Within CAAAV: Lease Drivers Coalition

Lease Drivers Coalition meeting, Feburary 1994, CAAAV Digital Archive

The Lease Drivers Coalition (LDC) was formed in the Fall of 1992 by CAAAV members in collaboration with the South Asian Alliance for Action and former cab drivers/union workers. At its conception, South Asian immigrants made up the majority of NYC taxi drivers, which remains the same today. CAAAV formed the LDC to organize lease drivers to demand safer working conditions, medical benefits, better pay, and fair hearings with the Taxi & Limousine Commission (TLC), which oversees medallion taxis and for-hire vehicle industries. 

The LDC visited garages and gas stations, where cab drivers gathered weekly to hand out leaflets and questionnaires and talk to the drivers, hoping they would join the coalition. [1]

Demonstration with LDC and their supporters protesting in front of the Susan Maintenance Garage, November 12, 1992, CAAAV Digital Archives.

Protest at Manhattan D.A.'s office in support of Saleem Osman, July 7, 1995, CAAAV Digital Archive

Unfortunately, these visits were not universally appreciated, especially by the owners of the establishments where drivers congregated. In 1992, the Susan Maintenance Garage fired several drivers after they expressed interest in the LDC, with one driver threatened with a gun and assault from his former employer at the garage. In response to this backlash, the LDC organized two demonstrations in front of the garage. CAAAV reported that some drivers participated in an informal boycott to support the protest. [2]

Another major campaign was supporting Saleem Osman, a taxi driver and CAAAV organizer for the LDC, who, on May 26, 1994, was beaten and arrested by unidentified plainclothes policemen from the Transit Police and Midtown South Precinct after attempting to mediate a dispute between a Pakistani cab driver and a white truck driver. The Manhattan District Attorney Robert Morgenthau refused to drop the charges (which would have resulted in a four-year prison sentence for Osman), prompting a significant backlash by CAAAV, LDC, and their supporters. During the days leading up to the trial date (July 10, 1995), supporters of Osman left numerous phone calls and faxes to the D.A.'s office. They picketed outside the courthouse, all while there was growing press coverage of the trial by mainstream and ethnic news publications. 

Finally, on July 10, likely due to the pressure campaign, the D.A. abandoned the prosecution of Osman, and his case was dismissed (under a settlement of Adjournment in Contemplation of Dismissal on misdemeanor charges). [3]

Yellow Taxi with "LDC Driver Unity" sign on rear windshield, undated, CAAAV Digital Archives

Procession of yellow taxi cabs down Broadway in protest, circa 1997, CAAAV Digital Archive

By August 19, 1997, the LDC had gained enough prominence within cab culture that they were able to organize a protest featuring more than 3,000 yellow cab drivers and supporters to protest the harsh and dangerous working conditions of taxi drivers. [4]

In 1998, former LDC members created an independent cab driver group known as the New York Taxi Workers Alliance (NYTWA). This turn of events was described in the spring 1998 newsletter as a momentous occasion in the organization's history. It was the first time a CAAAV project grew into something more prominent outside the organization. [5]