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Finding Aid to the United Taxicab Workers records
larc.ms.0429
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Title: United Taxicab Workers records
Date (inclusive): 1978-2006
Source:
Gruberg, Mark
Extent:
23.75 Linear Feet
(19 cartons)
Collection number: larc.ms.0429
Accession number: 2022/004
Repository:
Labor Archives and Research Center
J. Paul Leonard Library, Room 460
San Francisco State University
1630 Holloway Ave
San Francisco, CA 94132-1722
(415) 405-5571
larc@sfsu.edu
Abstract: This collection contains materials about the status of employees as contract workers or regular employees; issues of workplace
safety; gate control (a fee the taxicab driver pays their parent company each shift); records from city hearings about the
public convenience and necessity of cabs; applications and records related to permits and medallions; arbitration and other
legal documents. The collection also includes one carton of materials created by Rauch Graffis, a long-time San Francisco
cab driver and labor organizer, who wrote and taught on the subject "The Zen of Cab Driving." There are two cartons of VHS
tapes, audio cassettes, and floppy disks from the offices of SFTWA.
Physical Location: Materials are stored offsite; requires advance notice.
Languages: Languages represented in the collection: English.
Collection is open for research.
Copyright has not been assigned to the Labor Archives and Research Center. All requests for permission to publish or quote
from materials must be submitted in writing to the Director of the Archives. Permission for publication is given on behalf
of the Labor Archives and Research Center as the owner of the physical items and is not intended to include or imply permission
of the copyright holder, which must also be obtained by the reader.
[Identification of item], United Taxicab Workers Alliance records, larc.ms.0429, Labor Archives and Research Center, San Francisco
State University.
Ruach Graffis United Taxicab Workers collection; Ruach Graffis United Taxicab Workers collection, additions; and United to
Win (the bulletin of the United Taxicab Workers) is availble in the LARC Periodical Collection.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
This collection was donated to the Labor Archives by Mark Gruberg; accession number 2022/004.
Collection is unprocessed but material is available for research.
Arranged as received.
Taxicab drivers in San Francisco have been represented under a variety of different unions and labor organizations since 1904.
Many drivers lease their cabs and their permits from a parent taxi company, such as Yellow Cab and Luxor, which has led to
drivers often being classified as contractors, not employees and denied benefits as a result.
Taxi services are provided under the licensure of taxi medallions (transferable permits known as a Certificate of Public Necessity
and Convenience). Medallions, awarded by the city government, historically controlled the number of taxis in operation in
the city at one time. Until 2010, these medallions were granted for free to taxi drivers based on seniority. Owning a taxi
medallion was considered a major asset and ensured that their owner a steady income, either through operating a taxi and receiving
higher wages or by leasing out the medallion to another driver.
The San Francisco Taxicab Drivers Alliance was co-founded in 1984 by Rauch Graffis in protest over a city attempt to add 100
more cabs to San Francisco, which would jeopardize the livelihood of the existing drivers.
This Alliance, understaffed by overworked organizers, ceased to exist in the 1980s and became the United Taxicab Workers (UTW),
which organized taxi drivers in San Francisco under the Communications Workers of America (CWA) Local 9410. UTW was blocked
from filing union elections when the National Labor Relations Board ruled that taxi drivers were contractors and not regular
employees. The United Taxicab Workers, operating out of the Redstone Labor Temple in San Francisco, offered cab drivers advice,
assistance, and legal referrals when cab companies attempted to deny drivers workers' compensation, unemployment or other
benefits. At its height, the UTW had hundreds of members representing all of San Francisco's major cab garages, and many smaller
companies as well.
In 2010, as a response to the economic recession, San Francisco mayor Gavin Newsom began charging money (up to $250,000) for
taxi medallions and taxicab drivers began taking out large loans to purchase them. The taxicab industry was disrupted in 2011
when venture capital-backed rideshare companies like Uber and Lyft began providing a similar service to taxicabs but without
the regulation and worker protections offered in a more established industry.
These rideshare companies undercut the taxi drivers and eroded the stability of the profession. Now taxi drivers are saddled
with debt, often unable to make enough from their taxi business to pay off their medallion loans.
In response to this crisis for the taxi industry, UTW and the San Francisco Cab Drivers Association joined forces in 2014
to create the San Francisco Taxi Workers Alliance (STWA) under the National Taxi Workers Alliance (AFL-CIO). The SFTWA, representing
500 taxi drivers, is the first formal union of taxicab drivers to exist in San Francisco for 50 years. The intention of the
SFTWA was to create a united front of taxi workers to re-invigorate the profession, improve working conditions, and protect
fair business practices.
For a more in-depth history of the taxi industry in 20th century San Francisco, visit https://www.taxi-library.org/history.htm
This collection contains materials about the status of employees as contract workers or regular employees; issues of workplace
safety; gate control (a fee the taxicab driver pays their parent company each shift); records from city hearings about the
public convenience and necessity of cabs; applications and records related to permits and medallions; arbitration and other
legal documents. The collection also includes one carton of materials created by Rauch Graffis, a long-time San Francisco
cab driver and labor organizer, who wrote and taught on the subject "The Zen of Cab Driving." There are two cartons of VHS
tapes, audio cassettes, and floppy disks from the offices of SFTWA.
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Transport workers -- Labor unions -- California -- San Francisco Bay Area.
Labor contract
Arbitration, Industrial -- United States -- Cases.
Taxicab drivers--Labor unions
Gruberg, Mark