Taxi Workers Become a Union—Officially

[Starry Messenger]

http://labornotes.org/blogs/2011/10/taxi-workers-become-union%E2%80%94officially

On the top floor of AFL-CIO headquarters, overlooking the White House, a new union was born this afternoon.

Or more accurately, it was given an official blessing. Taxi workers in New York had built their union for 15 years at the city’s airport taxi stands, restaurants, and kitchen tables, but today they became the first new union chartered by the AFL-CIO in five years.

Javaid Tariq, an executive committee member of the New York Taxi Workers Alliance, called the AFL-CIO’s issue of its 57th charter “a first step toward a new kind of labor movement for the excluded workers, the workers without rights and benefits.”

“We gain political power and more strength,” Tariq said. “But we are still in charge of our movement.”

This is really hugh11!!. My fiance drove a cab for nearly 10 years, and I'm shocked he lived through it. (He wrote a book about it, some of his stories are excerpted here if you enjoy cabbie horror stories: http://www.smartasspress.com/home/metro_index )