Oakland, California: Taxi drivers plan two day strike

OAKLAND — Taxis and shuttles at the Oakland International Airport operated near each other in different shelters for years. That changed about a year ago, and on Monday cab drivers at the airport called a two-day strike over what they say is unfair competition because shuttles are now allowed to stage in the same shelter. That’s too close, according to Golden Cab Co. driver Wahid Aslami. The proximity is hurting taxi business and making it hard to earn a living, he said. The 200 or so striking cabbies want their competitors moved back to a parallel shelter, a row closer to the parking lot, that was once the domain of shuttles. They also want a wall of advertisements to be removed from the sides of the glassy shelter between the taxi zone and the doors of Terminal 1 because the ads make taxis all but invisible from that terminal. Read article