CHICAGO – Cab Drivers United/AFSCME Local 2500 released the following statement in response to city’s announcement that services like Uber and Lyft are now legally allowed to pickup passengers from O’Hare, Midway and McCormick Place.

“The Mayor’s rush to give Uber keys to the airport is outrageous. By this action, the Mayor is giving part-time jobs the priority over  supporting professional, full-time work, decimating Chicago cab drivers’ ability to provide for their family.

For a year, Chicago cab drivers have been waiting for the modest improvements the Mayor promised when the Taxi Driver Fairness Ordinance was passed in early December of 2014, only to watch as the Mayor implements radical new mechanisms at the airports in record time to appease the $80 billion Uber corporation.

The Mayor’s budget passed in October gave massive corporations like Uber and Lyft a sweetheart deal, leaving millions of dollars in desperately needed city revenue that could be raised from proper regulation of Uber and Lyft on the table.

Just last week, 22 Chicago Aldermen wrote the Commissioners of the BACP and Department of Aviation to express grave concerns over the double standard the Mayor’s rushed Uber airport deal has created. Aldermen highlighted the city’s failure to implement the promised lease credit, reduced credit card transaction fees as well as the city’s promised e-hail app that has not even been selected six months after bids were received.”