Sven Nilsson: SYNOPSIS

I am a Swedish-born driver for Yellow Cab Company, retired in 1997. I drove for over forty years, twenty of them were in Las Vegas, Nevada. In 1963, I was stabbed during a robbery by two AWOL sailors. I almost died on the operating table, having a punctured intestine and a throat cut one millimeter from the artery. Some doctors are saying that, although my cancer is terminal, my more immediate problems may have something to do with those stab wounds.

I was a strong member and supporter of the Teamsters union and then pushed for the ITPE to organize locally. At the major Maritime organizing meeting held at the Marina, I told the crowd of drivers that they had no job protection without a union. I still support the unions and urge all drivers to join.

In 1989, after an unbearable allocation of new medallions by the Taxicab Authority, Dick Kawadler, a Yellow Cab dispatcher and publisher of the Trip Sheet magazine, formed the Professional Drivers Association (along with two other drivers) and threatened what the unions could not–a general strike by drivers. The governor’s office took notice and agreed to a grievance hearing at Cashman Field in January of that year. Close to 700 drivers showed up and complained to the TA board and attorney general on the stage. That was the beginning of the Professional Drivers Association. The strike was averted, but the threat has always been stronger than the actuality of a strike. I was an officer in the PDA from the beginning until retiring as president in 1998, and for several allocation hearings after that, no cabs were added.

The PDA became an intervener in the TA’s allocation and rate hearings and in hearings before other government agencies. Our voice added to that of the ITPE and the sometimes present Steelworkers unions, but the number of company voices are always greater at such hearings. Still, we have managed to minimize allocations and gain other benefits. For example, when George Balaban started On Demand Sedan, he wanted to charge rates that were competitive with taxicabs. I got the Taxicab Authority involved, and our intervention with the TSA prevented that. George says that he is glad I am no longer in the industry!

Representing the PDA, I attended every driver disciplinary hearing from 1989 to 1997, and complained in my column in Trip Sheet about abuses. I also advised drivers about the proper “administrative” procedures, which are very different from the usual courts of law. I spent many hours in legal research. The result has been that the hearing officer has changed from an ordinary investigator to an attorney, although at first it was one who had been sanctioned by the state bar. The current hearing officer, Roger Harris, is more fair to drivers than any that have preceded him, and the prosecutor is no longer an investigator, but a deputy attorney general.

In 1993, I was invited by Administrator Sandra Avants along with other industry representatives to be part of a “Blue Ribbon Committee” on driver safety. She tried to balance company, industry and driver representation, but the vote came down one short of having security cameras in cabs. However, the PDA’s driver survey netted automatic door locks, the cheapest alternative for the companies. I have been part of every safety panel since that time.

Also in 1993, I wrote “The Cabdrivers Bill of Rights,” a bill finally introduced in the Assembly in 1995 as AB103. It was huge and contained a lot of improvements for drivers. The ITPE and Steelworkers added provisions. Craig Harris came up with the large numbers for the top of taxis to make them recognizable to police helicopters. Murray Cohen wanted to reduce driver fines. The Steelworkers added a section to have video security cameras in cabs. The three drivers’ organizations agreed to send me to Carson as a lobbyist for the bill. Most of the bill was cut down by the Assembly Transportation Committee, but finally passed the Assembly in a reduced form. The Senate, however, did not have time in the two days left in the session to pass it. A lesson learned is that the bill was simply too big for easy passage.

After urging by Assemblyman Goldwater, The Taxicab Authority subsequently introduced other provisions that had been part of our bill:

1. Drivers now do not have to prove “beyond a reasonable doubt” that they feared for their safety when refusing a passenger. (Yes, that used to be the law.)

2. A sign in the cab would state: “Driver may require positive identification and an advance deposit.” That policy has been adopted, at least.

3. Seat belts must be maintained in a clean and operable condition.

4. Drivers may take a longer route if so authorized by the passenger. It used to be strictly if “specifically requested by the passenger.”

5. Forgetting to set the meter and collecting money anyway used to be illegal. Now it is permitted through reporting a “charge not on meter.”

6. The maximum driver fine used to be $1,000. Now it is $500, but the TA can still suspend or withhold your permit. This happened because the Taxicab Authority introduced a bill to raise maximum company fines to $10,000. Unfortunately, that would have been the maximum for drivers also, until I faxed the Senate Committee.

7. A driver shall have the right to prohibit smoking in his taxicab.

8. A driver may accept a gratuity from any source, provided it is not the result of diversion or other illegal act.

9. A driver would not be required to remit any amount not paid, provided he has obtained an advance deposit when the fare is expected to exceed a certain amount.

10. A cited driver shall have the right to question his accuser, whether in person or by written interrogatories.

11. A cited driver shall be informed of his right of discovery (evidence against him).

Other things were in the bill that passed the Assembly, but not the Senate:

12. A driver should not be required to wear a seat belt when he fears for his personal safety.

13. Ray Chenoweth had told the legislature that drivers were “unruly” at TA hearings (untrue) and the lawmakers had believed him. In 1991, they changed a provision in NRS707.8824 that required the TA to consider the welfare of the “general public” when making allocations. The wording was changed to “passengers of taxicabs.” Our bill would have restored the wording, because drivers are considered by law to be members of the general public, whereas company owners are not!

Unfortunately, a lot of provisions in the bill were dismissed as “the exclusive responsibility of the Taxicab Authority”:

14. The camera provision.

15. A driver shall not be required to be on duty more than 10 hours in any 18-hour period. (Opposed strongly by Frias’ lawyer.) That was not to say that a driver could not work longer if he so desired.

16. A driver should have the right to be represented by a non-attorney in a hearing, if such person is approved by the Taxicab Authority. Since the fines are relatively low, having to hire an attorney is an outrage.

17. One member of the TA board shall have been a taxicab driver in the area regulated by the authority for a minimum of 5 years. The usual TA board member understands company business issues, but is not attuned to driver issues.

18. A driver shall have the right to own his own cab without undue restrictions.

19. The hours of service required for a vehicle would be reduced from 12 to 8 to accommodate individual ownership.

20. The TA would not have kept any driver fines; they would go straight to the state fund.

21. Double-loading would have been permitted, as long as the original passenger expressly permitted it, and there was no overcharging. Explicit directions were in the bill.

22. The bill would have informed drivers about some of their rights, such as being able to subpoena witnesses on their behalf, using the TA’s powers.

There were other items in the bill, designed to correct legal language and outdated laws, but not as important to our lives.

I continued to work for drivers, representing the PDA, attending and intervening at every TA hearing until 1998, when I retired and Daryl Poelman was elected president. The TA board has challenged the right of PDA to intervene at times, saying they would simply like to hear one voice speak for drivers. (It gets tiring in those long hearings.) Our biggest right to have a separate voice is that we have had members from every cab company in town, including non-union ones. The TA board has asked for a list of our members, which we have refused due to a US Supreme Court decision (NAACP v. State of Alabama) which allows any organization whose members may suffer discrimination by revealing their membership to remain private. We have responded by affidavit when they want to know how many members we have, however, so there is power in the strength of membership!

Sven J. Nilsson

Yellow Cab Driver, Retired

Retired President, PDA

Current Advisory Director, PDA