Nearly 100 taxi drivers dressed in their finest threads converged on City Hall yesterday morning to protest a new dress code bylaw.
"Everybody here, not one of us works for anybody except for himself," said Blue Line driver Sam Dia. "We have never received a Blue Line dental plan, or any health care except from the government."
Dia estimated about 1% of cab drivers don't wear appropriate clothing, but says it's the job of their supervisor, not the city, to deal with them.
'HASSLED SO MUCH'
"We have been hassled so much for so long," he said.
Taxi drivers consider themselves self-employed and say the city should not be able to dictate what they wear.
The bylaw requires taxi drivers to wear garments such as a white, grey or blue-collared shirt, dark blue, black or khaki pants, closed toed dress shoes, and photo identification attached to their shirt.
However, the protest at City Hall was about more than pressed slacks and dress shirts. Drivers say they've already felt imposed upon by the city, which is in the process of implementing new technology in cabs, including new payment machines and security cameras and they say they'll be the ones who have to pay for these new directives from City Hall.
CAN'T BE FORCED
Yusef Al Mezel, president of Local 1688 of the Canadian Auto Workers Union representing 1,300 drivers, said the union didn't organize the protest but has been in talks with the city about the bylaw.
Al Mezel said the union believes the city will not go through with the dress code based on conversations the two sides have had after last week's city council meeting.
"They (taxi drivers) are not working for the city, nobody can force them to wear anything," he said.
Many of the protesting drivers, however, were saying that the union has failed them and no longer speaks for them.
Susan Jones, director of bylaw services, said the city views drivers' clothing as a safety issue. Drivers who are wearing a consistent look and sporting an identification card are more easily identified as cab drivers by the public.
The city has the authority to regulate the taxi industry and several changes are coming in the next few months. Jones said in many cases, such as debit card machines and security cameras in cars, drivers can recover the costs from customers.
