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Author
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Topic: SUPPORT TAXI DRIVERS ORGANIZING AGAINST POLICE TARGETTING!!
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Mick
rabble-rouser
Babbler # 2753
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posted 08 July 2005 06:55 PM
SUPPORT TAXI DRIVERS ORGANIZING AGAINST POLICE TARGETTING!!
Taxi Driver’s Rally
Tuesday, July 12th, 10:30am
Toronto Police Headquarters
40 College St.--PLEASE FORWARD WIDELY-- The newly formed Toronto Coalition of Concerned Taxi Drivers will be
taking their complaints to the Police Services Board on Tuesday, July
12th. Drivers say they are aggressively targeted by police through
illegitimate ticketing, illegal random stops, and in some cases arbitrary
arrests. They say it is time for the Police Services Board to do their
job by making sure police stop abusing taxi drivers. Coalition representative Owen Leach says, “Police have a bullying attitude
towards drivers. Taxi drivers are constantly harassed by police,
especially by randomly stopping taxis and demanding we submit all our
documents so they can find arbitrary charges to lay. Random checks are
unlawful, especially when they target a specific group.” According to Mahmoud Heydari, who has been driving cabs in Toronto for the
last 16 years, “We don’t have time to challenge illegitimate tickets in
court. If we don’t work, who is going to pay our bills? It makes us an
easy target for abuse.” Taxi drivers are forced to stop to drop
passengers, to work quickly, and make U-turns. They have no choice but to
do things that police aggressively ticket for. The Coalition believes
police need to change their attitude and understand the nature of the taxi
industry and the tremendous financial pressures of the job. Heydari says, “Just this week, a driver was brutally beaten by passengers
and called police for help. The police automatically laid charges against
both passenger and cab driver even though the driver was obviously the
victim. I think police believe we are just immigrants who don’t know
what’s going on in this country. Police treat taxi drivers like
second-class citizens.” In May, drivers were intimidated by heavy-handed police and in some cases
illegitimately charged for obstruction in the course of rightfully
protesting the onerous $5000 fines for “scooping” by the Minister of
Transportation. The Toronto Coalition of Concerned Taxi Drivers includes Eagles Taxi, Taxi
Post, On Time Taxi, the Taxi Association of Toronto, and the Ontario
Coalition Against Poverty.
From: Parkdale! | Registered: Jun 2002
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radiorahim
rabble-rouser
Babbler # 2777
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posted 08 July 2005 08:50 PM
quote:
Lets deal with world peace, the environment, poverty, and THEN we'll focus on wealthy taxi drivers.
Wealthy cab drivers? Sorry...but what the fuck planet do you live on? Alot of the cab drivers don't own their vehicles...they basically rent them for the day...in a totally corrupt licensing system where a relatively small number of people control the majority of taxi plates in this town. Alot of cab drivers are lucky if they make minimum wage and work 12 hour days, seven days a week. Its like bloody feudalism.
From: a Micro$oft-free computer | Registered: Jun 2002
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Gir Draxon
leftist-rightie and rightist-leftie
Babbler # 3804
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posted 08 July 2005 09:21 PM
quote:
Originally posted by radiorahim:
Wealthy cab drivers? Sorry...but what the fuck planet do you live on? Alot of the cab drivers don't own their vehicles...they basically rent them for the day...in a totally corrupt licensing system where a relatively small number of people control the majority of taxi plates in this town. Alot of cab drivers are lucky if they make minimum wage and work 12 hour days, seven days a week. Its like bloody feudalism.
In Edmonton when a bunch of Yellow Cab drivers got pissed off, they took their cabs, painted them orange, and started a new company called Capital Taxi. There are options for cabbies who don't like their company.
From: Arkham Asylum | Registered: Feb 2003
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radiorahim
rabble-rouser
Babbler # 2777
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posted 08 July 2005 09:30 PM
quote:
In Edmonton when a bunch of Yellow Cab drivers got pissed off, they took their cabs, painted them orange, and started a new company called Capital Taxi.There are options for cabbies who don't like their company.
I'm not sure how the cab licensing system works in Edmonton, but in Toronto its a totally screwed up corrupt mess. In Toronto, taxi licenses get bought and sold as commodities costing tens of thousands of dollars. And a small number of individuals, many of whom have never driven a cab in their life own literally hundreds of cab plates. There have been some efforts at reform through the "Ambassador taxi" programme in recent years but there's still a very long way to go. So, if you own the cab ... and more importantly the plate...re-painting the car might be an option. But if you don't, you're SOL.
From: a Micro$oft-free computer | Registered: Jun 2002
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radiorahim
rabble-rouser
Babbler # 2777
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posted 09 July 2005 12:24 AM
quote:
I'll have more support for taxi cab drivers when they stop trying to run me over. I've put no less than four body dents in taxis over the past year because of them running reds, changing lanes without signalling.... *shrugs*
Understood. I know there are alot of taxi drivers who do dangerous things...but it all stems from the economics of the industry. Its not an industry where folks make alot of money and folks take risks in pursuit of trying to earn a living. Hell I even had a situation where a cab driver had stopped to drop me off at an intersection and behind me there was another cab driver who was blaring his horn because we were "in his way". But the thing is, its the "dog eat dog" nature of the industry that makes it the way it is.
From: a Micro$oft-free computer | Registered: Jun 2002
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Nikita
rabble-rouser
Babbler # 9050
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posted 09 July 2005 02:33 AM
quote:
Originally posted by iPod:
Lets deal with world peace, the environment, poverty, and THEN we'll focus on wealthy taxi drivers.[ 08 July 2005: Message edited by: iPod ]
Is this the first response? Since you edited it, I can't tell if this is all you said. Regardless, I don't think one bad (albeit very unpleasant) experience is enough to warrant condemnation of an entire group of people, in this case, cab drivers.
From: Regina | Registered: Apr 2005
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taxigirl
recent-rabble-rouser
Babbler # 9868
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posted 14 July 2005 12:47 PM
I am very disappointed with what I have read above. It is only the ignorant who think that cab drivers are "wealthy". As a writer for the industry (and have friends and family who drive), it is this type of assumption that angers us most. Not only is it one of the most dangerous jobs, many cabbies work up to 16 hrs a day to bring home $50 in their pockets. There are many expenses, the cost of fuel, insurance, plate or car lease fees (there are also other ways cabbies take a loss like when taxi scrips are turned in, they lose 5% off the top, seniors discounts etc). This is only the top, since here in Hamilton cars need to be replaced every six years, and two safety checks a year(one by garage followed up by re-check from the city) means plenty of garage maintenaince. If personal cars were subjected to the same scrutiny, there would be 50% less vehicles on the road!! I personally am only just beginning research on this newly formed group, so I reserve my own judgement on that particular issue. As far as there being "options" for drivers who don't like their company, well you make that so easy (must not know much about the industry). If it were that simple, then we would have many more individual owners and not fleet owners!! Please check out our taxi newspaper, www.taxidriver.ca, which will help people understand more about the industry(we have three cities up and running so far, Toronto, Hamilton and Guelph). We also have a forum which deals strickly with issues of the idustry. Many of the problems with our drivers is "frustration" and even though they are not "above the law", we shouldn't be treated like lowly second class citizens either!!!
Taxigirl (Robin)
From: Hamilton, Ontario | Registered: Jul 2005
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aka Mycroft
rabble-rouser
Babbler # 6640
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posted 14 July 2005 12:59 PM
quote:
Originally posted by Gir Draxon:
In Edmonton when a bunch of Yellow Cab drivers got pissed off, they took their cabs, painted them orange, and started a new company called Capital Taxi. There are options for cabbies who don't like their company.
Only if they own their plates. In Toronto most plates are owned by lawyers, bankers, stock brokers etc who call the shots and rent the plates out to drivers at exorbitant rates.
From: Toronto | Registered: Aug 2004
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Section 49
rabble-rouser
Babbler # 3186
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posted 15 July 2005 12:28 AM
quote:
Taxi drivers are forced to stop to drop
passengers, to work quickly, and make U-turns. They have no choice but to
do things that police aggressively ticket for. The Coalition believes
police need to change their attitude and understand the nature of the taxi
industry and the tremendous financial pressures of the job.
I was somewhat surprised to see the newly formed coalition go after the police in this fashion. IT doesn't make practical sense for taxicab drivers to antagonize the police force over this issue. As mentioned above, being a cabbie is a dangerous job. They rely on the police a great deal to protect themselves from assault, fare-jumping, and robbery. In my experience as a criminal defence lawyer (defending the alleged assailants, the fare-jumpers, and the robbers  ), the police force is quite dilligent in investigating and prosecuting those who commit crimes against cabbies. Why risk alienating the police force over traffic tickets, especially if they are deserved? I mean, "stop to drop passengers, work quickly, and make U-turns" is just another way of saying "block traffic, speed, and drive dangerously".
From: Toronto | Registered: Oct 2002
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Mick
rabble-rouser
Babbler # 2753
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posted 16 July 2005 04:53 PM
Respect Not Harrasment: Toronto Coalition of Concerned Taxi Drivers rally at Police Headqaurters
Photos by John Bonner On Tuesday, July 12, cabbies were given time to present their case against unfair police targeting of drivers before the Toronto Police Sevices Board meeting at the 40 College Street Police Headquarters. After a spirited morning picket in front of police headquarters, taxi drivers and supporters returned to the building at 1 P.M. to submit their request for a hearing before the board on the issue of gratuitous police
harassment of cab drivers. To the apparent surprise of many veteran public attendees of board meetings, they were allowed to send four delegates up to the podium to air their grievances. Owen Leach, of the newly formed 'Toronto Coalition of Concerned Taxi Drivers' which organized the picket earlier in the day and submitted the request for the hearing was first up to the podium. Owen urged the board to do their job and restrain police from their arbitrary and constant
harrassment, the multiple ticketing (another driver present was given 4 that very day), and even unwarranted arrests of drivers. He suggested that there may even be a racist motivation behind the agressive targeting given that many if not most drivers are people of colour. The Toronto Coalition of Concerned Taxi Drivers includes Eagles Taxi, Taxi Post, On Time Taxi, the Taxi Association of Toronto, and the Ontario Coalition Against Poverty. For More Information contact: Jamshid Bagherzade, Taxi Association of Toronto: 416-993-8365
Owen Leach, independent Taxi Driver: 416-587-6930
Ahmet Gulkan, Eagles Taxi: 416-271-8425
Bashir Husein, On Time Taxi: 416-991-7274
From: Parkdale! | Registered: Jun 2002
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