Sunday
Sep142008
Read the preliminary study on the taxi industry in Nashville:
Click to download
Justice for Nashville Metro Taxi Drivers!
“We work long hours, sometimes 16-18 hour days, just to make ends meet, but we have no say when it comes to the fees we pay to the cab companies for our permits, or the number of drivers out there” says Ismail Abdinasir, a member of the Metro Nashville Taxi Association. “The vast majority of taxi drivers provide efficient, courteous service, and speak great English. We are a very important part of this city and the tourism industry here. So why is it that we’ve been seeing negative portrayals of who we are and the service we provide?”
That’s why just this year, Nashville taxi drivers formed the Metro Nashville Taxi Drivers Association (MNTDA), hoping to gain a forum for their concerns. Taxi drivers recently met with the Metro Airport Authority, expressed optimism about working together with airport officials to improve working conditions and service. That hasn’t been the case with the Metro Taxi Commission. Continues Abidnasir, “when we take a look (at the Metro Taxi Commission), we don’t see a single taxi driver represented there.”
Says Reverend Gwen Brown Felder, Co-Chair of the Jobs with Justice Interfaith Committee, “as a faith leader, I believe our city government should truly represent everyone—that’s why taxi drivers need to have a say in the conditions of their work lives.” According to Rev. Felder, “it’s not just a moral issue, it’s good business sense. When everyone is at the table, we have a better service, and a better city.”
If you want more information about the MNTDA, please visit http://www.nmtda.com
For the official website of the NMTDA visit: http://www.nmtda.com/
Basil and Ishmael on the Metro Nashville Taxi Drivers Alliance:
Megan on the lack of driver representation on the Nashville Taxi Commission:
Recent News:
Monday
Aug042008
Editorial: Metro should intervene for cabbies
Monday, August 4, 2008 at 03:08PM They are an unheralded part of our county’s transportation infrastructure. In some cases, they can be the first impression Nashville leaves with new visitors.
In any modern American city, the taxi cab force on the street matters. Nashville’s cabbies are, unfortunately, about to go on strike. They are also searching the country to see if a national union might want to begin around the disaffected drivers.
Friday
Aug012008
Allied Cab drivers organize to fight, join union
Friday, August 1, 2008 at 12:50PM 
Abdinasir Ismail was a week removed from losing his job when he walked
to the front of the meeting room inside the IBEW-AFL-CIO union hall on
Elm Hill Pike this week.
He was standing in front of about 130
taxi drivers from Allied Cab and Nashville Cab, his employer. The
drivers represented more than a dozen countries, many of them have
sought refuge in Nashville from war-torn, poverty-ridden nations such
as Somalia or Ethiopia.
Wednesday
Jul302008
Allied Cab drivers go on ‘strike’
Wednesday, July 30, 2008 at 05:24PM 
About 130 Allied Cab and Nashville Cab taxi drivers voted to
effectively go on strike Monday in the latest development in a labor
dispute that’s been boiling to the surface for months.
The
drivers have long complained about the $175 weekly fee charged them by
Allied Cab. Drivers operate as private contractors and are responsible
for their own expenses, including fuel, insurance and upkeep.
Wednesday
Jul302008
Allied Cab drivers strike to protest fees, gas prices
Wednesday, July 30, 2008 at 05:20PM Most of the drivers for Nashville's largest taxi company, Allied Cab, went on strike Monday, protesting the high costs of doing business with the operator, some of the drivers said.
After an early-morning meeting, a group of about 140 drove in a caravan to Allied's offices, where they turned over their Blackberry phones, which were issued by the taxi company to the drivers so they could be dispatched to pick up customers, Allied driver Gabriel Djamson said.