Faced with competition from Uber, Chicago cabs resolve to improve service, lower fares. (Just kidding! They strike.)
More: “I try to equate this illegal operation of UberX as a terroristic act like ISIS invading the Middle East,” said Pennsylvania Taxi Association president Alex Friedman. “It is exactly the same menace.” [Philadelphia magazine]
5 Comments
What a great way to shoot themselves in the foot.
Strike against your competitor?
What a novel idea. Wonder why no one ever thought of it before?
It was more of a brief “demonstration” than a genuine “strike” of workers withdrawing from the market until they believe sufficient demands have been met.
To be fair, from what I have read about taxi medallion prices in Chicago, I doubt they could drop their prices any more without starving.
I really can’t see why there should ever be a commodities market (and these things change hands for $1/4m) for what’s basically a license to practice.
The free market, using technology, just invented a better system. It is tough on whoever bears the brunt of the changing economic landscape. Those guys can go buy a black car and go work for Uber. It is a lot worse if you are a coal miner in West Virginia where there is not logic place to jump.