You're being overly rude about this but I agree on the point you're trying to get across. Most of the taxis I've been in were also drove by people trying to support their family. They probably have a better salary and maybe even compensations. Uber is certainly not disruptor in the worker rights zone.
Taxi drivers got a terrible salary, with a huge amount of the income (as much as 45%, according to the Taxi Commission) going to the taxi companies which own the garages and medallions.
In many cases, they had to pay to work, by dropping $50-$100 on the start of the shift to lease the medallion, before even knowing they would get enough rides to pay for it.
