Some city cabbies are trying to put the brakes on new requirements set to go into effect in all city cabs by the end of the year.

Members of the New York Taxi Workers Alliance will hold a rally in Lower Manhattan this afternoon to protest a plan to equip all cabs with a system that will provide television service, credit card processing and GPS tracking.

They say the tracking is an invasion of privacy, and they're not ruling out a strike if it goes forward.

"There’s a strong possibility you know that we will have to walk out,” said Bhairavi Desai of the New York Taxi Workers Alliance. “What we are asking for is very reasonable. We are saying, respect the privacy of taxi cab drivers just like you would of any other American."

"I don't work for UPS or I don't work for FedEx. I don't get paid by the hour, you know,” said a driver. “So I think they have no right to be tracking the people."

The alliance is also concerned about the money medallion owners will have to shell out for the new systems and the credit card transaction fees that will come out of drivers' profits.

The Taxi and Limousine Commission says that tracking devices will make it easier for passengers to recover lost items, and that more people will take cabs if they accept credit cards. 
 

http://www.ny1.com/ny1/content/index.jsp?stid=1&aid=67398