Chicago Sun Times: Taxi cab group says thousands of drivers joined Monday morning strike

Taxi cab group says thousands of drivers joined Monday morning strike

BY mitch dudek Staff Reporter [email protected]

Couldn’t hail a cab Monday morning?

That’s probably because thousands of taxi drivers went on strike from 6 a.m. to 11 a.m. to highlight their frustration with new city regulations that raised the rates taxi drivers pay to lease their vehicles without allowing a corresponding fare increase to offset the expenses.

The strike, which organizers say will be replicated every Monday morning until demands are met, was planned by the United Taxidrivers Community Council, which claims to represent about 2,000 drivers and counts on the solidarity of many more.

The taxi staging area at O’Hare, usually flush with several hundred cabs, was empty at 7:30 a.m., said taxi driver spokesman Michael McConnell. The 15 taxis usually lined up outside the Sheraton were no where in site at 10:30 a.m., he added.

Read More Taxi cab group says thousands of drivers joined Monday morning strike | Chicago Sun Times