PROTEST PLIGHT
BRADFORD TAXI STRIKE CALLED OFF AFTER SUCCESSFUL MEETING
Crunch talks with cabbies upset over stone attacks averted a planned strike for Tuesday 11 October. A number of hackney drivers had planned to go on strike on Nelson Street at 10.30am, but that strike action was avoided after last-minute talks were held on Monday at City Hall. Habib Nawaz, a member of the Bradford Taxi Association, said: “We’ve called off the strike after
concerns and the police said they will keep an eye on the area around Wakefield Road where stones have been thrown at taxi drivers and their vehicles. “The meeting went very well. Everybody listened
meeting with a group of councillors, Bradford Council and the police. I appreciate their
and I’m happy with the police who were keen to hear about the problems.”
BLACKBURN HC AND PH DRIVERS TO STAGE SERIES OF STRIKES OVER COUNCIL RUN MoT COSTS
Taxi and private hire drivers in Blackburn with Darwen are set to stage an escalating series of strikes in the run up to Christmas over the cost of council-run taxi MoT tests. They are angry at the council’s refusal to outsource the checks to private garages rather than insist all are conducted at the council’s Motor Vehicle Service Station (MVSS) at its Davyfield Depot. Conservative councillor and taxi driver, Altaf ‘Tiger’ Patel, warned the borough’s executive board of the action after environment boss Jim Smith refused to change the authority’s position. The 1,100 drivers of both taxis and PHVs will stage four strikes on Mondays in December unless the testing regime is changed. On December 5, they will stop operating for three hours, from 9am until noon and the following Monday for five hours from 9am until 2pm. On December 19, the strike will last for eight hours from 9am until
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5pm and if the dispute is still un- resolved the drivers will walk out for the full day on Boxing Day December 26. Cllr Smith said: “These strikes would be a shame and very regrettable. We will continue to talk to the drivers but we cannot compromise on safety.” Cllr Patel raised the issue of the cost of tests at a meeting of the council’s executive board on Thursday night, 13 October. He told Cllr Smith: “As a taxi driver myself I’ve had a lot of complaints from colleagues as to why the council has kept taxi MoT testing in-house unlike other local towns which have 2-3 independent approved MoT centres or a mix of council and private centres. “The taxi business is not very profitable in the current climate and Blackburn with Darwen’s MoT test
Councillor Tiger Patel
charges are amongst the highest in Lancashire with this monopoly. “Having renewed the council’s MVSS contract in August for a further three years, would you please consider re-looking at this decision and allow other approved MoT centres to test taxis and help the taxi industry with more choice and a speedier service?” Cllr Smith replied: “The main purpose of private hire and hackney carriage licensing is to protect the public and promote public safety and I believe that it best achieved by having one testing centre that will provide a consistent set of standards that the public can trust. “70% of vehicles are at least ten years old and 72% of the fleet fail the first test which suggests they are not fit to work as taxis in the days leading up to the test.” Cllr Patel said: “The taxi and private hire drivers are shoulder to shoulder on this. We cannot afford the cost of these tests.”
NOVEMBER 2022 PHTM
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