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    GregoireJ.K. Trotter
    2/09/16 4:45pm

    The drivers currently have Adrian hostage and are making him do humiliating things.

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      BitchMeeTooGregoire
      2/09/16 4:53pm

      I came to this post just for this.

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      a seahorseGregoire
      2/09/16 4:58pm

      still looks hot tho

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    MBCockJ.K. Trotter
    2/09/16 4:38pm

    LaGuardia is such a shitty airport. I feel a sense of sadness if you have to try to organize just to pick up fares at that dump. Granted, it’s the closest of the three majors, but what a fucking hellhole. I blame Robert Moses.

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      Justice Rains From My ButtMBCock
      2/09/16 5:22pm

      I worked there for several years and the shittiness of the facilities extend to everything else too. It’s a miserable place.

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    BCDFGJ.K. Trotter
    2/09/16 5:17pm

    Chen did good work covering this from the trenches. One thing that’s pretty glaring, though, is that IBEW 1430 are pretty clearly not going to get the drivers, as much as they scrounge for cards.

    First of all, it’s a big jurisdictional issue. I’m not sure the IBEW really wants to represent the drivers at all —they’re used to construction workers and electric company linemen really. This particular Local’s honcho (a guy by the name of El-Hag) is a lawyer by trade. He probably just wants folks for his law practice. He wouldn’t be the first lawyer to create a revenue stream through a union front…

    Second, there’s better groups. In NYC, there’s the Taxi Workers Alliance (which has already signed up a good number of Uber drivers, as well as yellows and greens) which exists somewhere in the gap between NLRB-recognized unions and a trade association because of the independent contractor rules of taxis in the city. Elsewhere, in cities where taxis are employees, they have actual union status.

    Then there’s the Machinists, who have done a good job representing chauffeurs in limousine/black car services (where they *are* considered employees of their respective companies in NYC).

    Beyond the feudal warlords in the house of labor, the real question is whether the workforce can band together, either in spite or because of the issues of UberX cannibalizing Uber Black (which killed off everybody’s margins). From what I’ve heard, the Black drivers are actually the ones with the most to lose monetarily —more invested in the vehicles and maintenance— while the newer UberX folks can switch to Lyft and get about the same rate.

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      Gabrielle CyniqueJ.K. Trotter
      2/09/16 4:40pm

      The Uber I'm currently in is all fast food wrappers & gym socks. He desperately needs better working conditions.

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        flamingolingoJ.K. Trotter
        2/09/16 5:11pm

        Good for Chen! I’m glad to hear that tormenting neckbeards can be a viable launching pad for a New Yorker gig!

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          cuntybawsJ.K. Trotter
          2/09/16 5:15pm

          I was sure Chen had moved on and was an Uber driver who talked about The New Yorker to hapless passengers, but this version works too, I suppose...

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            raincoasterJ.K. Trotter
            2/09/16 5:16pm

            Our little boy is all grown up. Probably posing with Louboutins on his head now.

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              ElephantShoeJ.K. Trotter
              2/09/16 4:37pm

              Motion to Jeb!fy The New Yorker! by writing an exclamation point after it from now on.

              See, it's better already.

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