Cab Drivers Protest At O'Hare, Midway Over Proposal To Allow Ride-Sharing Airport Pickups
(CBS) --- For a couple of hours today, it was difficult for passengers to get taxicabs out of O'Hare and Midway airports, reports WBBM Political Editor Craig Dellimore. Regular cab drivers were protesting a plan that would let ride-sharing services like Uber compete with them.
Chicago's Aviation Department confirms taxi service at O'Hare Airport and Midway Airport was disrupted by the cab drivers' action.
Cheryl Miller, a 20-year-taxi driver who's with Cab Drivers United and AFSCME Local 2500, says regular taxi drivers were refusing to pick up passengers to show their dismay at an Emanuel Administration plan they say would let Uber, Lyft and other smartphone summoned car services to operate at city airports:
"Uber provides the exact same service as licensed cab drivers, but nothing in the Mayor's proposal makes them play by the same rules we do," said Cheryl Miller, a veteran Chicago cab driver and member of Cab Drivers United. She says they want a level playing field, and NOT to be levelled by a bulldozer.
Miller says the drivers wanted to get the city and public's attention. They returned to serving passengers shortly before noon.