Round 2 A Dud?

This seems to be the thinking of many throughout the city as the 24 hour strike came to a close at 5 a.m. this morning. Just like last month, we once again have both sides spinning a different version of events & success. The Metropolitan Taxicab Board Of Trade estimated that more than 95% of the cabs were out picking up fares. As usual Bhairavi Desai of the Taxi Workers Alliance strongly disagrees.

One thing is for sure, this round of the strike created more turmoil between drivers. At one location, a driver who was out on strike berated another driver waiting to pick up a fare. The driver on strike shouted “Scabs! You would prostitute your own mothers!”

Here are some comments from both sides:

Mayor Bloomberg – “We made a deal and we’re going to stick to the deal and I think taxi drivers who try it will like it.”

New York State Federation Of Taxi Drivers Leader Fernando Mateo – “These are not strikes. These are small protests by small groups who want to do radical things.”

Taxi Workers Alliance Executive Director Bhairavi Desai – “Despite those poor, pathetic scabs, the streets were empty this morning. Whatever they do to break our strikes, they can never break our spirits.”

Cab driver Billy Acquaire – “If the mayor has to put in place a contingency plan, then the strike was a success.”

While I do support the reasons behind the strike, I am starting to question the effectiveness of these strikes. The city has yet to feel severe effects from the strike & they don’t seem to be backing off from their position. Maybe the Taxi Workers Alliance should go back to the drawing board. They clearly do not have the support of all or even a majority of their drivers. So with that alone, they are considered to be in a position of weakness. I don’t know how many more rounds the drivers can go before they get knocked out.

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