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Indian cabbies join San Jose taxi strike in Mineta airport

Like hundreds of other San Jose cabbies, Tejinder Singh is refusing to go anywhere near Mineta International Airport these days.

Whenever his dispatcher at USA Express Cab calls him with an airport pickup, he gets this crisp response: "I'm busy."

Singh, a cab driver in Silicon Valley for the past 4 years, is participating in a strike that has effectively crippled taxi traffic at one of the Bay Area's major airports.

Only 40 of the usual 250 cabs that service the San Jose terminals showed up at the airport on Monday, forcing many travelers to wait an hour or more to hitch a ride or go for another ground transportation option.

The airport strike, which may continue through the week, is directed at the allegedly unfair business practices of many local taxi firms.

A lot has changed since September 11. But one thing that hasn't is the weekly fee that some cab companies demand for the use of their name, dispatch services and car rental.

These fees vary widely, but can approach $500 per week -- a nearly impossible sum to raise in this sagging economy, Singh says.

"They've been asking the same payment for the past 3 years, but now the economy is zero and we must renegotiate," he explains. "We're just not making enough to survive."

Although the strike is mainly targeting the two major companies that have a monopoly on airport service -- Yellow Checker and United Cab -- drivers at the dozen or so other cab outfits in San Jose are also pitching in to express their solidarity.

Singh, who worked for a year at United before switching to USA Express a month ago, says his fares have dropped 70 per cent over the past 3 months.

The souring economy and September 11 attacks have crushed tourism, his main source of income, and like cabbies across the country his back is to the wall.

"These days it's hard for everyone," he notes. "We're not getting any customers, especially at the airports," he adds.

"We can't live like this. We're not making any money and we have bills to pay. I know cab drivers who have had to take out loans, getting deeper into debt, just to pay their weekly fees," he notes.

On Monday, Singh vowed to dig in his heels and keep telling his dispatcher that he's busy when it comes to airport calls.

"I can't say how long this will go on and whether it will work, but we're excited. I'm not picking anyone up at the airport," he says.

Representatives of several San Jose cab companies, including Yellow Checker and United, were unavailable for comment on Monday.

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