Vanderbilt Students of Nonviolence has embraced the plight of Nashville's taxi drivers that has, until recently, gone relatively unnoticed.
The student group is gaining first-hand accounts from the drivers and using that knowledge to try to help them stay organized, inform the student body and pressure the university to use their leverage in the city.
"We've been going out to the airport and talking to the drivers waiting in line to get passengers" said sophomore Josh Rogen. "We listen to their stories and encourage them to keep a high morale despite no tangible gains yet."
The city's drivers have formed the Metro Nashville Taxi Drivers Association to end what they view as unfair wages and working conditions, and held a strike in early August to protest these issues.
A preliminary report to the Nashville-Davidson County's Transportation and Licensing Commission by MTSU Assistant Professor of Political Science Sekou Franklin found that after operating costs, taxi drivers make just over $2 an hour, making them some of the lowest paid workers in the nation.
Franklin's study found that most drivers are responsible for gas, car insurance and service fees in addition to their licenses. The average gross income of a taxi driver is around $100 a day and the net income is only about $32 for a 14-15 hour day.
"When a driver wants to take a vacation, or even if he gets sick, he would have to pay the cab company $400 per week to cover licensing fees and insurance," Rogen said.
"They already own the cars - most of them have thousands invested in the business - and were suckered in by companies that don't require the drivers to pay the license the first few weeks" said senior Braden Clark.
The licensing issue was placed on the Metro council's agenda in response to the strike held in August. Although the Vanderbilt community was largely absent during the strike, Vanderbilt students are hoping to help bring the drivers' issues to campus.
"When talking to the drivers, we've found that especially compared to other cities, the Nashville system is backwards," said sophomore Benjamin Eagles.
While Vanderbilt Students of Nonviolence and the Nashville Movement, an organization that works to benefit Nashville's poorest workers, work to increase fares for the city's taxi drivers, the students agreed it is important for the Vanderbilt community to be aware of the realities facing the drivers.
"Talk to them, find out about their lives and their families," said Matt Leber, an organizer with the Nashville Movement. "If nothing else, members of the Vanderbilt community should be kind to their drivers."
