NYTWA Petition to Initiate Rulemaking to the TLC: Living Wage & A Raise for All Drivers

NYTWA Members from all sectors filled City Hall Steps on July 23, 2019 as they officially presented these demands for a Living Wage and Raise for All Drivers to the TLC!

The petition calls on the TLC to regulate High-Volume For-Hire Vehicle, or “app-based” driver earnings so that the minimum driver payment rates in effect do not become the both floor and the ceiling for driver earnings, and drivers are not cut out of fare revenue as the sector grows and companies continue to charge more to passengers. We further petition the TLC to enact protections against predatory vehicle financing and lease rates for For-Hire-Vehicle (FHV) drivers, in the same way the TLC has protected taxi drivers since 2012.

While the entirety of the crisis facing 20,000 taxi drivers, with 6,000 owner-drivers among them, and 3,000 green cab drivers is beyond the scope of this petition, we call on the TLC to stop the sophisticated wage theft in the name of “upfront pricing,” where the e-hail provider or app company charges passengers one (higher) rate and pays drivers at a different lower rate on the trip.

We also ask the TLC to support City Council legislation to provide app drivers protections against unjust firings (“deactivations”) and to call on the Council to authorize TLC enforcement of FHV vehicle finance and lease rates. In many ways, we seek to bring to the app-based sector the protections and gains our years of organizing won for taxi drivers, and stop the unregulated app-base pioneered techniques that a race to the bottom from creeping further into other parts of the industry.

The road to full recovery, stability, anti-poverty, and self-sufficiency remains long and hard for this workforce in crisis. If the TLC does not act now, the crisis will only deepen and the ability for drivers to climb out of it will be delayed, if not made impossible. We urge the TLC to act swiftly.

Key NYTWA Petition Proposals Living Wage + Job Security for App Drivers and Raise for ALL Drivers!

  • Set one MINIMUM passenger rate of fare across the industry so no company can cut rates! App companies cannot set minimum rates less than the current yellow cab meter: $2.50 initial charge + $2.50/mile + $0.50/minute in slow traffic.

  • Same meter rules for out-of-town fares: Double the “meter” for app drivers (like Rate 4 for yellow cabs)

  • Require companies to pay app drivers whichever is higher: 85% of passenger fare or total of current TLC driver payment rates

  • Cap FHV Financing and Lease Rates: MAXIMUM $350/week rental lease, including accidents and maintenance. $275/week financing and no more than $42,900 in total for vehicle purchase.

  • Stop upfront pricing by e-hail companies where passengers pay more but the company pays driver less (like Access-A-Ride trips)

  • Join Our Call for City Council Action: Stop Unfair Deactivations with no notice, cause or appeal!

New York Taxi Workers Alliance