PROTEST PLIGHT
CRAWLEY CABBIES PROTEST AGAINST ‘GREEDY’ PHV FIRMS
Taxi drivers could go on strike in protest at “greedy” company bosses and an influx of new cabbies. Drivers say they are being forced out of busi- ness because more and more taxis are fighting over passenger num- bers that have dropped in the recession.
At a heated meeting in Langley Green, angry drivers vowed to strike if private hire owners did not lower their weekly rental charges. Most drivers rent their cars from cab firms for
a weekly fee of around £120 plus a percent- age of account work. Derek Kiernan, vice chairman of Crawley Licensed Cab Drivers’ Association, said fees must be reduced dur- ing the economic downturn.
He said: “We have asked them to help us, but they don’t do any- thing. They’re charging us the same amount but we’re not getting the same amount of work.” Drivers called on the council to bring in a more taxing “knowl-
edge” test, saying the current multiple choice one is creating “sat nav cabbies”. But the council has denied claims its knowledge test is too easy.
A spokesman told the Crawley News: “The new knowledge test was introduced in June 2008 and now consists of local knowledge, highway code road signs and conditions of licence for drivers and vehicles.
“This is far more in depth than the original exam.”
INVERNESS CABBIES CALL FOR CAP ON LICENCES
Dozens of taxi drivers took to the streets of Inverness to protest against a cab licens- ing regime they claim is putting their liveli- hoods at risk. Waving placards, they picketed Inverness Town House after High- land Council refused to freeze the issue of new licences, despite the number already grant- ed far exceeding the available spaces in city ranks.
They have not ruled out escalating their protest and bringing the city to a standstill with “drastic action”. The cabbies had drawn up plans to use slow-moving taxis to blockade streets, but reconsidered because they had not given the council and police 28 days’ notice.
Highland Council said that it “could not accom- modate” capping the number of licences but it has agreed to examine pleas for a dozen more rank spaces. Inverness Taxi and Pri- vate Hire Association chairman Vic Rawlins said there were now 354 taxi operators in
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GUILDFORD RUSH-HOUR DEMO ‘JUST A PRACTICE RUN’
Cabbies have warned that a ‘go-slow” demonstration in Guildford a month ago was merely a practice run for a bigger and better organised protest.
About 20 taxi drivers took part in the rush- hour rally in Bridge Street traffic to high- light their battle with the borough council over regulation laws. The Guildford Hack- ney Association wants the authority to reverse a decision made five years ago to allow an unrestricted number of taxi licences.
They say deregulation has meant there is not enough work to go round and drivers are
being forced out of business.
David Williams-Wynn, chairman of the Asso- ciation, led the protest on foot, directing the drivers around the one-way system. He told the Surrey Advertiser: “This was just a practice and we did a lot of things wrong that next time we will get right.” Mr Williams-Wynn said the association’s 91 members were still considering a week- end night strike but this was considered a last resort.
“I just hope they [the council] might listen a bit more now,” he said. “We’ve been dis- cussing things with the council since the
1980s that have never come to fruition.” A Guildford Borough Council spokesman confirmed that prior to deregulation, there were 99 licensed taxi drivers in the town and this number had now risen to 151. She added that eight new licences were issued in 2008 and that only one had been issued so far in 2009. “We will continue to work with representa- tives of the trade and our licensing team has set up an addi- tional meeting so we can discuss further the services offered to the public and listen to drivers’ concerns,” she said.
COVENTRY CABBIES PROTEST TO STOP ISSUE OF LICENCES
Hundreds of angry cabbies caused traffic chaos on Coventry’s ring road last month as they staged a “go- slow” protest.
Inverness cabbies protest outside the Town House
the city but only 25 full- time official spaces on the streets.
He said the combined effect of more drivers and the recession was putting operators out of business.
Mr Rawlins, 63, who has been a taxi driver for nine years, told the Highland Press and Journal: “The problem is that with all these cars and only 25 rank spaces. These guys are doing 70 to 80 hours a week just to stay afloat. If the coun- cil give us more rank spaces, fine, but they also have to look at the issue and stop issuing licences.” Mr Rawlins, of South
Kessock, said a solu- tion would be to cap the number of licences for three years.
A council spokesman said it operated one taxi scheme across the Highlands “to ensure consistency of charges and condi- tions of operation”. The spokesman said: “The trade has requested a cap of taxi operators’ licences for Inverness for three years. The council has advised the trade it cannot accommodate this as any move to zoning or capping would necessitate a move away from a pan-Highland to an area system.”
They want the city council to restrict the number of taxi licences issued as they claim too many licences are hitting them in the pocket.
The 400-strong con- voy snaked its way from Chapel- fields, to the city cen- tre and made laps of the ring road. Alias Yousef, chairman of the Coventry Taxi Drivers’ Association, told the Coventry Tele- graph: “We are frustrated and want action taken. “We wanted a meeting with the council but they refused so this was the way forward. They aren’t interested in what we have to say or how it’s affected everyone. This was a
peaceful protest but if we have to take further action then we will. “They don’t seem to realise the magnitude of the problem. There is no need to license more vehicles. There is no demand for it and there is no space on the taxi ranks any more.” Taxi driver, Mohammed Asghar, 44, says he is having to compete with other drivers for cus- tomers and that is damaging his livelihood. The father-of-three said: “We are all driv- ing round trying to find passengers. We are in competition with more drivers and I’m work- ing longer hours just to keep my head above water, “We’re really getting desperate now. There are more than enough of us, the council need to stop this.” Taxi driver Al Gale said: “We just want an even share of the workload.
It’s ridiculous.” Trevor Errington, head of planning and strate- gic transportation at Coventry City Council, said: “We agree with the Department for Transport that it has to be in the best interests of the public. We con- ducted a review in March last year and found there was an unmet demand particu- larly late at night and early in the morning and that it wouldn’t be in the interest of the travelling public to restrict the number of taxi drivers. “We’re not at this time looking to review this current situation. Why should we say people who want to be hack- ney drivers can’t? They wouldn’t be making a living now.”
He said the number of black cabs and private hire vehicles on city roads had increased by 37 in the last ten years.
PHTM AUGUST 2009
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