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South Asian Network
18173 S. Pioneer Blvd
Suite I, 2nd Floor
Artesia, CA 90701
Tel: 562.403.0488
Fax: 562.403.0487
Email:
saninfo@southasiannetwork.org
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Background Information
In
November 2004, several taxi workers in Los Angeles approached a group of
community activists and organizations for help in improving their
deplorable working conditions. This gave way to preliminary
discussions with the larger taxi workers’ community resulting in the
formation of the Los Angeles Taxi Workers Alliance (“LATWA”) in
July 2005. LATWA is a broad coalition of community
activists and workers employed by taxicab companies in and around Los
Angeles supported by several community-based, workers rights, civil
rights and social justice organizations, including founding members, the
Asian Pacific American Legal Center (APALC), the Legal Aid Foundation of
Los Angeles (LAFLA) and South Asian Network (SAN).
The worker abuses and conditions that we have uncovered to date in this industry
include the following:
● lack of any real
political power;
● non-responsive, non-inclusive cab companies with no accountability to
their shareholders or their drivers;
● excessively prohibitive regulation of taxi workers with no
relation to passenger safety or public benefit;
● lack of livable wages and an unconscionable economic imbalance;
● high incidence of injury and poor health with no medical or
retirement benefits of any kind;
● extreme working shifts and hours; regularly 12 to 13 hours a
day, 7 days a week.
Some of the primary goals of LATWA include industry reform and drastic
improvement of working conditions for thousands of taxi workers. The
genesis of LATWA was the lack of any organized, cohesive voice
speaking for the workers and decades of abuse at the hands of many
institutions. The work that LATWA undertakes is accomplished
through an organizing committee consisting of workers, activists,
and lawyers. LATWA seeks to accomplish its mission through organizing,
policy advocacy, litigation and worker and public education and
empowerment.
L.A. Taxi Cab
Industry Chart [PDF]
Taxi Workers Survey Highlights
Community support letter
Meter Rate
Increase Campaign
2005
Accomplishments
The Battle For LAX
Victory at LAX
LATWA's support for truckers
In Solidarity
Download
LATWA White Paper -
“Sweatshops On Wheels” - September 2006
PDF format - 9.89 MB
Driving Poor:
Taxi Drivers and the Regulation of the Taxi Industry in Los Angeles
http://www.law.ucla.edu/docs/Driving Poor.92006.pdf
An Independent Study by UCLA
For
more information, or to get involved with the Los Angeles Taxi
Workers Alliance, please contact Hamid Khan at South Asian
Network (SAN) at 562-403-0488. |
