Testimony by James Conigliaro, Jr, Founder & President, Independent Drivers Guild
Before the Committee on For-Hire Vehicles
April 30, 2018
Good Morning Chairman Diaz, members of the Committee on For-Hire Vehicles. My name is James Conigliaro, Jr., I am the Founder and President of Independent Drivers Guild. I am also joined here today by Ryan Price, IDG’s Executive Director and Muhammed Barlas, a member of IDGs Board of Directors.
The Independent Drivers Guild is a nonprofit affiliate of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAMAW) that represents 65,000 working drivers throughout the for-hire vehicle industry. The IAMAW has been the only union to successfully organize black car workers in New York City, and has been doing so for twenty years. Ninety percent of our members are immigrants fighting for the American dream, representing 190 countries; they are young entrepreneurs, parents, seniors – the working poor. We are Uber, Lyft, Via, Juno workers united for a fair for-hire vehicle industry.
Council Members, I want to apologize upfront if my tone, at times, appears contentious. But we are beyond frustrated and taken aback — not only by the unjust treatment of our drivers which we will get to, but by the questionable process by which you are taking up these very serious matters that will impact the livelihoods of thousands of hard working immigrant families.
Intro 838 was only introduced last Wednesday, April 25th and a hearing is being held three (3) business days later. Then on Thursday afternoon several more bills are added to the agenda, each bill dealing with very serious and complex matters, each of which deserving of their own separate hearing. Now, here we and others are having very limited time — as you very well know — to deal with seven (7) matters of significant public policy import. Council Members, is this really how we want to deal with these important issues? The challenges facing this industry are real, but rushing through ill- conceived legislation will only worsen the situation. Let’s get it right. So much is at stake.
In the interest of time and as to not be distracted from the most destructive proposal, I will focus the majority of my testimony on Intro 838 (by Council Member Diaz) and look forward to taking questions on the other bills, and talking and working with Council Members Rodriguez, Levin, Lander on their very important proposals.
While the IDG agrees with the need for an improved regulatory system for app-based transportation services, especially with regard to driver pay and protections, we stand in strong opposition to this Intro 838 as it will only serve to harm the more than 65,000 app-based drivers and their families while putting their livelihoods in serious jeopardy.
Specifically, this bill would require a $2,000 annual licensing fee to app-based vehicle owners and prohibit any worker who drives for an app-based company (such as Uber, Lyft, Juno, Via, etc.) from driving for more than one app-based platform or any other transportation service including a black car, livery or medallion service.
Both of these provisions combined will force a significant amount of drivers out of the industry, into unbearable debt and abject poverty and God help us in how they deal with and overcome these unbearable burdens for them and their families.
It already has been well publicized that drivers are struggling to make minimum wage in a 12-hour work day after years exploitation and pay cuts by owners. It already has been well publicized that the increased stress and burdens that have been placed on drivers have caused some app-based drivers to resort to suicide right outside the gates of City Hall. Therefore, requiring an additional $2,000 annual fee on struggling drivers would only be callous and add insult to injury.
This $2,000 fee is nothing more than a $130 million annual pay-to-work tax on working poor, immigrant families — without any justification and without regard to its impact on individuals, families or consumers. $2,000 is equivalent to a full month’s pay for many drivers. Furthermore, there appears to be no other public policy purpose behind such a fee other than to punish workers for their career choice. The Taxi and Limousine Commission (TLC) has not requested such a fee. So, we question the real and legitimate public policy purpose behind this legislation.
Not only is it unprecedented, no driver — whether yellow, green, livery or black car — pays a $2,000 fee to operate their vehicle. The annual TLC fees for vehicles are either $550 per year for Medallion Owners or $550 every two years for Livery and Black Cars, including app-based drivers. In addition, the costs of the barrier to entry for all drivers to get a license, including app-based drivers, is already at least $769. That’s the facts. ALL DRIVERS across this industry — Livery, Medallion, Black Car and App-Based — are hurting. Instead of disingenuously pitting one set of the industry’s drivers against another — which is all this bill is doing — we should be working together on fair proposals that not only seek parity but that help all drivers, all immigrants, all working poor.
We call on this Committee and the Council to substantially reduce or eliminate ALL TLC driver fees. We strongly support eliminating all fees for all drivers or decreasing the fees for Medallion Owner-Operators to $550 every two years so as the entire industry is treated equally. That would be the fair and honest thing to do.
With regard to the bill’s provision that prohibits all for-hire vehicle workers from driving for more than one app-based company or any other transportation service like black car, livery, green, or yellow (referred to herein as the one-boss rule) — this provides undue power to employers, medallion owners, base-owners, and app-based companies and significantly weakens drivers’ leverage. The vast majority of for-hire vehicle workers use multiple platforms and services in order to provide for their families, and to hedge their support for specific companies. Even many green and yellow medallion drivers are Uber and Lyft drivers as are black and livery services drivers.
The one-boss rule further poses a huge threat to jobs and economic security. Ride-hail apps are famous for treating drivers as expendable, like slashing pay with no notice and firing hundreds of workers every month. Preventing drivers from working for more than one company means that when a driver is fired or mistreated, they will have no option to provide for their families. Forget severance pay or unemployment checks as app-based drivers are deemed “independent contractors”. Under the one-boss rule, they will be forced to pay another month’s worth of taxes for the privilege of working 12-hour shifts under a different boss.
This will also hurt consumers, especially those in the outer boroughs, as competition will decrease, resulting in higher costs and longer wait times. The one-boss rule also has the dangerous possibility of harming smaller and family-owned businesses while providing a monopoly to Uber as upwards of 80% of app-based drivers are signed up with Uber and would likely stay with this app-based company if this bill was passed. This legislation, simply put, misses the mark and gets it wrong. Recent technology, specifically app-based technology, has transformed the entire for-hire vehicle industry and thus reform and parity is needed on a grander scale. Professional drivers are in desperate need for livable pay, benefits, and workplace protections. Let’s work together and get it right.
With regard to the other bills on the agenda today, which again deserve more time and a separate hearing, here are our thoughts.
Pay Equity and Protections: We look forward to working with Council Member Lander on his legislation and appreciate his efforts on this front. On March 30th, 2018, with the support of almost 16,000 workers who signed a petition, the Independent Drivers Guild submitted a formal rulemaking petition for the Taxi and Limousine Commission to regulate driver pay in an effort to enable our members to make a livable wage in an eight hour day. The proposed rules would reduce their time on the road and ensure that government taxes and company fees would not be allowed to be taken from the driver’s pay, increase pay for workers who choose to operate a Wheelchair Accessible Vehicle, disincentivize price gouging, and give workers more basic workplace rights. We feel that before any other regulations, the basic protection of minimum pay is essential. The TLC
has until May 21st, 2018 to respond.
Cap on Driver Licenses, Not Vehicles: We look forward to working with Council Member Levin on his legislation, Intro 144. The most overwhelmingly supported action by our members that the City Council has the authority to accomplish is to limit the number of workers entering the industry as opposed to placing a cap on vehicles. A cap on vehicles provides more power to owners and companies, while limiting the workforce provides power and value to the drivers. We support a limit to the number of newly issued Universal Drivers Licenses based on the total and expected number of for-hire and taxi trips. Limiting the labor pool will require all companies to compete to keep drivers working for them, meaning the competition shifts away from a race to the bottom on
driver pay, and shifts to providing benefits.
Wheelchair Accessible Vehicles: We look forward to working with Council Member Rodriguez, as we have so well in the past, on his legislation, Intro 855. As described in our public comment to the TLC, our membership staunchly opposes outright percentage requirements for Wheelchair Accessible Vehicles. Costs for conversion or purchase for Wheelchair Accessible Vehicles should not be passed on to workers. It is essential that the transition to a more accessible industry incentivizes preferred behavior for it to be successful, in this case purchasing and operating a Wheelchair Accessible Vehicle. We propose a three-part plan for a more equitable and comprehensive transition to an accessible industry.
1. Regulate an increased pay rate for Wheelchair Accessible Vehicle operators as proposed in IDG’s rulemaking petition currently before the city’s Taxi and Limousine Commission.
2. Mandate enhanced WAV classes.
3. Implement a For-Hire Vehicle Improvement Fund similar to the Taxi Improvement Fund, to subsidize costs for conversions and purchases of accessible vehicles.
Thank you Chairman Diaz and Council Members, we look forward in the weeks ahead to talking and working with all of you on all these important matters and we will be happy to take your questions.
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Marlena, Guillermo and Johan must work 14 hours every day to make ends meet for their families. There are thousands of for-hire vehicle workers in New York just like them.
On Monday April 30, Council Member Ruben Diaz, the Chair of the City Council’s For-Hire Vehicle Committee proposed a new law, Intro 838, that would destroy 70,000 jobs. This bill is intended to take the income away from tens of thousands of immigrant families.
ADDITIONAL $2,000 YEARLY TAX JUST TO WORK: Intro 838 would require each driver that works with an app-based service to pay $2,000 per year—just to work.
DRIVERS WOULD BE LIMITED TO ONE COMPANY: Most drivers work for multiple apps like Uber and Lyft so they can stay busy working — or supplement their income by driving for luxury black car, livery, green or yellow. Under Intro 838, they would have to choose a single app. Permanently.
EXPECT DELAYS AND MORE CONGESTION. The ability of drivers to work for multiple apps reduces unpaid down time for drivers, but it also leads to quicker response times for riders. With drivers forced to stick to a single app, there will be longer wait times for riders and more riderless vehicles clogging our streets.
DRIVERS WHO ARE MISTREATED OR FIRED HAVE NO ALTERNATIVE: Ride-hail apps are famous for treating drivers poorly, from cutting pay with no notice to kicking them off the app for petty reasons. Terminated or mistreated drivers would be forced to pay another $2,000 to switch apps and resume work.
It’s hard enough for FHV drivers to make money as it is, now it’s about to get much harder.
El Independent Drivers Guild ha emitido formalmente las siguientes demandas diseñadas para crear un salario digno para los conductores. Las familias trabajadoras cuentan con el apoyo de los neoyorquinos para presionar al Concejo Municipal para que los promulgue:
El IDG exige un aumento en salario mínimo para el pago de los conductores (lo que los conductores cobran por viaje, por minuto y por milla después de las tarifas y recargos) con un 37% en todas las plataformas, incluidas Uber, Lyft, Juno y Via.
El IDG exige una comisión máxima. Debemos evitar que Uber cobre a nuestros pasajeros más del doble de lo que se le paga a un trabajador. Exigimos que Uber y otras compañías no cobren a nuestros pasajeros más del 20% de lo que se le paga a un trabajador.
El IDG exige a los trabajadores que reciban un pago decente por el pago de su salario de regreso a la ciudad de Nueva York, mientras que no haya pasajeros en el automóvil.
65,000 trabajadores de New York Uber, Lyft, Juno y Black Car están angustiados.
Mientras las compañía dice al público que sus conductores trabajan por parte del tiempo para ganar un poco de dinero, la verdad es que en Nueva York, al menos 71% de los conductores están manejando en a tiempo complete, y no están ganando lo suficiente.
Desde que presentaron sus servicios a Nueva York, las aplicaciones móviles han ganado millones al reducir drásticamente el pago de los conductores como una forma de mantener sus exorbitantes ganancias. Esto ha dejado a los conductores en gran deuda con gastos altos que resultan en ganancias netas inferiores al salario mínimo.
Los trabajadores de FHV han sido injustamente culpados por todo, desde la congestión del tráfico hasta la falla del sistema de transporte público. Recientemente, el concejal Rubén Díaz ha llegado a proponer una tarifa anual de $ 2,000 para que los conductores sigan con la licencia, junto con la limitación de su capacidad de conducir para múltiples aplicaciones móviles, como lo hacen muchos conductores para complementar sus ingresos. Las consecuencias de un pago más bajo han sido devastadoras ya que los conductores han sido empujados a la pobreza, y en algunos casos trágicos, el suicidio.
On Monday April 30, Council Member Ruben Diaz, the Chair of the City Council’s For-Hire Vehicle Committee is proposing a new law that will destroy our jobs if the City Council decides to pass it. This bill is intended to take the income away from tens of thousands of immigrant families.
ADDITIONAL $2,000 YEARLY FEE JUST TO WORK: This bill would require each driver that works with an app-based service pays $2,000 per year—just to work.
YOU COULD ONLY WORK FOR ONE COMPANY: If you work for both Uber and Lyft right now—you would have to choose between the two. Permanently. You would not be able to switch between Uber, Lyft, and Juno. You could only choose one that you work for, permanently. You would no longer be allowed to be a luxury black car, livery, green or yellow driver that uses an app company in between clients.
IF UBER FIRES YOU, YOU HAVE NO OTHER OPTION: Uber terminates hundreds of workers every month. Under this bill if you are one of the people Uber fires at random, you would not only continue to not have access to unemployment insurance, and you would not be able to work with another company unless you pay another $2,000 fee.
RIDERS WILL BE IMPACTED, TOO: EXPECT DELAYS AND MORE CONGESTION. The ability of drivers to work for multiple apps reduces unpaid down time for drivers, but it also leads to quicker response times for riders. With drivers forced to stick to a single app, there will be longer wait times for riders and more riderless vehicles clogging our streets.
HOW DO THEY EXPECT US TO SURVIVE?: It’s hard enough to make money as it is, now it’s about to get much harder.
The Independent Drivers Guild (IDG) is seeking an energetic and outgoing individual interested in helping build our organization from the ground up. We are an union nonprofit affiliate of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAMAW, Machinists Union) and represent 60,000 app-based For-Hire Vehicle workers in New York City.
We are constantly working to recruit more For-Hire Vehicle drivers into our union and develop current membership to become more active. We are searching for an experienced organizer that has 5+ experience of organizing membership and staff.
The Field Organizer position will be responsible for coordinating all levels of outreach for the Independent Drivers Guild. This position requires a high energy, responsible, and organized individual with a passion for social justice.
Responsibilities include but are not limited to:
Managing and developing member and intern field organizers and phone organizers;
Maintaining a strong internal organizing strategy to continually develop members;
Building a network of active drivers in each borough;
Organizing and securing turn out for events, meetings, actions, and protests;
Organizing and running successful membership meetings;
Identify, track, and develop potential stewards and activists that we meet in the field and/or over the phones;
Coordinating and running works council meetings with members and company management;
Developing and maintaining a network of community partners;
The ability to troubleshoot problems as they come up with organizing staff and with membership;
Coordinating with the Education Director to run Organizing trainings to further develop our membership;
Required 3+ years of field organizing (preferably labor organizing), coordinating experience, and leading organizing staff.
This position will report directly to the Chief of Staff.
Stressed about taxes? Understanding your taxes not only relieves stress, it also gives you an immediate opportunity to increase your income from driving. Wondering where to begin? The IDG can help.
The IDG will be hosting a tax seminar in partnership with the Financial Planning Association of New York. In addition to walking you through tax forms and the tax law as it applies to rideshare drivers, the seminar will equip you with the knowledge you need to save money on taxes — from how to best track costs and deduct expenses, to paying estimated taxes and using tax-advantaged savings accounts.
If your goal is to make more money from driving, this might be the most important seminar you attend this year. We hope you can join us!
Attendance is limited to 35 people. Sign up now to reserve your spot!
For the past few months, Uber has been pushing alongside the MTA to implement a new tax on the labor of 100,000 immigrant workers. We have been at the table demanding the following:
No new tax without a guarantee that companies cannot take the sum of the tax from our cut of the fare.
No new tax without a social safety net for drivers. If New York is increasing costs to our passengers, a portion, if not all, of the profits should go back to the workers to help us provide for our families.
No new tax without parity across the industry between taxis, black car, and livery.
The final deal was decided late last week. Elected officials agreed on a deal that implements the following to fund the MTA:
A $2.75 tax on for-hire trips beginning or ending under 96th Street in Manhattan, excluding taxi trips.
A 75¢ tax on Via, UberPOOL, and Lyft Line pickups in the same area.
A $2.50 tax on taxi trips beginning or ending in the same area.
Instead of a tax on all vehicles, for-hire vehicles have been singled out to carry the burden for the whole city, while commercial trucks and private cars get off scot-free. It’s clear that for-hire vehicles are seen as the low hanging fruit and there is little doubt that is because monied special interests take precedent and most FHV drivers are immigrants who can’t vote.
Still, we did successfully beat back previous proposals that would have been worse, including a $1 tax on all rides in New York City in addition to the new Manhattan tax for app-based trips, and no tax on any other vehicles.
While we did not win the social safety net for drivers in the budget bill, we believe that we have the support to win in the regular State legislative session. State elected officials could not deliver on the guarantee to stop companies from taking the sum of the tax from our cut of the fare, however all eyes are on our demand that the Taxi and Limousine Commission regulate pay. If the TLC approves our rule, our pay will be protected from this and other taxes. The city’s decision will be announced by May 21st.
With the support of 15,000 petition signers that are struggling to provide for their families, the backing of state and city elected officials, and the support of our partner community organizations, we know that we will win a fair industry.
This new tax will be devastating to some of our members. But by coming together and compelling the TLC and other elected officials to move forward on our otherproposals we will no longer have to face the dilemma of having to choose between spending time with our families and being able to provide for them.
The IDG is a Machinists Union affiliate organizing app-based drivers. We are Uber, Lyft, Via, Juno workers united for a fair for-hire vehicle industry.
Join us for our weekly action nights to help us win the fight for pay regulation. We’ll be reaching out to fellow IDG members and encouraging them to get involved in this important fight!
Join us for our second ever IDG Opportunity Fair! We have partnered with non-profits, unions, and universities to offer a variety of free service accessible to you. At the fair, you will find:
Free college courses and programs!
Sloan Kettering Hospital to offer free health care screenings!
ESL program providers!
Job training professionals that will train in IT, CDL licensing, Customer Service, and more!
Immigration representatives and lawyers!
IDG Legal Help line, IDG Education Center, and IDG Union Leadership Program!
and more!
All organizations attending will be offering free services to IDG members. Please feel free to bring your family, friends, and children to take advantage of this career advancement opportunity.
EVENT PARKING OPTIONS: From 5:00pm-7:00pm the neighborhood clears out in terms of street parking. From 7:00-9:00pm all the commercial space in front of the building will be open and legal for you to park at!
If you have any questions/concerns/etc. about the event, please email – marygrace {at} drivingguild {dot} org
As New York searches for solutions to the decades-long problem of congestion, it has focused the blame largely on for-hire vehicle drivers. We all agree the glut of drivers has outpaced demand, forcing us to work longer and longer shifts and increasing unpaid downtime between fares. There is a solution that will help current drivers make a better living while reducing traffic congestion: a cap on new TLC-licensed drivers and a raise.
Worker cap not a vehicle cap.
The number of for-hire vehicle drivers serving our city has exploded in recent years and is one of the factors depressing driver pay and crowding our streets. Limiting new TLC drivers will mean fewer cars on the street and more work per hour for current drivers — FHV and taxi drivers alike. What’s more, a limited pool of drivers will force apps and taxi bosses to compete for drivers, which could mean better pay, better policies and app improvements.
While a cap on drivers would make the workers more valuable, a cap on vehicles would make vehicle operating costs more expensive – an expense struggling drivers cannot afford. Much as the scarcity of taxi medallions led to skyrocketing prices in the last decade that pushed medallion ownership out of reach for drivers, a scarcity of vehicles would drive up costs for workers, pricing drivers out of our own jobs.
A cap on drivers is the labor-friendly way to address our crowded streets and improve the ability for all for-hire drivers to make a living.
A raise will help congestion.
Last week we submitted our petition to the Taxi and Limousine Commission demanding a 37% pay increase. We came to the number 37% because right now, drivers are working a median 11 hours per day and our goal is for workers to be able to make a living in an eight hour day.
Decreasing the workday for drivers mean decreasing the number of vehicles on NYC streets at any given time.
Working together we can create a more fair industry while reducing congestion.
The Independent Drivers Guild is an affiliate of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers and represents and advocates for more than 60,000 app-based drivers in New York City.