Chicago Cabbie Strike Threatened: Cab Drivers Demand Long-Awaited Fare Hike

Chicago Cabbies May Go On A Monday Rush Hour Strike

Some Chicago cab drivers are threatening to go on a Monday morning rush-hour strike unless the city grants them a fare hike.

The Chicago Tribune reports that striking cabbies will not carry passengers between 6 a.m. and 11 a.m. next Monday in Chicago. Fayez Khozindar, United Taxi Drivers Community Council chairman, told the paper that he is hopeful that about half of the city's 12,000 some cabbies will participate in the stoppage and that more will join in as the weekly strike continues.

The cab drivers are angered because they have not seen a fare hike in seven years, the Chicago Sun-Times reports. Though Chicago's City Council approved a $1 increase to city drivers' "flag-pull" fee, that money has been offset by higher gas prices.

New Chicago cab regulations beginning July 1 have also increased the price of leasing a cab in the city by 30 percent and restricted drivers to working no more than 12 hours daily, according to CBS Chicago. The new regulations also include a $50 vomit "cleanup" fee that cab drivers are now allowed to charge passengers who throw up inside their vehicles.

A spokeswoman for the city's Department of Business Affairs and Consumer Protection told the Sun-Times that "it is premature to talk about charging more for a ride" until after the new regulations go into effect.

Cabbies are expected to protest at City Hall on Wednesday.

Photo by choffee via Flickr.

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