San Francisco Airport Jobs Campaign
A message from the Asian Law Caucus:
SAN FRANCISCO (December 18, 2008) – The Asian Law Caucus (ALC) and the South Asian Bar Association of Northern California (SABA) have joined forces on a campaign launched by the ALC to save immigrant jobs and businesses at San Francisco International Airport.
The San Francisco Airport Commission is considering an administrative plan to terminate the existing 11 existing door- to-door service permits and to authorize issuance of requests for proposals (RFPs) for 4 on-demand shared-ride service agreements for service between San Francisco International Airport and the Five Bay Area Counties.
Existing door-to-door service permit holders transport thousands of travelers to and from SFO every day. The proposal before the Airport Commission is to have 2 companies serving all of San Francisco and 2 companies servicing the South and East Bay.
Approval of the proposal will result in the loss of over 300 mostly immigrant jobs.
Small, locally-owned companies that do not fit within the requirements of the proposal will have to shut down. Their drivers, mechanics, and administrative staff, many of them South Asian, will be out of work.
“ALC is already concerned about harmful labor issues alleged against bigger businesses in this market,” said Veena Dubal, Asian Law Caucus staff attorney. “Eliminating the small, locally-owned companies, as the current proposal will surely do, will only serve to reward the bigger businesses for engaging in cut-throat business practices that demean their employees while maximizing their own profits.”
ALC and SABA are further concerned about the negative consequences to the thousands of customers who use shared-ride services everyday if the Airport Commission adopts the proposed administrative plan.
“The loss of these small, locally-owned companies will negatively affect customer service and result in less competitive pricing for customers traveling to and from SFO,” said Khurshid Khoja, President of the South Asian Bar Association. “Curtailing competition in this presently vibrant market will only serve to harm the interests of the consumer.”
The ALC has published a position paper related to the situation. It can be viewed online here.
The ALC and SABA have come together to urge the community to send e-mails to Mayor Gavin Newsom and the Airport Commissioners urging the Airport Commissioners to vote against the proposed administrative plan to squeeze out many of the immigrant-owned and immigrant-employing shared-van services at SFO.
Details on how to join and help the campaign can be found here.
Added Dubal, “Given that we are in the middle of a recession of historic proportion, this plan, if executed, will be devastating for these 300 workers and their families. We urge the Airport Commission to revise their current plan.”
Contacts:
Veena Dubal, (415) 848-7743/veenad@asianlawcaucus.org
Debbie Sheen, (415) 848-7727/debbies@asianlawcaucus.org
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