Tue. May 03, 2011
Ur Union of Unemployed is calling on New York City and state officials to oppose a plan by Mayor Michael Bloomberg to flood the New York streets with thousands of foreign-built taxicabs.
Bloomberg is expected to embrace a proposal by Nissan to build the so-called ‘Taxi of Tomorrow’ in Mexico, rather than a proposal from Ford to manufacture the eco-friendly cab fleet in Kansas. Bloomberg is also expected to reject a proposal from the Turkish auto company Karsan, which would build the taxis in Brooklyn.
“This is an initial one-billion-dollar program, with three bidders; two of which are committed to ‘made in the USA’ and one of which is absolutely not,” said Union of Unemployed Executive Director Rick Sloan. “With over 28 million Americans unemployed – and over 869,000 ‘officially’ unemployed in New York and Kansas – this is a travesty. Can’t even one politician figure out how to create AMERICAN JOBS?”