Both sides in taxi drivers strike dial up pressure

The day after a federal mediation session went nowhere, both sides in the 5-day-old taxi drivers strike ratcheted up the pressure amid indications that another cab company also faces labor difficulties.

Yellow Checker Star Transportation on Thursday started what Chief Operating Officer Bill Shranko called the “replacement of strikers” with new hires.

He said that the company, with the second-largest fleet in Las Vegas, would take a couple of days to identify drivers who walked out and replace them by reverse seniority, with those having the least time going first. If the company calls back the replaced drivers, those with the most seniority would be first, he said.

While union leaders brushed this off as a standard strike tactic, Michael Goodwin, president of the Office and Professional Employees International Union told a drivers meeting that the union had spent $50,000 on ads with local and Southern California media outlets to warn tourists that it may be difficult to get around town. Southern California has always been the largest market for the tourism industry.

“We did this because we thought maybe it could slow down some of the Southern California traffic that comes on Friday and Saturday nights,” Goodwin told a meeting of about 550 drivers at the Gold Coast.

The union is the parent of the Industrial Technical & Professional Employees Union Local 4873, which represents 1,274 of 1,704 Yellow Checker Star drivers. Union officials have said their focus has been on punishing the company, not the broader economy.

On Tuesday, a separate federal mediation session ended with no agreement between Frias Transportation Management, Las Vegas’ biggest cab company, and drivers represented by the United Steelworkers Union. According to Gebeyehu Bekele, a member of the union negotiating committee, members had not yet seen the terms of what the company called its “best and final offer.”

It is unclear when or if the proposed contract would be put to a vote. Union officials in Albuquerque, N.M., who led the negotiating team, and Frias CEO Mark James did not return calls seeking comment.

If the drivers vote it down, Goodwin said he would personally lobby United Steelworkers President Leo Gerard to authorize a strike quickly.

Yellow Checker Star and Frias hold 1,313 operating permits, known as medallions, a little more than half the total for all of Las Vegas. Nevada Taxicab Authority officials have said simultaneous strikes could create transportation headaches.

Yellow Checker Star’s mediation session lasted about eight hours yet made no headway, both sides said.

“We appreciate the invitation from the mediator to attend the meeting,” Shranko said.

The company did not budge from its stance that negotiations had ended. The company unilaterally implemented the terms and conditions of the final contract offer, rejected by 70 percent of union voters in January, on Feb. 3.

“Nothing will change, and there is nothing more we will say to the union,” he said.

Goodwin told the union members, who frequently interrupted with applause and chants, that company director Jonathan Schwartz had “a tiger by the tail. He’s adamant, he’s arrogant and he’s saying to the union, ‘I don’t care how long you strike, you’re not hurting me.’ ”

Moreover, he said, drivers object to a deal that was “shoved down your throats.”

Both sides roughly agree that the company has been operating at about half capacity, with higher participation during the 12-hour shifts that start at noon than the ones that start a midnight.

Both sides, however, claim they have been drawing converts daily.

Goodwin said that the union sees the strike as based on unfair labor practices rather than economic issues. The distinction, he said, is that unfair labor practices created an avenue to recover back wages and benefits, although it could take a long legal fight to win.

“If they had an unfair labor practice complaint, they would have filed it on Feb. 3,” Shranko said. He added that the company had compiled a bargaining record in recent months that met the legal standard of “good faith.”

As an example of the side skirmishes that have emerged, the union has reported to the taxi authority that some cabs have left the company yard earlier than regulations allow. Shranko said he had told the authority of a few early departures because some strikers were coming close to cabs leaving the yard.

An authority spokeswoman said the authority would investigate.

“That’s a way of saying they will do nothing,” union senior international representative Paul Bohelski said.

The Thursday union meeting was designed to keep drivers motivated in what Goodwin said could be a long strike.

“I was kind of hesitant about this at first,” driver Michael Mares said. “Now, I think everything is going great.”

Contact reporter Tim O’Reiley at
toreiley@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-5290.