PROTEST... WARWICK CABBIES IN STRIKE THREAT OVER RISE IN NEW DRIVERS


Taxi drivers in Warwick district are consider- ing striking in protest at the influx of drivers from other areas. One hackney carriage driver claimed the livelihoods of local drivers were being threatened by the increasing number of drivers from Coventry and Birmingham given licences by Warwick District Council in the past year.


The disgruntled driver said: “The knowledge tests are so simple my seven-year-old would pass it.


“Many have objected to the council to no avail and the system remains unchanged. It is ripping us to pieces.” The driver added that he and colleagues were planning strike action to call for a cut in the number of hack- ney cabs now


operating in Leaming- ton - which total ap- proaching 200 - for an increase in the num- ber of taxi ranks and spaces, and also a rise in fares in line with inflation and rising licence fee charges. He said the walkout - which would probably on a Friday or Satur- day night - would not be announced until 15 minutes before it hap- pened so as to cause


“absolute chaos”. But Bill Hunt, chief executive of the dis- trict council, hit back at the claims suggest- ing the cabbie’s opinions may not be the majority view. He told the Leamington Observer: “It is true to say we’ve seen some increase in the number of applications to become a licensed hackney carriage/pri- vate hire driver by


people who don’t actu- ally reside in the district, but there is nothing we can do about that as the law is that anyone from anywhere is permitted to apply to any district in the country. Neither we nor the police have any evidence of abuse of the registration process.


“No capping of num- bers has taken place in Warwick district since 1999 and equally there


is not a shred of evi- dence to suggest there is a need to do so.” Mr Hunt also refuted suggestions that there were an insufficient number of taxi ranks in Leamington and defended the knowl- edge tests carried out as being a common test used by many councils to ensure applicants have suffi- cient numeracy and literacy skills.


FURTHER COVENTRY STRIKE ACTION RESULTS IN VEILED COMPROMISE


Following a four-day strike in January by Coventry taxi drivers, around 100 hackney plate holders voted to strike once again last month over the stance taken by Coventry City Council regarding the licensing of additional taxis.


Pledging to bring maxi- mum disruption until the council backed down to their demands, the angry taxi drivers unanimously voted for an ongoing complete stoppage after council chiefs refused to stop issuing licences im- mediately, having promised to undertake the first ever unmet demand survey to the tune of some £40,000 – to be recouped by an increase in licence fees.


The three-month review of taxi num- bers, rank numbers, fare levels, and supply and demand generally is to be carried out by Jacobs, and was rub- ber-stamped by the relevant Committee on 9 February. However, leading Labour coun- cillor Lindsley Harvard said that council lawyers had warned him that an immediate cap on licences before the review would be open to costly legal challenges from


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Coventry-based black cab maker LTI, or from any hackney licence applicant denied a licence. But LTI has written to Coventry Taxi Associa- tion saying it supports a cap and would not sue the council. Sales director Rob Laider wrote: “There has to be a balance between availability of taxis to the public and the trade’s need to operate a service that protects drivers’ earnings. “It would appear that, in the current climate, a cap on licences would be a reasonable policy. We would not pursue a policy that would damage the Coventry trade.” Cllr Harvard told the Coventry Observer: “We believe we have put together a pack- age which was good for the people of Coventry, the econo- my and the taxi industry. Not only have we worked very hard to respond to the driv- ers’ concerns, but we also believed we had the start of a very good relationship to take us forward, something we want to continue and build on.”


BULLYING TACTICS Notwithstanding the


views of LTI, and Cllr Harvard’s endeavours to placate the trade, the strikers staged a protest outside the Town Hall, engineered go-slows around the ring road, and drivers were ordered to blockade ranks. Some drivers who wanted to continue working said that they were being threatened and bul- lied by striking cabbies.


One driver said he was surrounded by six strikers at Coventry station who threatened to vandalise his cab. Another said they were intimidated with threats that “there would be consequences” if they picked up passengers. Another driver told the Coventry Telegraph that he had wanted to work but had been told in “aggressive tones” by strikers that they were taking down plate numbers of “strike breakers”. These alle- gations were denied by Imran Zaman, chair- man of the Coventry Taxi Association. He said: “We’re peace- ful. We don’t condone threats or violence. It’s difficult to stop one or two getting passion- ate, which is understandable when they’re losing money, and the council is


ignorant.” However, he was reportedly telling cabbies it was particu- larly important not to pick up pupils for school runs, under work contracted with the council.


By the fifth day of the strike action, cabbies were seeking a further meeting with city coun- cil chiefs aimed at breaking the deadlock and preventing more disruption. Both sides were locked in talks to resolve the dispute over who will pay for the unmet demand sur- vey, with the original proposal of recouping the survey fee from licence holders by a £7 a year increase for three years held out for by the council.


CALLED OFF


After nine days of strike action, Coventry’s cab- bies went back to work, voting to call off the strike once Cllr Harvard had formally rubber- stamped the unmet demand survey on 9 February, telling the 50 cabbies who attended the Cabinet meeting that “We’ve been as good as our word. A survey is what we promised, and a survey is what you’re going to get.” Taxi drivers called off the strike at 4pm


after staging their last protest at the Council House before the City Services Cabinet meet- ing.


Cabbies failed to achieve their strike aim of forcing Council- lors into a U-turn on their refusal to impose a temporary block on new taxi licences, insisting that waiting for the outcome of the unmet demand survey would see even more taxis on the streets, further damaging their livelihoods.


According to Mr Imran, the association had “instructed legal advisers to issue court proceedings” in seek- ing a judicial review of the council’s decision not to cap licence numbers while the three-month review is being done.


As we are sure PHTM readers are aware, the purpose of judicial review is to call into question the lawful- ness of any decision taken by a licensing authority. There are two aspects to this par- ticular situation: firstly, the time that a judicial review application takes to be considered – even if expedited – is so prolonged that per- mission, if the application were suc- cessful, would prob-


ably not be granted before the three-month review period would result in the unmet demand survey con- clusion being pub- lished.


Secondly, in consid- ering the application the Administrative Court would be made aware that Cllr Har- vard had said he “couldn’t see the rationale” for cabbies seeking a judicial review, as he had reached his decision “in compliance with the spirit and the let- ter of the law”. It would be up to the taxi trade to prove otherwise.


As for public opinion following the Coventry taxi strike action, one hackney carriage driv- er said: “I share the grievances with the council, but stupid tac- tics like not doing school runs, not taking people to hospital and go-slows on the ring road are alienating the public.”


Judging by the com- ments posted on local newspaper blog sites, the public was indeed very much alienated, and public opinion was not on the side of the strikers in any one of the comments. We await the next instal- ment.


PHTM MARCH 2011


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