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Posted 5-10-08 by request of  Mr. Shahid Comrade Writing Date: Fri, 9 May 2008 Free Kashmir No Indian Army PAKISTAN – USA FREEDOM FORUM 2257 92nd Street East Elmhurst, NY 11369 Tel (718) 397-5027 or (718) 763-3543 Fax (718) 574-4333 E-mail: pakusaff@hotmail.com Stop Dividing Families End the Raids and Deportations Open Letter to Honorable  Mayor Bloomberg Pakistan USA Freedom Forum is an organization that supports constitutional rights, workers rights- HUMAN RIGHTS worldwide. As you know, taxi drivers went on strike last year, not to ask for a raise, but simply to ask for the right to privacy, so that their every movement could not be tracked by the new taxi navigation system. If our strike did not win our demands, it raised the human dignity of the cab drivers. After all, you also had proposals that you did not win (the West Side Stadium project, “congestion pricing”) but you did not consider yourself defeated. The taxi drivers in New York love our city – we have taken pregnant women to the hospital, returned valuable items inadvertently left in cabs, etc. Most drivers are immigrants, many having to leave countries run by dictators put and kept in power by the U.S. government, such as Pakistan under Busharraf. On May 1, many of us joined with both immigrant and native-born workers to demand legalization of all immigrants, an end to the raids and deportations that are dividing families, and in solidarity with the family of Sean Bell and other victims of police brutality. As immigrants and workers, much of our limited income is sent home to our families, so that they not only have enough to eat, but can send their children to school, improve their conditions and further contribute to their home countries. Currently, our situation is getting harder. On the one hand, the prices of food are going up all over the world, including in the U.S. This is in no small part due to the conversion of large agricultural areas from production of foods to production of substitute fuels. At the same time, the U.S. government is spending trillions on an unjust war in Iraq, which has led to the killing and displacement of millions of Iraqis and the deaths of thousands of U.S. soldiers, in a fight to maintain the domination of the Middle East by the big U.S. oil companies and other monopolies. On the other hand, taxi drivers are getting further squeezed, making it harder than ever to send money to our families at a time when they need it most. For one, drivers are now paying $4 per gallon for gas, about 400% of what they were paying only a few years ago. They have to pay an extra 5% on credit card charges. Taxi owners are charging more money to lease cabs with the new navigation system. And owners frequently hold the credit card charges for money that they claim the drivers owe them. Now, money from credit card payment go first to the owners; if they claim that drivers own them money for even minor accidents, they try to deduct these charges from the credit card payments due to the drivers. This is nothing but blackmail and totally unfair to the drivers. Mr. Mayor, now that you will soon be leaving office, we ask you to do something  good. Many people think that because you are a billionaire you have little sympathy for the common people. We ask you to do two simple things: 1) Add a surcharge to the taxi fare that will at least allow us a livable wage to make up for the increased gas prices and other expenses – we know that the riders will understand this. 2) Get the TLC, whose chairman, Matthew Daus, as a holdover from the administration of Rudy “My Way or the Highway” Giuliani, to make a binding regulation that all credit card payments must be made available to the drivers within 24 hours, with no “deductions” for alleged accidents or any other reasons. Shahid Comrade Secretary General (917) 280-0840 Dr. Mohammed Shafique President Posted 10-15-07 by request of  Mr. Shahid Comrade Taxi Drivers Hope for Best from Mayor Open Letter to Mayor Bloomberg and for the people of New York: We are writing to you about the situation of the taxi drivers, some of the hard-working immigrant New Yorkers who must work 12 hours a day, 7 days a week, just to survive. We have one simple request: stop the placing of so-called GPS technology and credit card systems in the cabs, or at least postpone it and talk to the drivers. The GPS is not a positioning system that will help us go to our passenger’s destination, but a tracking device that allows the TLC to see where we are going whether we are at work or not. It is “Big Brother” watching drivers all the time. And drivers are charged 5% for every credit card transaction, which amounts to a wage cut. At the same time, we have to be grateful to Governor Spitzer, who has instituted a rule allowing all qualified drivers to get a driver’s license, regardless of immigration status. We wonder, Mayor Bloomberg, why you are objecting to this, while the Health and Hospital Corporation under New York City control also justly has a policy that says: “We care about your health, not your immigration status.” New York has always been a city of immigrants, and we urge you to take a fair stance toward mostly immigrant taxi drivers. In the last 7 years, drivers have seen the cost of gas go from $1-$2 a gallon to $3-$4 a gallon, which they have to pay for. Like all working people, drivers are suffering from a shortage of affordable housing in the city, deterioration of the health care system (drivers like many others have no health insurance), and decline of most social services, while billions of dollars are spent every week for the unjust war in Iraq. New York is also the scene of increased racism and police brutality, particularly against African Americans. (Remember Sean Bell!) Last month, thousands of drivers took part in a two-day strike, at great cost to themselves, in their fight for dignity and privacy – they were not asking for money. This strike should be a great credit to all working people in this city. We ask you to have the decency to come to talk to the drivers, and not to behave like your predecessor, Rudy Giuliani, who openly took the attitude of “my way or the highway.” We remember how, during the 2005 transit strike, you called the bus and subway workers “thugs” for standing up to demand decent wages, health and pension benefits. And we also have had to suffer for almost 7 years under President George Bush, who, in dragging the prestige of the country down into the mud with his war of terror on Iraq, is only serving the interests of the oil companies and other multi-billion dollar corporations. We urge you one last time to come and talk to the taxi drivers before installing this phony “GPS” system. This is the only chance to avoid another strike, which will be detrimental to the city we love as well as painful to drivers’ wallets. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Posted 10-01-07 by request of  Mr. Shahid Comrade YOU GOT PEACE! Today thousands of people from around the US are marching through the streets of Washington, DC. For the last six years the prestige of the US has been going down in the eyes of world opinion. We have been lied to and deceived as the government takes over the job of the UN and tries to run the world in the name of “War on terrorism”. Afghanistan and Iraq have become quagmires for the US while at home it does not care for working people, organized labor, African-American people and immigrants. The quality of housing, education and health care have all deteriorated. The US government is only interested in those with money. A conference of world Muslim scholars has called for a dialogue with any group that has been called terrorist just as the Bush government did with North Korea after labeling it part of the “axis of evil”. The US does not have one good friend in the world to tell it that its policies are wrong, not the EU, NATO, or the Islamic Conference. As a result, the masses of Americans have become increasingly frustrated with the Congress for continuing to fund the war and with the Justice Department and judges for endorsing repressive legislation like the Patriot Act. The American people want resources to help rebuild the US and provide adequate health care, better education and jobs for all. They demand an amnesty for immigrant working people; this will help to unite millions of families who should not be treated as criminals. The people want their sons and daughters to return home safe before they suffer further physical and mental damage. Abroad they want an end to the secret detentions in Guantanamo Bay and military tribunals. The American people desire a foreign policy that will again bring respect to the US by treating countries as equals. In line with this the people of Burma should be support in their fight against the dictatorship as well as the people of Nepal in their struggle for democracy and against the monarchy. Military attacks, like the one launched by Israel against Syria should be condemned and her sovereignty respected. So should that of Kashmir. And the Palestinians should be recognized in their demand for an independent state. The occupations of Kashmir and Palestine must end! The US should halt its war of words against Iran. If the US and other nuclear powers want to stop the proliferation of nuclear weapons they should start at home and reduce their own nuclear stockpiles. No country should attack or threaten to attack nuclear facilities in another country. Bring the Troops Home NOW End the raids and deportation, Amnesty for all immigrants end the backlog. End supporting the dictators in the name of democracy.    Dr. Muhamad Shafique                                                                    Mr. Shahid Comrade President                                                                                       General Secretary                                                                                                                (917) 280-0840 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Sept 10th, 2007  Mayor Bloomberg, now we know that your favorite color is green, not yellow.                                                                              PAKISTAN-USA FREEDOM FORUM 2257 92nd Street Free Kashmir                         East Elmhurst, NY 11369, USA                          Stop Dividing Families No Indian Army                       Tel (718) 397-5027 or (718) 763-3543                             End the Raids                                                 Fax (718) 574-4333                                                      & Deportations E-mail: pakusaff@hotmail.com Taxi Drivers Stand Up for Dignity and Privacy             The strike of New York taxi drivers, who are mostly immigrant workers from third world countries, was a credit to the labor movement of this city. For two days, you made the fleet owners, the TLC and the whole City administration respond to your actions, and they could not sleep peacefully. The Pakistan-USA Freedom Forum salutes all of you who took part in the strike at considerable cost to yourselves, as most drivers paid the lease fee in advance. This strike was unique in that you are not demanding a raise or any other financial benefit. You are just fighting for your dignity and the right to privacy, which are supposed to be part of life in the United States.             Drivers are not opposed to new technology, but not at their expense: ·         The so-called GPS system is not a navigation system that would help cab drivers find a location. It is a tracking system that will only allow the cab owners and the TLC to follow drivers’ every movement, whether they are working or not. ·         Every credit card transaction has a 5% deduction which will be charged to the drivers; this is a wage cut to some of the lowest paid workers in the city while it makes millions for Visa and MasterCard, which are huge corporations. ·         Although we work for the owners, mostly fleet owners, we are treated as contractors, not as workers. Therefore we are not covered by any labor laws, such as the right to time and a half for overtime after 8 hours, and we have to work 12 hour shifts just to survive.             Mayor Bloomberg is also deceiving the residents of this city by claiming that this technology is for their benefit while it only serves the corporations. He is following in the footsteps of Giuliani, who also refused to discuss issues with taxi drivers or any working people, and took the attitude of “my way or the highway.” They are both following the lead of President Bush, who through his lies and deceptions involved this country in an aggressive war against Iraq. This war is killing hundreds of thousands of Iraqis and thousands of US youths, as well as squandering some $1 trillion of taxpayers’ money only for the benefit of the oil and other monopolies, who have also benefitted from the three fold increase in oil price at the expense of ordinary citizens.             The Pakistan-USA Freedom Forum is a community based organization that stands up for workers rights, civil liberties and constitutional rights for all people, immigrants and US born. We call on organized labor to take a stand with the taxi drivers of this city, who stood up for justice and respect just as the bus and subway workers did in their strike. Only a united movement of all working people can stop the rich and powerful from eroding our rights. The $5 million sacrifice that the drivers made will not be in vain if the labor leaders overcome their selfishness and stand with the drivers who are fighting for the highest human values. We must revive the slogan of the labor movement: “An injury to one is an injury to all!”             The taxi drivers have shown the city that they deserve respect. The fight is not over. No to GPS! Fire TLC Commissioner Daus!             Mayor Bloomberg has not provided a full disclosure of all his tax information. However, he wants to know everything about where cab drivers are at all times and what they earn including tips. Also, the Mayor has switched back and forth from being a Democrat to a Republican to Democrat again.                           Shahid Comrade                                                Dr. Mohammed Shafique Secretary General                                               President                                                                   (917) 280-0840 Pakistan-USA Freedom Forum             We are in full solidarity and support of the victims of 9/11 and their families, including all those who are still suffering illnesses because of the effects that the government concealed.

SUPPORT TAXI DRIVERS' RIGHT TO PRIVACY Dear Mayor Michael Bloomberg, We are the Pakistan-USA Freedom Forum, a community based organization which stands up for workers rights, civil liberties and constitutional rights for all immigrants. We support taxi drivers who are mostly immigrants. We cherish the First Amendment to the Constitution which is unique in the world. We respect you, Mayor Bloomberg, because you try to reach out to the people of New York. Your administration stands out from the heavy-handed Giulliani regime when you listen to the people. Rudy Giulliani provoked the historic taxi strike of 1998 with his attitude of "my way or the highway". GPS threatens the independence and privacy of all cab drivers. Matt Daus who was appointed Chairman of the Taxi and Limousine Commission by Rudy Giulliani is provoking another taxi strike by imposing GPS and credit card technology on the cab drivers of New York City. Daus is living in the past and behaving like his old boss Giulliani. He has no interest in civility. He cares more about corporate profits and machines than people. Despite claims that driver privacy is protected, owners will be able to access tracking data and provide information on drivers to the TLC. 85 per cent of drivers take their cabs home and GPS will track every movement. Drivers will lose all independence and privacy. There will be a transaction fee and when the technology fails to work the drivers will have to pay in lost time. The TLC claims that the new technology will aid customers who lose valuables in the cab. They do not tell the public that a very effective system for claiming lost valuables is currently operating. The drivers love the people of New York City. Cab drivers are working very hard to support their families and at the same time are very proud to serve New York City. Drivers carry senior citizens and pregnant mothers in emergencies, get children safely to school and support the entertainment industry to name only a few vital services. Drivers do not want to burden New York with a strike. They have often been disrespected by the police, the TLC courts and the Giulliani administration which provoked the strike in 1998. The NYC taxi fare is officially the lowest in the nation. *Pakistan-USA Freedom Forum President Dr. Muhammad Shafique* is hoping that you will intervene to prevent a strike in this situation which will cost the city a billion dollars and a lot of trouble for the common people. Pakistan-USA Freedom Forum requests that you ask Chairman Daus to postpone the implementation of GPS on October 1st. In the interest of the public don't allow the process to get bogged down in legal rhetoric. We want to have an open public hearing with elected public officials present. The drivers have no representation as independent contractors. The drivers want to do what is best for the city. We want the city to do what is best for the drivers. Thank you for consideration, Mr. Shahid Comrade Secretary General (917) 280-0840

 

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