In a move that labor leaders say will give taxi drivers more muscle to organize a strike and negotiate for health coverage, thousands of New York City cabbies have joined an umbrella union organization, a first in taxi history.

The Taxi Workers’ Alliance, which represents about 7,250 drivers, is the first non-labor union to join the New York City Central Labor Council, whose 1 million members come from 400 local unions.

Because taxi drivers are considered independent contractors, the Taxi Workers’ Alliance is not technically a labor union; it is classified as a “worker center.” When the Central Labor Council voted on February 6 to include the alliance under its umbrella, it was the first time in America that a non-labor union was incorporated into the organization, whose parent group is the AFL-CIO.

“To the extent that the working conditions and paying benefits are improved, drivers and riders will have that much better an experience,” the chairman of the City Council’s Transportation Committee, John Liu, said.

Their new status as union members does not bring taxi drivers collective bargaining power, according to the executive director of the Taxi Workers’ Alliance, Bhairavi Desai, because taxi drivers retain their status as independent contractors. Ms. Desai said that joining the union gives drivers and their families access to classes in computers, English, writing, and public speaking, as well as more power to lobby the mayor’s office and the City Council for better benefits for drivers. Individual drivers will not pay union dues, but the alliance will pay for its membership.

“To really provide the drivers with what they need as workers, what is needed is a change in the way they are defined,” Mr. Liu said. Changing the status of taxi drivers to employees from independent contractors would require legislation at the city level, Mr. Liu said.

The executive director of the Central Labor Council, Edward Ott, has said in the past that the induction of cabbies into the organization would strengthen its bond with immigrant workers. A majority of Taxi Workers’ Alliance members come from Bangladesh, India, and Pakistan.

“We have real power behind us now,” Ms. Desai said. “The city will need to pay more attention to how it responds to us.”

Ms. Desai said she plans to lobby the city to set up a fund through which taxi garages will pay for drivers’ health insurance, which cabbies now must cover themselves, as well as short-term disability insurance.

The president and CEO of the Partnership for New York City, Kathryn Wylde, said the unionization of taxi drivers is not necessarily an unfavorable development for riders. “Ed Ott and Dennis Hughes are labor leaders who care deeply about the city,” Ms. Wylde said of local leaders of the AFL-CIO. “I don’t think anyone who has experience working with them will find this a threatening development.”

On Tuesday, drivers rallied outside of the Taxi & Limousine Commission’s headquarters, threatening to strike over the mandatory installation of tracking devices in their vehicles. Taxi drivers have not gone on strike since 1998.