about 20 journalists within a 24-hour period Driver Fairness Ordinance came directly from plan in the pipeline to doing something, and we regarding the harm UberX is inflicting on the the UTCC’s 10 Point Plan for Cabdriver income thought it would be more effective and a stron- cabdrivers’ economy and the Taxi Industry in improvement that we put out last summer. In ger action if we worked together. We thought general. We had a press conference in City hall our final meeting with the BACP Commissioner we had an agreement. The next thing we knew, that was well attended by the press and some Guerra Lapacek, she informed us of the adoption AFSCME/CDU had announced their “action” mayoral candidates. Our action was successful of 5 points in our 10 point plan. We commend the without invitation or consultation with the enough to warrant —CBS Evening News out of commissioner for her response and bold move of UTCC. For your information, our date was al- New York to contact the UTCC when they were adoption. She also followed up with a letter to ready decided upon weeks before the action. working on their story about UberX. So UTCC us confirming the adoption of the plan. We are The AFSCME action had a major message to will get national exposure for the UberX problem sure you’ve seen it, and have ignored it, as usu- “Ban UberX”. One of their chants was, “UberX, here in Chicago. al. Even the idea for complete overhaul and re- Must Go!” We all know this is a message that can Most people are aware, even if you are appar- form of the Rules and Regulations was our idea, go nowhere as long as Rahm Emanual is still the ently not, that the introduction of UberX has re- which found a welcome response in the office of Mayor. Everyone knows that’s not going to hap- sulted in a serious decline in cabdrivers’ income Commissioner Guerra Lapacek. We can proudly pen, so why waste our breaths? However, we did and weakened the Taxi Industry as a whole due to claim credit for our reasoned proposals for how join them in solidarity during the protest because the city’s lax policies about the whole “ridesteal” to keep cabdrivers in the taxi industry, and how we believe we are fighting the same enemy. So let industry. And who is even bringing it up? Who’s to lure them back from the rideshare industry. us put a question to you. This was a question driv- talking about it? Why is it not a topic in the May- AFSCME’s alleged political muscle had nothing ers in their picket line were asking me: Why were oral election? The affiliations have lobbied State to do with it. Yes, they made the announcement they not chanting, “Mayor Rahm—Must Go!”? legislators, lobbied Aldermen, donated money to standing with the Mayor’s people, but that was Like we did. I’m sure the answer is obvious. campaigns, formed PACs, hired lawyers, formed more to do with political gamesmanship. Finally, your style of writing lacks transparency their own association to try to band together for Secondly, drivers were loudly and angrily and shows a lot of bias against the UTCC. You do more political muscle (the ITTA), and even filed complaining about the UberX Ridesteal driv- not show journalistic objectivity as you make it so a lawsuit against the city in Federal court to try ers. We feel their pain, because we are cabdriv- obvious that you are a spokesperson for AFSCME to affect public policy—and all to no avail. No one ers too. We started the process several weeks and UBER- your major advertisers. We strongly is talking about the collapse of the taxi industry, before by consulting and having meetings with suggest that you thoroughly investigate, test and and no one is holding the Mayor accountable for the cabdrivers, cab associations, the mayoral verify your facts before publication. Your credit, or even asking the hard questions. That’s the candidates and the press and thereafter de- ibility is at stake. reason the UTCC decided to take the bull by the cided on a plan to have a “job action” prior to —THE UTCC STEERING COMMITTEE

YOUR VOICE MATTERS!

TH THE MAYORAL ELECTION IS TUESDAY, APRIL 7 . You have until Saturday, April 4th to POLLS ARE OPEN FROM 6AM TO 7PM ON ELECTION DAY. register to vote . Bring two forms of identification to any voter registration location and then vote that same day . Election Day Registration will not be offered at this election—the 4th is your last chance to register and ex- ercise your right to choose Chicago’s next Mayor . Forms of ID include: • Driver’s license • State identification card • Passport • Current utility bill, bank statement, government check, pay- check stub, or other government document that shows your name and address

VISIT CHICAGOELECTIONS.COM FOR A VOTER REGISTRATION LOCATION NEAR YOU.