ABSTRACT
The struggle to organize New York City taxi drivers was a history of de-feats. The first taxi fleet was born in 1907 and eight years later the Chauffeurs Division of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters attempted to organize it, but they were defeated by the fleet owners. The United Auto Workers tried again in 1937 and they failed as well. Michael Quill of the Transport Workers Union took a tum and he gained union recognition in several garages before he, too, was defeated by the fleet owners' roughshod tactics. "Drivers were intimidated not to pay their dues, shop stewards were brutalized by fleet-hired thugs and many were forced to sign petitions denouncing the union if they wished to take out a cab," wrote Charles Vidich in his book, The New York Cab Driver and His Fare.!
