Hunger Strike! How Immigrant Taxi Drivers Took on City Hall

When Augustine Tang’s father passed away, Augustine decided to inherit his taxi medallion – the license that had allowed his father to drive a yellow taxi cab in New York City for decades. But the medallion came with a $530,000 debt trap and years of struggling to escape it.Augustine’s friend Kenny, a fellow taxi cab driver, committed suicide. So did several other drivers who were crushed under the weight of these impossible debts. In hopes of preventing another death, Tang joined a push by the local taxi drivers’ union, to campaign for debt relief. And eventually, city resistance to worker demands culminated in a 15-day hunger strike to convince City Hall that immigrant taxi drivers deserved a fair deal.The drivers’ struggles for livable working conditions showed how political power doesn’t just come down to votes. It’s a reminder how strong collective will can be, especially for those often silenced and ignored by our imperfect democracy.Resources and ReadingAfter listening, please take our survey about this story — to help us fund more stories like this one!This show mentions instances of suicide. We understand this topic may be difficult for some listeners. The National Suicide Prevention Lifeline is a hotline for individuals in crisis or for those looking to help someone else. To speak with a certified listener, call 1-800-273-8255WATCH: “Cheated, Desperate, Financially Ruined NYC Taxi Drivers Go on Hunger Strike” by Maximillian Alvarez of the Real News NetworkWATCH: “New York Taxi Drivers Hunger Strike for Debt Relief” by More Perfect UnionREAD: “‘They Were Conned’: How Reckless Loans Devastated a Generation of Taxi Drivers” by Brian Rosenthal for the New York TimesREAD: “How the Taxi Workers Won” by Molly Crabapple for the Economic Hardship Reporting ProjectREAD: “Distressed DriverSP: Solving the the New York City Taxi Medallion Debt Crisis” by Aaron Jacobs for Columbia Human Rights Law ReviewCreditsProduced by Self Evident MediaReported by Sahil Nisha, with help from Alina Panek and Janrey SerapioInterview recordings by Sahil Nisha, Stacey Wong, and James BooEdited by James Boo and Julia ShuFact checked by Harsha Nahata and Tiffany BuiSound mix by Timothy Lou LyMusic by Epidemic SoundAt the Moment Theme by Satoru OhnoCover Art by Susu SchwaberThis episode was made with support from the Solutions Journalism Network's Advancing Democracy programSpecial thanks to: Cynthia Liu, Alice Liu, Sabeen Shalwani, Augustine Tang, John Duda, Kuber Sancho-Persad, Jaslin Kaur, Maria Santana, Maximillian Alvarez, Michelle Faust Raghavan and Alec Saleens, and the New York Taxi Workers Alliance Media Team Support AZI MediaSupport our work on Ko-FiInstagram (@azi.media)Twitter (@azidotmedia)AZI Media’s Code of ConductSubscribe to our mailing listMeet the AZI team