PROTEST PLIGHT
GLASGOW TAXI AND PRIVATE HIRE CAR DRIVERS PROTEST OVER SCOTTISH GOVERNMENT GRANTS
Taxi and private hire car drivers gathered in Glasgow on 9 June to challenge the second round of support grants offered by the Scottish Govern- ment to the industry. Members of the App Drivers and Couri- ers Union (ADCU) and the All Glasgow Hackney Union joined the go-slow convoy along Paisley Road. The protest follows the previous week’s announce- ment that grants of £1,500 would be awarded to drivers and up to £10,000 for operators, but many operators are receiving significantly less than this. Eddie Grice, chairman of the Glasgow
Branch of ADCU, said: “Over 100 drivers took part in the protest and the message being sent to the council and government was crystal clear.
“Drivers are disappointed with the level of support being offered and are demanding that more be done to help. “It’s not just about grant money though, we are demanding the council extend the lifespan of PH cars from seven to at least ten years and that the loss on our licence lifespans be mitigated. “Today, the ADCU’s private hire drivers turned out in solidarity with Glasgow hackney drivers. This was a small protest and we won’t hesitate to go bigger. We will not back down until our demands have been met and the survival of our trade has been ensured.”
VICTORY FOR 100 PETERBOROUGH TAXI DRIVERS WHO PROTESTED PLANS FOR NEW PRIVATE HIRE FIRM
Up to 100 angry taxi drivers descended on Peterborough council’s offices to protest against an application to set up a minicab office in Westgate, which had been recommended for approval by planning officers. But after a dramatic day, which saw dozens of hackney carriages outside the authority’s Sand Martin House offices given parking tickets, council- lors on the planning committee voted to turn down the plans. The proposed new development would have been a booking office and waiting area for people booking a private hire vehicle and had been recommended for approval, despite 41 objections being received, and even the council’s own licensing team highlighting its opposition. The Peterborough Telegraph reports that a council officer met the drivers outside and gave them an assurance that the parking tickets handed out during the protest would be rescinded. Among the concerns highlighted was the potential for conflict between hackney and private hire drivers as
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right outside the proposed office site, there is a taxi rank and concerns were raised about private hire drivers being allowed to use the site to pick up passengers illegally.
Among the other objections raised by the Peterborough Hackney Driver’s Federation, in an open letter pub- lished by the Peterborough Telegraph, were the loss of business they would suffer, on top of having to already abandon the rank near the bus station due to competition from A2B’s nearby office; the negative impact to
wheelchair users coming out of Queensgate; and the impact to Peter- borough’s work towards becoming a ‘green city.’ Hackney drivers have been encouraged to invest in greener, very expensive, electric cabs and say that the loss of their business would not encourage others to do the same and the city cen- tre would risk being flooded with more minicab offices and in turn, more pollu- tion and anti-social behaviour. The cabbies turned up at around 1:30pm on Tuesday 29 June, when the meeting was due to start, to make their thoughts known. One protesting cabbie said: “We have no idea why Peterborough City Council is telling us to invest in green cars, which can be £60,000 a vehicle, and then letting all the minicab firms from the surrounding area come and oper- ate in Peterborough; this is a double standard. “This is our livelihood, we’ve just been hit by a pandemic for the last 18 months and now the ranks are being taken away from us.”
JULY 2021
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