[PAA-Discuss] [hq2600] From Cynthia McKinney: Uber-corruption? New taxi service threatens good-paying US jobs while enriching a few insiders

[HQ]

Uber-corruption?  New taxi service threatens good-paying US jobs while
enriching a few insiders

https://www.rt.com/op-edge/326671-uber-taxi-us-chicago/

Uber, with Goldman Sachs and other Wall Street insiders as investors,
including the Chicago Mayor’s brother, Ari Emanuel, is putting at risk
thousands of jobs nationwide while the taxi industry undergoes a
game-changing transformation.

Last week I was in Moscow, invited there by the Anti-Globalization Movement
of Russia (AGM), an organization founded by young patriotic Russians. They
have made an effort to reach out to progressive communities around the
world, even protesting in front of the US Embassy in Moscow against police
impunity in murders of unarmed Blacks. We had been negotiating dates for my
trip there for about a year. I finally made the trip last week: my visit
coinciding with that of US Secretary of State John Kerry. This unusual
alignment of US officialdom and a former Member of Congress made for
enhanced media interest in my visit.
[image: @SaharActually] 'Uber is illegal’ - Toronto taxi protestors
<https://www.rt.com/news/325221-uber-taxi-protest-toronto/>

In the process, I learned a lot about young Russians. But, for now, I want
to explore the focus of this article: what I learned about a controversial
business that has deep financial ties to Wall Street insiders and Chicago
Mayor Rahm Emanuel.

On my return from Moscow, I landed at JFK airport, but had to make my way
quickly over to LaGuardia airport for the next leg of my journey. That is
when I chanced upon a conversation with my taxi driver who was fighting mad
about what he believed was an acute injustice that violated the compact
between taxi companies that pay more than one million dollars for
permission to operate, called a *“medallion,”* in exchange for protection
and regulation by the City. The political tale he spun to me reeked of what
seemed to be a type of illegal Wall Street insider trading. Here’s what he
told me:

Immediately after collecting the medallion money from taxi operators in New
York City, then-Mayor and billionaire Michael Bloomberg publicly quarreled
with a political connected businessman known as *“The Taxi King,”* Evgeny
*“Gene”* Friedman. According to news reports, Bloomberg reportedly told
Friedman that he was going to *“destroy your f_cking industry.”*
<http://www.businessinsider.com/bloomberg-has-words-with-taxi-boss-2013-5>

According to information provided to Business Insider by a witness to the
exchange, Bloomberg appeared to be upset by the ‘Taxi King’s’ successful
legal attack on Bloomberg’s plans to introduce reforms in the New York taxi
industry. Those reforms were to include the mandate that all taxis would be
a special yellow design made especially by Nissan for the New York Mayor’s
initiative, the Nissan NV 200
<http://www.autonews.com/article/20141215/OEM/312159982/how-a-billion-dollar-deal-is-frustrating-nissan-in-new-york>.
The deal with Nissan was reportedly worth one billion dollars.  Dubbed by
Mayor Bloomberg as the *“Taxi of Tomorrow,”* it just so happened that my
dash from JFK to LaGuardia was in that very Nissan model that is neither
electric nor hybrid.

My driver was angry because he had worked hard and paid the fee for the
medallion and then the Mayor undercut the value of the medallion by
allowing Uber drivers to operate in the city in any vehicle.  He railed
that overnight, the value of his medallion had dropped precipitously and
due to the Uber competition, he was facing eviction from his home due to
decreased business and increased price competition.  He claimed that his
situation was mirrored by thousands of other New York City taxi drivers and
that overnight a middle class job had become one out of which barely a
modest living could be eked.

Indeed, Uber has made international headlines recently.  Available in 68
countries according to its website <https://www.uber.com/cities>, Uber
faces a frontal challenge from competitors in India and China. Uber’s
website claims that its drivers make good money, work on their own
schedule, outside of an office and without a boss. Indians and Chinese
investors have joined forces to back *Ola*, Uber’s competition in India.
The stakes are big with *Ola* having raised approximately $670 million
between 2012 and mid-2015 before the Chinese investment. In mid-November
2015, Ola announced another fundraising success of an additional $500
million that included investment from the Chinese Uber competitor, *Didi
Kuaidi*.

The struggle in Australia is chronicled on Facebook here
<https://www.facebook.com/groups/TaxiDriverPage/>. One Aussie taxi owner
even reportedly
<http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/australian-taxi-firm-owner-brags-about-beating-uber-driver-1522729>
bragged on social media about attacking an Uber driver and recommended that
others follow his action.
Read more
[image: Reuters / Sergio Perez] Uber: A small step towards world bankruptcy
<https://www.rt.com/op-edge/225631-uber-cars-drivers-future/>

Then, my driver dropped what was a bombshell to me: Chicago Mayor Rahm
Emanuel’s brother, Ari Emanuel, head of William Morris Endeavor talent
agency, was an Uber investor. So, I decided to investigate. And sure
enough, it turns out that the William Morris Endeavor talent agency owns an
investment in Uber.  According to the *Chicago Sun Times
<http://chicago.suntimes.com/politics/7/71/166840/rahms-brothers-stake-in-ride-share-firm-raises-uber-questions>*,
the company spokesperson confirmed that the Uber investment was made about
three months after Uber began operating in Chicago.  Moreover, the Sun
Times reports that Uber investors also include Amazon’s billionaire Jeff
Bezos and Goldman Sachs.

Chicago taxi drivers contend that the relationship between Uber and the
Mayor’s brother is an outrage because of the city taxi regulations. The
paper concludes that the relationship makes it hard for the mayor to appear
to be acting solely in the city’s interest.  Even worse, in 2012, a city
employee was reassigned after she informed the public in a tweet
<https://twitter.com/RKrim/status/237298640379596800> that the Uber drivers
were not licensed. By 2014, Mayor Emanuel’s ordinance
<http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/politics/chi-chicago-rideshare-regulations-approved-20140528-story.html>
was adopted allowing Uber to legally operate in the city where taxi
medallions cost over $350,000.

An investigation by the City of Portland and reported by Bloomberg news
<http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-10-19/these-four-charts-show-how-uber-steals-turf-from-cabs-and-spreads-throughout-a-city>
shows how taxis become displaced by Uber.  Meanwhile, in New York City, my
driver reported to me that current New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio is
trying to sort out the mess left behind by his predecessor.  But in July
2015, the *Washington Post* reported, “Uber mows down Bill de Blasio.”
<https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/ubers-bare-knuckle-battle-against-the-taxi-industry/2015/07/27/e0e7be98-3483-11e5-8e66-07b4603ec92a_story.html>
The *Post* article also says that driver-less cars could soon replace Uber
drivers.  It ends by acknowledging that while Uber was smashing Bill de
Blasio’s efforts to slow down its penetration of the New York City market,
it also was crushing the dreams of *“a lot of hardworking cab drivers.”*

So, what does this mean to me?

Somehow, it seems unseemly that billionaire and millionaire mayors can use
their money and political power to cost the jobs of hard working middle
class taxi drivers without some kind of alternative training opportunities
or something to ease the losses of the losers while the winners seem to be
playing insider profit games.

Last week
<https://www.rt.com/op-edge/325895-haiti-presidential-elections-clinton/>,
I wrote about how those powerful enough to make US policy on Haiti are
turning it into a vassal state; what I stumbled on two days ago, upon my
return to the US, is how a similar situation is brewing in cities all
across the United States while millions
<http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/how-ubers-new-17-billion-710771> of
dollars in profits are on the table and hundreds of thousands of jobs are
at stake.

In the current US neoliberal system, the winners are the few on the inside
and the losers are all of the rest of us.  This is especially true while
the taxi industry undergoes a game-changing transformation.

The statements, views and opinions expressed in this column are solely
those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of RT.

-- 





* ----------------------------------------------------------+|    __o
CONTINENTAL CRITICAL MASS    |  _`\;,_               come ride with me |
(*)/ (*) |                  Bike4Peace <http://bikepeace.blogspot.com/>
Across the USA
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