{"id":83829,"date":"2018-07-13T16:20:16","date_gmt":"2018-07-13T23:20:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/?p=83829"},"modified":"2018-07-13T16:24:41","modified_gmt":"2018-07-13T23:24:41","slug":"las-vegas-cabbies-continue-strip-boycott-at-new-york-new-york-casino","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/las-vegas-cabbies-continue-strip-boycott-at-new-york-new-york-casino\/","title":{"rendered":"Las Vegas Cabbies Continue Strip Boycott at New York-New York Casino, But Will Anyone Care?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Las Vegas cabbies may be about to find out what happens when you hold a boycott and it doesn’t quite get the reaction aimed for.<\/p>\n

\"Las
As Las Vegas taxis take aim at their lagging Strip casino hotel business in the wake of increasing ride share options, a boycott may not have the desired effect. (Image: G. Benavidez\/LVR-J\/thepointsguy.com\/Casino.org)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

As part of a series of rolling boycotts, Vegas Drivers Unite (VDU) announced another one for the New York-New York Casino on the Las Vegas Strip. The boycott began Thursday morning at midnight and will last until 11:59 p.m. on Saturday, according to the VDU website.<\/p>\n

Mad as Hell<\/h2>\n

VDU plans to boycott one hotel per month each Thursday, Friday, and Saturday. In June, it was the Bellagio. The plan as of now is for the grassroots campaign to then strike at the Mandalay Bay<\/a> and its sister property the Delano in August.<\/p>\n

\u201cMajor hotel properties, thru [sic] their actions of promoting ride share companies, are sending the message that Taxi Drivers are not valued nor wanted on their properties,\u201d a statement on the website reads. It goes on to say that \u201cthough these actions are unfortunate, management needs to see what happens when the Cabs Don\u2019t Show Up!\u201d<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

But it may be the cab drivers themselves who see what happens, because it could well be absolutely nothing.<\/p>\n

Plight of the Industry<\/h2>\n

It\u2019s printed in big, bold red print on the website for Vegas Driver Unite: \u201c2018 will be devastating for most drivers in this industry.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n

That prediction is proving to be true. The Las Vegas Review-Journal <\/em>reported trips dropped by over 10 percent in May<\/a> compared to 2017. That coincided with an over 12 percent revenue drop for the same period. For the year, rides are down over 12 percent and revenue is down over 13 percent for the industry as a whole, the R-J <\/em>reported.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s fair to wonder how noticeable the boycotts will actually be.<\/p>\n

Taxi drivers not showing up at all to pick up passengers hasn’t helped their cause. One instance reported by the R-J<\/em> led to an internal investigation by the manager of Western Cab Company, who was ultimately discovered to have never even ordered a cab for the waiting customer in question. That customer ultimately simply gave up and presumably found another mode of transportation.<\/p>\n

But Nevada Taxicab Authority Administrator Scott Whittemore insists\u00a0he hasn\u2019t received a single written or emailed complaint about no-show drivers in the last 12 months.<\/p>\n

Not all taxi drivers in the valley are on board with the protest. The amusing taxi driver “day in the life” Twitter account @LVCabChronicles, operated by Las Vegas driver Andrew Gnatovich, demonstrated the pushback.<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

The word is out that cabbies in #Vegas<\/a> are organizing boycotts of major hotel properties to protest #Uber<\/a>. For the record, and while I’ll probably get some grief for this, I cannot support such a measure. I believe this tactic is woefully misguided and is sure to backfire.<\/p>\n

\u2014 LV Cabbie Chronicles (@LVCabChronicles) March 14, 2018<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n