In labor news, New York City taxi drivers are celebrating a major victory after the city agreed to restructure medallion loans, which could eliminate millions of dollars in devastating debt. Under the agreement, individual debts will be maxed out at $170,000, down from an average of about half a million dollars. The city will also give the main lender a cash payment for each indebted driver and guarantee every loan. Taxi drivers had been on hunger strike for two weeks before the deal was announced. This is Bhairavi Desai of the New York Taxi Workers Alliance speaking Wednesday.

Bhairavi Desai: “This is a historic moment. These terms mean that over 4,000 to 6,000 families can get their life back. These terms mean that our brothers and sisters will no longer have a lifetime of debt.”

Click here to see our recent interview with Bhairavi Desai and with two people who joined the hunger strike.