FOR THE PAST four years, 50 Portland cab drivers have been attempting a feat akin to crashing an exclusive, invitation-only party.
In a town where the number of cabbie permits has been calcified in place for years, they’ve been trying to form an employee-owned company—and they’re closer than ever to getting their wish.
Except that, in a twist, the cabbies are facing an unlikely opponent: their own colleagues.
On Wednesday, October 10, the city’s Private for Hire Transportation Board was scheduled to vote on adding 132 new taxi permits to the city’s existing crop of 382. These include permits for the 50 insurgent drivers and their company, Union Cab, also called Solidarity Cab Cooperative.
But despite the fact that Portland hasn’t added cabs in more than a decade—and despite evidence that Portland has significantly fewer taxis than comparable cities—the cabbies’ own elected representative on that city board has been pushing to shut the whole idea down.
The bubbling fight has left cabbies taking sides against other cabbies—all the while dancing around the uncomfortable specter of racism in a profession that draws heavily from Portland’s immigrant communities.
“We can’t absorb a 35 percent increase in the fleet right now,” says Red Diamond, the cabbies’ rep on the board, saying it would cut into the earnings of drivers like him.
And, so far, Diamond has been making headway in his effort.
Early on Wednesday, October 3, Diamond semi-officially launched his campaign. He managed to bring out 25 other drivers to circle the downtown Embassy Suites, in what was billed as a protest against a long-controversial practice of doormen taking bribes from drivers in exchange for exclusive access to the hotel’s guests. Embassy Suites declined to comment for this story. But Diamond’s critics say the protest was really an attempt to rally Portland’s cabbies against new permits.
Diamond told the Mercury, during the rally, that he thought Union Cab members were being selfish. “What they want is 50 new permits at the expense of everyone else,” said Diamond.
Union Cab’s founder and president, Kedir Wako, disputes the accusation. But the debate, in many ways, still starts with him.
In early 2011, Wako and other Union Cab members met with Mayor Sam Adams. The cabbies told the mayor they wanted to start a cooperative similar to Portland’s Radio Cab. According to Portland Revenue Bureau reports, they also discussed problems in Portland’s taxi industry, including low net pay, long working hours, and a lack of basic workplace protections. [“Cabbie Crackdown,” News, Feb 2 2012]
Adams responded by ordering an investigation. When the Revenue Bureau finally published its findings last month, it covered not only new permits, but also a series of reforms designed to address the workers’ complaints.
Wako’s feeling pleased with the report. Diamond, however, calls the recommendations an “absolute betrayal.” And the two have been sparring ever since.
“We had this expectation that the city was going to study our circumstances, and they were going to come up with a proposal that would help us,” says Diamond, “but these proposals hurt us.”
Diamond has also repeatedly—and publicly—made the claim that Union Cab is made up of Ethiopian immigrants like Wako who want to take jobs from Portland drivers. He also mentions “persistent rumors” that Union Cab drivers have promised permits to relatives in other states.
Not true, says Wako—who accuses Diamond of racism.
“Our members are current city cab drivers and are licensed in Portland or Vancouver,” says Wako. As to Union Cab’s ethnic makeup, he says, “We have Russian drivers, we have people from Iran, and we have Asian drivers.”
“I don’t think it’s a racist comment,” says Diamond. “It’s an observation. I don’t think there are any American-born people in that union. I don’t think there are any European-born people in that union. I don’t think there are any white people in that union.”
Asked again, about his statements, Diamond responded, “It doesn’t bother me that they might be all Ethiopian. I don’t know where you get that. What bothers me is I’ve heard persistent rumors from a variety of sources that they intend to bring in family members from out of town.” And, Diamond says, he won’t be convinced otherwise until he sees Union Cab’s membership.
So far, Union Cab hasn’t released the names of its members for fear the city’s current companies might retaliate if the new permits are rejected. Portland Revenue Bureau’s Kathleen Butler says Union Cab is well within its rights to hold back. “My understanding,” says Butler, “is that [Union Cab members] are a group of currently working city of Portland drivers and there is no one ethnic component to the formation of their company.”
Whether the new permits will help or hurt cabbies remains an open question. However, the revenue bureau’s argument for them is persuasive. For every 10,000 Portlanders, there are just 6.6 taxis. Seattle has nearly twice as many, and Denver and Minneapolis have almost three times as many.
“The statistics are really clear,” says Mayor Adams. “The lack of cabs are hurting the overall industry and the drivers.”
Wednesday’s meeting likely won’t be the last word. If the transportation board votes yes, then city council has final approval. It’s also possible the city council could overrule the board should it reject the permits. Adams declined to comment on whether he would pursue the permits if the board says no, but added, “I will tell you that the analysis behind the recommendations appears to be very thorough.”
In the meantime, Wako says he’s hopeful for the new permits and the reforms, saying, “Even if I get these 50 permits, I am still going to fight for [other] cab drivers.”
There is no racism here. Red is doing exactly what his constituents told him to do at the February driver standing committee, a meeting that no union cab representative attended. This entire process has been staged from the beginning by the mayors office with no chance of a fair process and that is exactly what you will see at the November city council meeting.
I know Red Diamond personally and am certain he is not a racist. It is important to note that Red was elected by all 900 cab drivers in the City, not just the 50 that are affiliated with Union Cab. His job was to represent the interests of the majority of the cab drivers in Portland, and I think he did it well.
I love the illustration of the two cabs by Alex Chiu!
It’s not hard to see why he’s being viewed as racist when he’s quoted multiple times talking about how they “might be all Ethiopian,” how they’re not “white,” not American-born, not European-born. Who gives a shit whether they were born in Asia or Africa and not Europe (apparently Russia doesn’t count as Europe) as long as they’re licensed and can do the job? And fearmongering about foreigners “taking our jobs.” Non-racists would not bring all that up, as if there’s a problem with a cab driver not being from N. America, Europe, or “white” when there is no clear relevance to such statements.
Any decent private detective should know better: http://www.amazon.com/Red-Diamond-Private-Eye-ebook/dp/B005P44Y0S
Perhaps they should focus on what is best for the citizens of Portland, which is to have MORE GODDAMN CABS ON THE STREET! It is laughable how hard it is to flag a cab on the street, no matter what neighborhood you’re in. Real cities don’t require ordering a cab to be the only way to get one. And considering the wait involved when you do call in, it is obvious that more cabs on the street will get plenty of use, and the cabbies won’t be losing money.
We just won’t have to wait as long to get a ride.
This Private for-Hire Transporation Board is the worst kind of government. It should be abolished with the fury of a public execution. It is nothing more than government mandated corporate collusion. There is never, absolutely never, any good reason for government to give a cabal of existing stake-holders the power to erect impenetrable barriers to entry.
Maybe racist, but if you look around at most small business, it is the employees who refer new co workers. People naturally want their friends and relatives to get first crack at any new openings (no pun intended unless you count sexist amongst racist). If you’ve got a cab company made up of Ethiopians, you can be sure that if they get their hands on more permits, they are going to be finding more Ethiopians to take those jobs, if they have to call their cousin in LA. Avis in Seattle has lots of Ethiopians by a strange coincidence. Discrimination against whites, never counts as discrimination. The only people to abide by anti discrimination laws are whites. Is that racist for me to state that fact?
Here’s what it really comes down to. Once you cave into white guilt and hire a minority, that company will be closed to whites for any new hire. The minorities will take over, because they will threaten to sue the company for discrimination if you don’t hire their female minority cousin. Furthermore, they make false accusations against white co workers who have seniority and eventually prevail with a preponderance of false complaints. The company always sides with the minority against the white, because the white will never prevail in court.
Buy a vintage Cadillac for a couple of grand and park on the street.
Whites are too hyper sensitized to make racial slurs or even stand up for their rights, but racism is rampant amongst differing ethnic groups. Not everybody of course, but there is a big open display of hostility between competing minority groups. The foreigners always come out on top, at the expense of the white. The one minority group to lose most often, is the American black.
The Native American Indian is conveniently out of the picture, stuck on the Rez.
Let’s give cab permits to Native American’s only.
If you want to say that Red isn’t a racist, go ahead, but he’s on record saying racist things. In a town like Portland, that’s enough to discredit you and your cause.
The problem here, is that no one on the city council or the Private for Hire Transportation Board truly understands how Taxi cab drivers sustain themselves through their work, except for the two representatives who represent drivers and cab companies. There isn’t enough business during the week to sustain the drivers from the 5 legitimate cab companies that aren’t Radio Cab. That’s how it is now, with the current number of permits. Adding 132 new cabs or a new cab company isn’t going to create demand for Taxis. It will solve the 2 am on Friday and Saturday problem when there is a glut of people who all wait until the bars push them onto the streets before deciding to go home. There won’t be enough business otherwise.
Cabs are way better than the bus especially unlicensed cabs, besides the US was founded on freedon rather then having to get permission from the government, corporations the founding fathers have to be rolling in their graves.