Sunday, July 19, 2015

UNAC 2015 CONFERENCE: PANEL 2: FREE POLITICAL PRISONERS





I co-chaired this panel at the United National Antiwar Coalition on May 9, 2015 in Secaucus, NJ.

Saturday, July 18, 2015

Uber: Neo Liberal Bastards from Hell Calling My House

This afternoon I got a phone call from Uber, the $40 billion for hire car company trying to take over the world (it operates in 57 countries) by paying drivers peanuts. I must disclose here that I have an Uber app on my phone and I have used the service  six or seven times in the past year or so.

New York City mayor Bill de Blasio is sponsoring legislation to regulate the for hire car industry.  That sounds reasonable to me, given Uber’s bad labor track record of racing drivers to the pay scale bottom and flooding an already crowded city with cars, but it didn’t get to be a big company by playing nice.

Uber has hired David Plouffe, a former Obama campaign aide as a lobbyist. Plouffe is trying to get King Rat Al Sharpton on board to fight the mayor.

This is all fairly standard corruption but today I came home to hear this robocall on my answering machine.

“Hi. It’s Molly from Uber and we need your help. Uber ended the days when you couldn’t get a ride during rush hour or in bad weather. Now mayor de Blasio is trying to bring the bad old days back because his billionaire taxi donors are telling him to.

But why on earth would your Council Member ever consider voting for something like this? They should stand up for you, not take orders from the mayor.

You Council Member is still undecided on this issue and we need your voice. Please call and tell them to vote against mayor de Blasio’s anti-Uber bill. Because you and all New Yorkers deserve reliable transportation.

Paid for by Uber 212 257-1745.”

There are now more Uber cars on the streets than the yellow taxis which provide a living wage. I will tell my City Council Member to back the mayor’s legislation.  I will also tell Uber not to call me again. Any business that hires Al Sharpton is inherently corrupt and will get no support from me. Then again, de Blasio thought that Sharpton was working for him. There really is no honor among thieves.