Published 12 Feb, 2016
Taking on New York Mayor Bill de Blasio yet again, TWU Local 100 recently dealt a blow to the mayor’s latest anti-worker scheme: attempting to ban pedicab drivers from operating below 85th Street, which includes areas of Central Park. The misguided legislation would have destroyed the livelihoods of hundreds of workers, many of whom are immigrants, by keeping them away from the most heavily traveled—and therefore more lucrative—sections of the park.
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At the end of January, the mayor’s bill, which would reward carriage horse owners who stood to make big money by selling their stables, was headed for a slam-dunk. The City Council’s Transportation Committee was in favor by a 10-2 margin.
But TWU International Executive Vice President and Local 100 President John Samuelsen saw the danger to the pedicab drivers and acted forcefully, deploying the union’s legal, organizing, and media resources to raise the workers’ profile and torpedo the bill.
The city’s plan hit further roadblocks as carriage horse drivers took began to realize how the deal would winnow their numbers, and the non-profit Central Park Conservancy, which manages the park, started to have second thoughts about the proposed $25 million stable. TWU saw the opening, and began to organize the pedicab drivers. Members of the Transportation Committee began to waiver as the campaign grew stronger, and soon, the plight of the drivers became major news in the daily papers and on local television. Ultimately, the bill failed.
It added up to a win for working people and a reaffirmation of TWU’s social consciousness: to stand up for working families against a ‘so-called’ progressive mayor. A protest march after the vote actually turned into a victory rally for the drivers.
Even the animal rights activists saw through the clutter, with noted activist Elizabeth Forel writing in a personal letter to TWU: “Thank you for coming to the rescue of the pedicab drivers. You guys were the true heroes here.”