Comments
sirzoop t1_j9ky6j8 wrote
Only the taxi companies who drive Uber are striking. Normal drivers aren't part of the union. It's clickbait
ThreeLittlePuigs OP t1_j9jyezl wrote
Scabs are pretty common occurrences. What should the workers do would you suggest?
k1lk1 t1_j9jyklk wrote
The last time they tried a strike it didn't even impact service much at all. Clearly the workers want to make money and not strike.
TheClassyEngineer t1_j9lwdbg wrote
Im not a cab driver and I also want to make money and not strike
ThreeLittlePuigs OP t1_j9jyv2t wrote
I mean clearly some workers want to strike. The system is designed to stifle worker organizing, but they're still trying.
spicytoastaficionado t1_j9k2u79 wrote
>The system is designed to stifle worker organizing
That's because the system is designed to let people work whenever/wherever they want.
It is hard to get a majority of workers on the same page when nobody has a set work schedule.
A labor strike effort would be way more effective if employee classification for ride-share drivers extended to Uber assigning specific pickup zones, dates, and hours to drivers.
An actual strike @ LaGuardia would be impactful if for instance, all riders assigned to work LaGuardia pickup that day collectively decided to strike. Then Uber would have to scramble to assign new drivers to that pickup zone, and those drivers could also strike.
Not sure how many drivers would want Uber to assign them when/where they could drive, though.
ThreeLittlePuigs OP t1_j9k30po wrote
That's an interesting take. Personally I think we should legislate away most gig economy jobs so that we aren't forfeiting basic labor regulations in the favor of some "move fast and break stuff" tech entrepreneurs idea of what's fair.
spicytoastaficionado t1_j9k9j49 wrote
Sure, but fully doing away with the "gig" model for rideshare companies would inevitably result in what I described, which is Uber having control of when/where drivers work.
That would make organizing labor strikes easier, but again, I'm not sure how many drivers would want dedicated shifts assigned to them by Uber.
k1lk1 t1_j9jz1yd wrote
> The system is designed to stifle worker organizing
The system based on civil liberties where if someone wants to work, they can choose to, and if they don't, they are also free to choose that.
Any worker who feels they get a bad deal working for Uber or Lyft is welcome to try out whatever new industry their heart desires.
ThreeLittlePuigs OP t1_j9jzcvu wrote
That's a funny way to say "designed to skirt labor laws and exploit people".
IKNWMORE t1_j9kojr5 wrote
But it’s not. It was designed to be a get in work and leave system. It’s only people who decided this was their “end game” who are saying it’s unfair.
TeamMisha t1_j9led3s wrote
In the OP's defense, Uber was literally based on ignoring regulation and laws to get into markets and then was even banned from several cities for such violations. It is still being debating in courts in various jurisdictions whether Uber is a "gig" economy with little to no responsibilities to workers, or whether the drivers are employees. Uber does crazy shilling and lobbying to do everything possible to avoid labor regulations.
tengentopp t1_j9kxstx wrote
Sounds a lot like the argument that people use against minimum wage: "McDonald's isn't a real job, it's just for kids in high school"
I disagree with that fundamentally. All jobs should provide security for an adult if they wish to do it long-term. Otherwise you're building economies on top of exploiting workers who can't get better jobs, whether it's due to age, education, or simply where they were born. Expecting that there will be an infinite supply of people that can't do better is a really bad bet and ends up backfiring on countries that don't adjust (see Japan).
AnacharsisIV t1_j9lk5t2 wrote
> All jobs should provide security for an adult if they wish to do it long-term.
All jobs, yes, but all companies within a sector? There are ways to make a career out of driving, like getting a truck diver's license, but Uber itself is explicitly not for people to be doing long term.
YouandWhoseArmy t1_j9jzuno wrote
Uber will never provide good, stable employment. Not in NYC at least.
ADustedEwok t1_j9ohum8 wrote
“Scabs”…. Ah yes let’s dehumanize people who also need to work to earn money to feed their family.
ThreeLittlePuigs OP t1_j9ojpso wrote
It’s literally the term…. Sure it’s not a union but still fits for folks working in the face of a strike or walk out. But you’re right in sure my words are the real harmful thing happening to those folks. It’s calling people scabs that causes poverty
ADustedEwok t1_j9ojzbb wrote
The actual term is a Strikebreaker.... My point is if you care about the idea of a union more than people actually supporting their own lives. "support this cause because it matches my ideologies, fuck your ability to actually work"- you
ThreeLittlePuigs OP t1_j9oksad wrote
That’s not at all what I said….
IKNWMORE t1_j9koa63 wrote
It’s not a union job. Not sure how they plan on striking.
[deleted] t1_j9judve wrote
[deleted]
wandabarr t1_j9mfz7b wrote
The word for that is scab
StoryAndAHalf t1_j9jvbyj wrote
The true hero. People traveling are not involved and may not even be aware of it happening for many reasons, caught in the crossfire.
Freddy-Sez t1_j9k2y32 wrote
They’ll learn that a yellow cab is usually the cheaper option from LaGuardia anyway, especially on a Sunday when prices tend to surge
TheAJx t1_j9kwl69 wrote
The last few times I've flown into LGA the lines have been ridiculously long, so Uber/Lyft are definitely preferred. Even with the walk to the garage the traffic flow is just much faster.
StoryAndAHalf t1_j9kw6dp wrote
Lmao, did you ever take the yellow cab? I have. Had to explain to him where my neighborhood was and the guy didn’t use GPS. No phone, nothing built into the car. It’s nightmare. There’s a reason people refuse to take them, and I learned the hard way not even 4 years ago.
Besides, how are tourists who only going to be in NY once in a decade suppose to learn? That’s just a stupid take.
DFB- t1_j9l4s1k wrote
Yeah everytime I mention to take Uber lyft over yellow cabs this sub be like "it's cheaper to take a yellow cab" I'll gladly pay an extra 3-$4 if it means not dealing with cabs driver saying "their machine is down, meter is down, or refusing to drive outside manhattan"
pedootz t1_j9midts wrote
Lol yellow cabs in this city made the bed they’re sleeping in. The cars and drivers suck and we’re unapologetic about it until something came along to threaten them. I’m not a fan of Uber, but I’m not crying for these assholes either.
mrpeeng t1_j9kac4t wrote
I'm lost, do the drivers not get a cut if there is surge pricing?
Freddy-Sez t1_j9kak9s wrote
I’m talking about the travelers “caught in the crossfire”
OldKingRob t1_j9l785a wrote
Yes…that’s the point of a strike?
Workers: we want more money
Company: you aren’t that important
Workers: ok we won’t work to show you how important we are
Smoothbrains: you’re inconveniencing me! 😭
StoryAndAHalf t1_j9l8c6n wrote
Workers: we want more money Company: you aren’t important Workers: we’ll strike for a day and you lose millions! Company: a drop in a bucket in the billions we make Random people: fuck us, right? I mean, you could pick us up, charge cash, and not share it with Lyft/Uber or whatever. Workers: no, fuck you in particular just because you didn’t know we were striking.
Monte-kia t1_j9k8p9b wrote
Cringe
FourthLife t1_j9kdi1g wrote
Cross every picket line.
Scab to support every company.
Ignore every boycott.
Organized labor is a meme.
spicytoastaficionado t1_j9jzpuf wrote
Between the bus lines running and the drivers who take advantage of lots of available fares, it would be surprising if that had much of an impact on those who need a ride out of LaGuardia.
ThreeLittlePuigs OP t1_j9jzrsi wrote
Could argue the press piece is enough of an impact by the organizers standpoint. I'd think that may be true as well if it brought more drivers / others to their cause.
spicytoastaficionado t1_j9k1v42 wrote
This will be the third strike drivers have held in the past three months in protest of Uber's legal battle against the TLC , and I would argue the media attention is diminishing returns at this point.
Also, given the two previous strikes resulted in no discernible difference in riders being able to get paired with a driver, it would be surprising if a third strike that is smaller in scope results in more drivers joining the strike.
It would be nice to see a unified front, but that surge pricing is going to be too sweet for a lot of drivers to pass up.
ThreeLittlePuigs OP t1_j9k2b3j wrote
>It would be nice to see a unified front, but that surge pricing is going to be too sweet for a lot of drivers to pass up.
Sounds about right
WeirdWreath t1_j9mix0i wrote
I was quoted $100 from lga to midtown last time I flew in. Took the Q70 to the subway and got there in the same amount of time for $2.75 lolol
akmalhot t1_j9ojn9v wrote
Man that's insane I was flying for worn Sept oct 22, was 45 bucks each way to midtown
Dynamic pricing has ruined everything
There should be a law that if you raise the price due to short term demand spike you can't lower it . So you have some consequence of playing the game
When I watch airfares, they'll go up 2-3x for a few days to a week.. then drop back down to baseline. It's a scam to just try to catch a few higher payers etc
There's no back check to stop them from trying higher prices for everything then slashing it
jae343 t1_j9k8vwi wrote
If you're smart, cab is always a better choice anyway and domestic travel I ain't carrying much so public transit is the preferred mode of transportation since you'll eventually get stuck in traffic.
tyen0 t1_j9m0vcg wrote
Yeah, cab is usually pretty quick - unless it's not. Had an extra long line one time and was freezing and another time during the renovation they made us walk to timbuktu. That was pre-covid, though. The new terminal is nicer in that regard.
spicytoastaficionado t1_j9n8xi7 wrote
If you're smart and traveling light, just take public transportation out of LaGuardia.
Way cheaper than a cab or rideshare, and there are more transit options than people would think.
Ask_Mountain t1_j9jr8x3 wrote
I understand that this will impact people with limited mobility, but for the majority of travels some will learn to use one of the many, cheaper, buses (M60, Q70) connecting to LGA.
doodle77 t1_j9jwfkl wrote
It's gonna go like the one a few months back.
W00DERS0N t1_j9ki3l9 wrote
Too bad there's no rail transit to the airport...
sirzoop t1_j9kyix9 wrote
They are striking the taxi and limousine company not normal Uber drivers. Read the article it's clickbait
spicytoastaficionado t1_j9n8b7k wrote
>They are striking the taxi and limousine company not normal Uber drivers.
The organizer of this strike, New York Taxi Workers Alliance (NYTWA), is a labor union.
It isn't a company that directly employs any drivers.
Not sure why you have posts referring to it as a third party taxi company.
TeamMisha t1_j9le2dh wrote
Unless the apps shut down I don't think any kind of protests like this will ever go that noticed by the public. There's close to 100,000 FHVs in the city right now... unless you had a concerted effort, for every driver protesting I suspect there's 10 more to take their place and take advantage of the situation. Plus cabs of course. Uber and Lyft are evil so I'm not bashing protestors but their battle is a pretty big uphill
Sapphire_Bombay t1_j9kjs1l wrote
Well boy I am now regretting booking a flight home to LGA that lands at 11:30 pm on Sunday. Fuck me, that'll show em
sirzoop t1_j9kylid wrote
You'll be able to call a ride. Only drivers employed by the third party taxi company are striking. Normal drivers will still be working they aren't represented by the union
Sapphire_Bombay t1_j9l0c3w wrote
Thank you 🙏🏻
sirzoop t1_j9l29z2 wrote
Also you can try Revel they are similar to Uber/Lyft and only use Tesla. Every driver is employed by the company
Sapphire_Bombay t1_j9l2r0j wrote
I've heard about them! Maybe I'll give that a shot
Jimmy_kong253 t1_j9kx5jb wrote
More money for the yellow taxis then
SnooRegrets6428 t1_j9mtxwx wrote
This is a win situation for yellow cabs
[deleted] t1_j9o5zqf wrote
[removed]
BreakfastSpecials t1_j9njy21 wrote
Blows my mind their is not a train that goes to LGA even it could possibly happen.
TheNormalAlternative t1_j9k1xds wrote
Don't most people take the bus anyway? At least as long as they're physically able to handle luggage (or have none)?
spicytoastaficionado t1_j9k4bob wrote
Yeah, public transportation options are actually pretty good @ LaGuardia.
Like you said, if a family (or individual) is traveling with a lot of checked luggage, using a car service would be more convenient but if someone just has a small carry-on, it is way cheaper to just take the bus.
MTA offers half a dozen different options between LaGuardia and the city.
TheNormalAlternative t1_j9k94x2 wrote
Plus, JFK and LaGuardia both have flights to many of the same destinations, often priced competitively against each other. I 100% consider my travel burden when picking my airport.
I feel like vehicle transport is mostly for older and disabled people, or alternately, people who don't really mind spending the extra cash on a car in the first place, which is to say, I don't think this "strike" will have much impact.
ThreeLittlePuigs OP t1_j9k2dfc wrote
Would be really interesting to see a breakdown on how folks get to the airport.
lee1026 t1_j9kb54r wrote
No. Well, probably not. MTA doesn't publish stats, but JFK airtrain simply don't see a lot of use.
Most American airports have transit connections (examples: SFO, OAK) see very little ridership on the transit lines.
Nor is the problem entirely American. I have been on more empty rail cars coming to and from every airport in the world than I care to count.
TheNormalAlternative t1_j9kegub wrote
>No. Well, probably not. MTA doesn't publish stats, but JFK airtrain simply don't see a lot of use.
Color me skeptical of your claim that admittedly isn't backed by stats.
At least anecdotally in my experience, unless I'm landing at like 11pm, anytime I've been on the Q-60, Q-70 or JFK Air Train coming from an airport, it's been a crowded. It's also rare in my experience to board an empty bus to LaGuardia when I get on in either Astoria or Jackson Heights.
lee1026 t1_j9kf1i1 wrote
Okay, since you think the JFK airtrain is crowded, JFK airtrain sees 3,439,400 passengers a year.
JFK, the airport, sees 55,175,249 passengers per year. A quick bit of math suggests that 6% of JFK passengers take the airtrain. Whether that is a lot is up to you, but JFK's traffic is overwhelmingly from people who don't use the airtrain.
LostSoulNothing t1_j9kg7r9 wrote
Is that 55 million only people arriving or departing JFK or does it include the millions of people who connect through there on their way to somewhere else?
lee1026 t1_j9kwnq7 wrote
I am also leaving out employees; JFK have more employees (35k) than the airtrain gets in daily passengers (22k). Call it a wash with the connections.
TheNormalAlternative t1_j9kxcmq wrote
First off, the OP is about LaGuardia, and my OC was about the bus to LGA. You've kinda hijacked this thread to make it about the airtrain to JFK without addressing the bus to LGA.
Second off, your numbers are wrong and don't support your argument.
Your 3.5 million ridership estimate (from Wikipedia) is for 2021 and doesn't take into account the impact of the covid-19 pandemic on travel. According to the Port Authority, "AirTrain JFK handled nearly 21 million passengers in 2019."
Your argument was "JFK airtrain simply don't see a lot of use" and that airports with transit connections "see very little ridership on the transit lines." Regardless of whether ridership is 3 million or 21 millions, that's literally millions of people using transit every year, and between 25-50,000 people each day.
Comparing that number to the number of air passengers is a totally inapt comparison. For one thing, that does not take into account air passengers who use JFK as a layover, nor does it take into account how people travel. For example, a family needs to buy flight tickets for children who can ride the MTA for free. Further, not everyone who flies in and out of JFK is coming to or leaving NYC; people from Long Island are probably less likely to use the airtrain, especially if they don't live near the LIRR.
In any event, comparing transit ridership to air passengers would, at most, support a different argument: that transit isn't the primary means of transportation for air passengers, not that it isn't a popular mode.
RXTHOMX t1_j9n4rmq wrote
Thank you
noobforce t1_j9kgfy8 wrote
I do agree with the logic but the 55M JFK stat may be overinflated due to including layovers
atyppo t1_j9l6h7y wrote
Is that only paid pax or everyone? Because that could make for a 50% increase by my estimate.
Jacken85 t1_j9kfqso wrote
London is amazing in that regard.
W00DERS0N t1_j9kvvh5 wrote
SFO's problem is the way the connection is set up. They have an "Air Train" that hits every terminal, but you have to haul over to the BART station.
They should've built it out to the Milbrae station to directly connect with CalTrain and BART and stop splitting the BART services at the end of the line. It'd also hook right up with the new HSR line as well. Super Short sighted.
k1lk1 t1_j9jxxqk wrote
Oh really, you think a bunch of guys aren't going to take advantage of surge rates to make a ton of money or service slows down? Lol