...WOLVERHAMPTON WOES
TAXI DRIVERS STAGE ‘GO-SLOW’ PROTEST IN WOLVERHAMPTON LICENSING ROW
Taxi drivers staged a ‘go-slow’ protest on the streets of Wol- verhampton onMon- day 16 July in an ongoing row over licensing. According to the Express and Star, cabbies gathered on roads around Wol- verhampton Science Park and headed at 10am driving at 20 mph on Stafford Road onto the city centre ring road Sayed Hussain, 33, who is a Wolver- hampton taxi driver, said: “How can the council monitor the amount of drivers they are handing licences out to? It is simply not safe. If drivers are banned in one borough, they can still get licences in Wolverhampton and that is wrong.”
The protest comes less than a month after hundreds of drivers staged a similar demonstra- tion. Cabbies from Coventry joined un- ion officials to cam- paign against Wol- verhampton Coun- cil’s licensing system. They say the author- ity has issued thou- sands of licences to Uber drivers operat- ing all around the country, threatening the livelihoods of black cab drivers in places
such as
Coventry. Some Wolverhamp- ton taxi drivers have been working in places as far afield asWeymouth. West Midlands Pri- vate Hire Drivers’ Association (WMPH DA) is behind this latest protest.
Its
secretary, Richard Corfield, said: “We have issues with driving licences that are handed out nationally
from
Wolverhampton. Plus self employed drivers are being exploited and we want more stringent
tests. We want to see that drivers have done a topographi- cal test along with tests in written and spoken English. “We want to sit down with the coun- cil and have a meeting. They need to take into consid-
Richard Corfield from WPHDA with the taxi drivers
eration that we drivers, who have been doing it for how many years, can have an input on the best way to issue licences. “The council are giv- ing out ten times more licences than boroughs of similar size and population. It cannot cope. “Whether we get 20 or 200 drivers tak- ing part, success today wouldbe if we raise awareness to the public.” Wol ve rhampton Council had dis- missed earlier pro- tests as ‘pointless’ saying any demon- strations should be directed to law mak- ers inWestminster. Wol ve rhampton Council’s licensing committee chairman, Cllr Alan Bolshaw,
said: “Today’s protest involved about 20 drivers and passed off without incident, causing no disrup- tion the public. “We repeat
that
these protests should be in Westminster, notWolverhampton. “It’s all about res- tricting competition and customer choice, creating local car- tels, and stifling technological inno- vation. “Only central gov- ernment can change the law to allow local councils to manipulate market forces within their areas. “It is totally wrong to continue to use the people
of
Wolverhampton as piggy in the middle in this ongoing dis- pute.”
WOLVERHAMPTON TAXI BOSSES HIT BACK IN LICENSING ROW
Taxi bosses have hit back over claims that drivers’ liveli- hoods are being put at risk by Wolver- hampton Council’s controversial licens- ing system. Drivers say it is flooding the market and leaving them withoutwork, a claim which has been rub- bished by bosses from the
city’s
biggest four private hire operators. But according to the Express and Star, the owners of ABC Cars, Wednesfield Radio Cars, 24 7 and
Go Carz have back- ed the city council’s licensing system and accused drivers of ‘flexing their mus- cles’ by putting forward a series of ‘unreasonable de- mands’. They said that they have lengthy staff shortages and strug- gle to fill vacancies, with ABC Cars alone currently looking for up to 20 drivers. Neil Caley, who runs ABC Cars,
said:
“Drivers say that the licensing system is affecting their ability to make a living, but
AUGUST 2018
we see no evidence of that. I need to take on between ten and 20 drivers for thewinter and I can’t get them in. There is a shortage of drivers willing to work prop- er shifts, not a shortage of work.” Wednesfield Radio Cars boss Jim Shar- ma
said: “The
licensing staff at Wol ve rhampton Council were very smart and got ahead of the game when the 2015 Deregula- tion Act came out. As far as we are con- cerned the system is
the best it has ever been. Drivers need to understand that the council is oper- ating within the law. “If they have a prob- lem they should be protesting at Parlia- ment, not on Wol- verhampton
ring
road.” The West Midlands Private Hire Drivers’ Association has sub- mitted a list of seven issues which it says it wants the council to address. They include licence control, permanent stickers on vehicles, and rules around
working exclusively for a single operator. Mr Sharma said: “We want
to protect
drivers, it is in our interests. But none of these issues are affecting their liveli- hoods. These are unreasonable de- mands and the whole thing is purely about them flexing their muscles.” The bosses have also responded to concerns raised over city private hire firms having several out-of-town opera- tors registered at their head offices.
Wednesfield Radio Cars base on Raynor Road has 12 firms listed and ABC’s Ettingshall Road headquarters
is
home to 15 opera- tors. Mr Caley explained: “We do that to help other operators com- bat Uber, which also helps us. By having a base in Wolver- hampton,
these
operators are able to offer drivers work in cities, where they could
otherwise
have to wait for months to get a licence.”
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