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🪧🔐 NYTWA Prepares To Protest "Lockouts" In Front of Uber NYC HQ This Wednesday, June 12th
NYTWA is calling on TLC drivers to show up to Uber's Manhattan office this Wednesday, June 12th at 1pm. Puts blame on Uber more than the TLC for the rise of driver "lockouts". Why?
New York Taxi Workers Alliance (NYTWA) plans to hold driver “lockout”-focused protest in front of Uber NYC headquarters this Wednesday at 1pm
NYTWA appears to hold Uber more responsible than TLC for lockouts, but fails to mention how taxi industry is benefiting from current UR regulations
We believe NYTWA has many valid points, but advocacy group is framing why driver lockouts are occurring with a taxi medallion sector bias
AutoMarketplace continues to call for the elimination of UR as a regulatory metric and policy to focus on enforcing the FHV License Pause (TLC Plate Cap) and limiting the issuance of new TLC driver licenses
There are some things we agree with New York Taxi Workers Alliance (NYTWA) about and there are others where we don’t see eye to eye. However, one thing is undeniable, NYTWA’s influence shouldn’t be underestimated. The organization does speak for a good portion of commercially-licensed NYC for-hire transportation (TLC) drivers, specifically yellow cab drivers, and has a history of getting things done. If you know New York State and City politics, it’s not easy to get policymakers to act, especially efficiently.
For example, the New York Attorney General’s investigation that resulted in wage theft settlement checks that thousands of drivers are eagerly waiting for, NYTWA uniquely deserves credit. Preventing the continued, uncontrolled issuance of electric vehicle (EV) restricted for-hire vehicle licenses (TLC Plates), you can thank NYTWA for that. The taxi medallion debt restructuring that resulted in hundreds of millions of debt forgiveness, etc etc. These are active driver advocates, getting things done. There is no denying that.
So, when the advocacy group, which defines itself as “21,000-member strong union of NYC yellow cab, green car, black car, livery and app-dispatched drivers”, is planning to make a major public stand, it’s important to note.
Uber NYC HQ Protest
NYTWA is planning to hold a protest at 1pm, this Wednesday, June 12th in front of Uber’s New York City headquarters at 175 Greenwich St. in Manhattan. Below, we share the unedited video of NYTWA leader Bhairavi Desai explaining why they are protesting, which was posted on the group’s Facebook page.
Video source: NYTWA publicly-accessible Facebook page
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NYTWA’s Yellow Cab Bias Showing?
As we implied at the beginning of this article, we disagree with NYTWA on certain policy stances and how they might characterize certain issues. As it relates to NYC Uber driver “lockouts”, NYTWA seems to be putting the blame more on Uber than the TLC. While they are correct to say that Uber doesn’t technically have to lockout drivers, we think that’s a little bit disingenuous.
The NYC for-hire transportation market, and NYTWA will likely agree with this, is oversaturated with driver / vehicle supply (i.e., supply vs. trip demand). In simple terms, if NYTWA expects Uber to keep every active NYC TLC driver who wants to access their app busy 53%+ of the time and earn a $28+ per hour equivalent wage, it’s not possible because there aren’t enough trips to go around. If you force Uber (or Lyft) to try to do something that is (currently) structurally impossible, Uber (and Lyft) will actually have to kick certain drivers off their apps altogether and put them on a waitlist.
In fact, this is already happening. Uber, as it warned, is now putting drivers with active NYC accounts on its waitlist, if they are inactive! 👀
So, why do we think NYTWA would focus their argument(s) on Uber versus concentrating more on the regulator (TLC) failing to control FHV supply, as it correctly has in the past (they literally sued the TLC over this issue twice last year)?
The simple answer, we believe, is putting the blame for “lockouts” on Uber (vs. TLC) helps the yellow cab industry more than it helps drivers who are focused on driving with the apps. Forcing Uber (and Lyft) to abide by UR metrics will benefit the yellow cab market, as waitlisted and locked out drivers will increasingly go to taxi garages. Furthermore, the “dirty” secret of the NYC TLC market right now is that when Uber dispatches to yellow cabs, it is NOT subject to UR or minimum pay rules 🤔. It’s odd, to say the least, that this fact is not mentioned by NYTWA.
Our readers should note NYTWA’s most prominent advocates, are mostly from the taxi medallion sector. Therefore their arguments should be contextualized around that bias. This is not an accusation, but context for our readers. This is only to say sometimes certain policy actions NYTWA is pushing for might be uniquely beneficial to the yellow cab industry, although this is not always the case. Oftentimes a win for the taxi industry, is a win for all drivers.
Although NYTWA does seem to hold the TLC accountable for mistakes regarding controlling FHV supply, their protest is not in front of TLC headquarters or offices, but rather Uber’s? 🤷 We’re also not saying Uber is without blame and NYTWA is right to say Uber lobbied for the utilization rate (UR) to be lowered from the originally proposed 56% to 53% and said, in a public hearing, lockouts wouldn’t occur if that happened. They are absolutely right to point that out.
“…I believe there was a couple months in 2020, probably in January, which is a slow month, it’s below 56%…”
- Josh Gold, Senior Director of Public Affairs at Uber
We continue to call for eliminating the use of a utilization rate (UR) altogether (note: keeping driver minimum pay rates). Rather, we believe policymakers should be more focused on controlling driver and vehicle supply. In a market where driver and vehicle supply is managed well, there is no need for UR. Driver wages are structurally protected, in a similar way to how the…taxi medallion system protected driver pay 🤔.
The culprit is the TLC-not Uber. Uber is merely playing the game as best they can to their benefit and profitability. The TLC is the rule maker. The TLC needs to drop UR and merely control the supply of drivers and cars on their end so drivers make fair earnings. UR was a nice idea somewhere in academia but we are now seeing the reality of it and I doubt those who came up with UR ever imagined that a rideshare company would simply not engage by locking out drivers. It’s time for the TLC to put its big boy pants on and act according to its mission.
I agree, NYTWA'S power cannot be underestimated at this point. Do they have their own "yellow agenda"? I believe so, I wouldn't be surprised if they try to get something that benefits only the yellow cab sector after all.
That "dirty" secret can easily be misinterpreted as a reason to blame TLC for lockouts and I might be totally wrong here correct me if I am please, but one thing is these yellow cab dispatched rides through Uber not being subject of UR but these rides could've been assigned to Uber drivers and contribute positively on Uber’s UR.
TLC need to stop remaining SILENT in regards this matter (lockouts, UR, Driver supply) even though their Agenda for tomorrow’s meeting is not intented for any these topics, Will David Do dedicate at least 10 seconds to say something about the current situation after the meeting? Will see.