By Kamal Ahmed
The New York Taxi Workers Alliance (NYTWA), a union reportedly comprised of 28,000 of the city’s taxicab and for-hire vehicle (FHV) drivers, has floated the idea of launching an insurance program dubbed, “Cooperatives’ Insurance,” aimed at providing affordable insurance for drivers.
“We plan to establish a ‘Co-op insurance’ program that will ensure quality of life for the taxi and for-hire vehicle (FHV) drivers who keep New York City moving round the clock; this program will also generate insurance money for them,” according to Mohammad Tipu Sultan, an NYTWA organizer and driver advocate.
Sultan, who was named an “Unsung Hero” by City & State NY and is a recipient of the Joseph Murphy Scholarship for Diversity in Labor at CUNY SLU, called it “a first of its kind” concept that will ensure equity and justice for the city’s hard-working drivers.
“The alliance has already had meetings with Mayor Zohran Mamdani and discussed various aspects of the concept,” Sultan explained. “Changing the rules to benefit the drivers is of paramount importance.”
The city’s Taxi & Limousine Commission (TLC) licenses between 180,000 and 200,000 drivers, who provide one million rides per day… or 600 to 612 trips per minute, according to the latest statistics available.
“Our primary goal is to reduce insurance payments for drivers. We will do everything possible to protect their rights,” said Sultan, a former yellow cab driver-turned union leader, who has led numerous campaigns and movements since 2004. He says the Co-op will not only provide “better insurance,” but it will also offer additional benefits. For example, “Drivers will be able to pay their insurance premiums based on the time they are actually working. If a driver is on a vacation outside of the Unites States, he or she will not have to pay insurance premiums for that particular period of time.”
A driving force behind the 2021 hunger strike and City Hall protests that led to historic debt relief for drivers, Sultan listed a series of issues drivers have long been suffering from – particularly the rising cost of living, irrational fines for violations, deactivations of drivers’ accounts by Technology Networking Companies, exorbitant insurance rates, wide-spread insurance fraud and regulatory abuse.
“The Co-op will give us bargaining rights,” Sultan said. “A driver should have some sort of savings after paying the expenses necessary to meet their family’s needs. Once upon a time, drivers could make $50 an hour in an eight-hour shift, but now they can barely manage $20 an hour. Thankfully, Mayor Mamdani is pro-driver. He’s given top priority to benefit taxi and FHV drivers. Merely passing bills and changing rules and regulations for the city’s for-hire industry won’t necessarily benefit the drivers. Drivers also have to play a role, they have to be more active and work together with industry groups working to help them.”
In Sultan’s opinion, the city has done little for drivers since the inception of the TLC in 1971: “Before 1971, drivers used to be managed under garages, and then medallion owners took control, but the drivers have always been exploited by bad actors and corporate greed. The only way to end the exploitation is by banding together in a union. A strong alliance gives the drivers a voice so they can have their demands met through a show of strength.”
Sultan pointed to bill “Intro 276”, which passed City Council in December, thanks in large part to the hard work of industry advocates and driver participation. “It will ensure drivers are protected. They will now be able to challenge whenever Uber or Lyft unfairly deactivate their accounts.”
Kamal Ahmed has a Masters’ Degree in Economics. He has been in the fore-hire industry for over 10 years, and has worked with the American Transit Insurance Company (ATIC). He is now a consultant. Previously, he worked for leading daily newspapers in Bangladesh and the country’s national news agency. He also worked for international news agencies (REUTERS, AFP, PTI) as a stringer.
