***MEDIA ADVISORY FROM TEAMSTERS 117 AND WORKING WASHINGTON***
Delegation of taxi drivers & community leaders to deliver petition calling on Port to enforce their own rules
The Western Washington Taxi Cab Operators Association will demand on Monday that the Port of Seattle enforce its own rules governing ground transportation at our airport. To protest unfair conditions, taxi cab operators may engage in a work stoppage, and this could disrupt ground transportation for tourists, businesspeople, and other Sea-Tac travelers.
When: Monday, July 16, 2012, 2 pm
Where: Port of Seattle headquarters: Pier 69, 2711 Alaskan Way, Seattle, WA 98121
What: Faith and community leaders join taxi cab drivers to call on the Port of Seattle to enforce its own rules. They will hold a press conference explaining the situation before delivering a unity petition signed by hundreds of taxi drivers to Port of Seattle CEO Tay Yoshitani.
Taxi cab drivers provide a crucial transportation link for thousands of Sea-Tac passengers each day, but many struggle to make ends meet despite working as long as 12 hours a day, 7 days a week. After paying for insurance, gas, leases, and airport pick-up fees, drivers start as much as $1000 in the hole each week — money they have to earn back before they see a cent in their pockets.
Recent actions by Port of Seattle management have made things even harder for these drivers — the Port is allowing other transportation providers to undercut taxi services, creating confusion for travelers and pushing drivers further into poverty. These actions by the Port are also in direct violation of the rules the Port itself has established to ensure reliable & efficient ground transportation choices.
Taxi drivers have repeatedly appealed to the Port to follow their own rules and hold up their end of the bargain so that they can have a shot at a decent living for themselves and their families. Monday, taxi cab operators and community leaders will call on Port leaders to enforce their own rules. Taxi drivers are also preparing for a possible work stoppage to protest the unfair conditions.
More information about poverty-wage jobs at our airport: Taxi drivers are among the thousands of workers who bring home only poverty wages for the vital and critical work of keeping Sea-Tac moving, including the people who get your bags from the ticket counter to the plane, make sure the aircraft cabins are clean, assist people in wheelchairs so they make their flights on time, and pump thousands of gallons of jet fuel into the planes. Airport workers are joining together to call on the elected officials who run our airport and the corporate players who profit from their work to say it's time to make every airport job a good job.
For more about Teamsters 117, the Western Washington Taxi Cab Operators Association, and Working Washington's campaign to make every job at our airport a good job, visit teamsters117.org, TeamsterTaxi.org, and itsOURairport.org
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CONTACTS: Sage Wilson, Working Washington: sage@workingwa.org Paul Zilly, Teamsters 117: paul.zilly@teamsters117.org