Editorial: Work slowdown only hurts town

Wednesday, April 8, 1998 | 11:19 a.m.

With one of the year's biggest conventions in Las Vegas, what better way to get their message across than through a work slowdown, playing havoc with the transportation needs of 90,000 visitors attending the National Association of Broadcasters convention. But any taxi drivers that imagined this to be a bright light of an idea should get a reality check -- their bright light is actually a dim bulb.

Taxi drivers are upset that the Taxicab Authority had postponed for a month the issue of whether or not 91 permanent cabs should be removed from use. The taxi drivers believe the more taxis there are, the more they get hurt in the pocketbook. In a community as fast-growing as Las Vegas, however, it's tough to understand the need for fewer cabs for tourists and locals alike. But rather than waiting for the Taxicab Authority to decide the merits of the issue in May, some taxi drivers appear bent on hurting the community's No. 1 industry: tourism.

In addition to the slowdown this week, drivers were being urged Tuesday to take part in a lunch time boycott of the Las Vegas Convention Center, where the broadcasters are meeting. "This is going to be an all-week thing," Al Bola, president of the Las Vegas Taxi Drivers Association, told the SUN's Jeff German. "It's going to keep rolling every day and get stronger as the week goes on."

But a Taxicab Authority official indicated the financial incentive was too great for taxicab drivers to stay away from the convention. "This is a week where there's a lot of money. I can't see the drivers going out there to not make money," Bob Flaven, the Taxicab Authority's chief investigator, said.

It's understandable that taxi drivers are frustrated because the Taxicab Authority has not moved quickly on resolving whether the additional taxis should be removed. They also may believe that a work slowdown affecting a national broadcasters convention will have a greater impact than would a slowdown against a Future Farmers of American convention, for instance. But this is not the way to make a point.

It's certainly hoped that taxi drivers continue to do their jobs. Boycotting a convention leaves a bad taste in the mouths of visitors, whose goodwill allows our community -- including taxi drivers -- to prosper.