Cabbies on edge as penalties begin
Things were relatively quiet at the airport Friday, the first day that taxi drivers faced tougher penalties for refusing to transport passengers with alcohol.
That doesn't mean, however, that anger, bitterness, hurt feelings, accusations and harsh words weren't expressed by many of the hundreds of taxi drivers affected by the MAC's new penalties.
"The new ordinance is very tough," said Mekonnen Doyamo, an airport taxi driver for about 10 years. "It's excessive punishment ... The new rules ruin our life totally."
This is to be expected, but half way through the article another party comes into play:
Despite the anger at the parking lot where cabbies awaited assignment Friday, there was at least one happy group: Local 120 of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, which spent the afternoon trying to persuade taxi drivers to organize.
"Any time that we can get involved with workers that need representation, we're happy to do so," said Rhys Ledger, the strategic campaigns director of Teamsters Local 120.
The union said it had a fairly simple solution to the problem: Designate certain cabs for alcohol, the same way that some cabs now are set aside for use by smokers or large groups.
That's the same solution the cabbies wanted, and it's Shari'a, only this time it would be Teamster endorsed.
