Taxi

Taxi drivers are generally considered "independent contractors" and are thus excluded from all laws that protect "employees." As independent contractors, taxi drivers are not entitled to a minimum wage, overtime pay, or protection from discrimination. They are not entitled to federal OSHA protections, and they have no federally protected right to collective bargaining.

Demographics. Taxi drivers and chauffeurs held about 232,300 jobs in 2008. Jobs were located throughout the country, but were concentrated in large cities. Some 67,000 workers drive yellow cabs, livery cabs and black cars in New York City. Five thousand primarily immigrant taxi workers drive in Los Angeles.

Wages and Hours. Taxi drivers start work each day with a negative income, owing the company money and paying for gas out-of-pocket. In both New York and Los Angeles, drivers work on average of 12 to 14 hours per day, six days a week, for about $8 per hour including tips.85 In New York in 2004, drivers' take home pay ranged from $400 to $500 per week, but at the beginning of the week, drivers took home as little as $22 per day.

Benefits. Because taxi drivers are considered non-employees, the vast majority have no entitlement to government benefits like workers' compensation and unemployment compensation. In Los Angeles, 61 percent of drivers had no health insurance.

Health and Safety. Taxi drivers are currently 60 times more likely than other workers to be murdered on the job. Taxi drivers carry cash, making them more likely to be crime victims. They may work in dangerous urban neighborhoods, taking people home who fear walking the streets late at night. Many are killed in robberies. Increasingly since September 11, 2001, they are the targets of racial slurs and attacks. According to a 2006 Los Angeles survey of drivers, 36.5 percent of taxi drivers were subjected to racial slurs or hostile comments about their national origin and 25 percent were physically attacked or threatened with physical harm. Back and leg problems arising from long hours behind the wheel are common.

While forms of work vary from city to city, entry into the industry is generally through purchase of a medallion or association with a taxi company. In New York, medallions can cost as high as $400,000 or more. Most drivers lease a permit to drive, a car, or both. In Los Angeles, apart from payment of all business costs and gas, drivers who are owner-operators must purchase "shares" in cooperatives that cost tens of thousands of dollars. At the same time, drivers are closely regulated by city commissions that set fares, impose dress codes, issue licenses and franchises, and impose fines.

Projected Growth. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, employment of taxi drivers and chauffeurs is expected to grow 16 percent from 2008-2018, faster than the average for all occupations.

Sentayehu's Story

I came to the United States in September 1980 at the age of 27. In Ethiopia, I attended police college and rose to the level of lieutenant. However, I became a freedom fighter when I opposed the dictatorship that oppressed my country and my people. I was forced to flee to Sudan as a refugee. I worked there for a year and was then brought to the United States through Catholic Charities. I worked nights, studied English and eventually graduated from Cal State Los Angeles in 1988 with a degree in business. I began driving as a lease driver and bought my own cab in 1992.

For 18 years I drove a cab in L.A., Working 72-84 hours per week to survive, earning only $8 per hour (including tips) and receiving no health insurance, forced to pay many thousands of dollars annually to the cab company for the privilege of driving, suffering from severe back and leg pain and other health problems related to long hours of driving, [and] facing retaliation from cab companies for airing grievances — none of this was acceptable to me.

One day, in 2007, I spoke up at a City Taxi Commission hearing about the poverty wages, health problems and abusive working conditions drivers face. The next day I was fired. I have long been active in organizing for taxi workers' rights, serving as President of the Yellow Cab Owner Drivers Association. Today, I am President of the Los Angeles Taxi Workers' Alliance.