PROTEST PLIGHT


BRIGHTON UBER DRIVERS CALL FOR FAIR FARES IN PROTEST


Uber drivers in Brighton have called for the company to pay them fairly in a protest held near its “greenlight hub” at the County Ground in Hove. They were demanding the firm address its “unfair price policy” and “high trip commission”. Protesters held placards which said “Uber driving us into poverty” and “share fair, pay fair” and encouraged people to sign a letter to Uber calling for action. The letter said “unfair fares” had “been affecting us and our ability to sustain a decent livelihood”. Isaac Aydur, an Uber driver for five years, said the company takes high commissions from each trip and that earnings have not kept up with inflation.


He said: “Despite the increase in the cost of living, maintenance, fuel and insurance, our earnings are dropping. Five years ago, I was earning more for the same trip. “I’m earning up to 40% less than I used to earn for the same journey.” Another driver in the city, Ali Omar, worked out that he earned around £50 after working almost all day yesterday. “How am I supposed to


live in Brighton, as one of the most expensive places in the country, on that money I earned?,” he said. Other drivers explained that, even on better days where they earn more, their wages are eaten into by the cost of fuel, car maintenance, tax and national insurance, before even factoring in the cost of rent or a mortgage and other bills. Mr Omar also criticised Uber’s algorithm, which can assign them a journey with a passenger more than a mile away even when there are drivers closer to them. “I am polluting more by driving two miles to pick up a passenger when there is already a driver around - where is the logic in that? “It’s then costing me more as I’m using more fuel,” he said.


PETITION PROTESTS NORTH YORKSHIRE COUNCIL’S ABOLITION OF PREVIOUS SEVEN TAXI ZONES


Some taxi drivers have seen their businesses damaged due to the implementation of a single HC zone for North Yorkshire, according to a councillor. Lib Dem Cllr Barbara Brodigan, delivered a 238-strong petition to North Yorkshire Council’s (NYC) ruling Conservative executive on 17 October, protesting against the abolition of the previous seven zones which covered each former district council area. Cllr Brodigan said it has resulted in drivers flooding into urban areas such as Harrogate which has left rural areas without taxis. As part of the petition, residents were surveyed on the impact of


PHTM NOVEMBER 2023


the new single zone. Cllr Brodigan claimed one person was overcharged by £20 because a driver got lost and that vulnerable residents are “wary” of drivers they don’t recognise. She said: “In Harrogate they are having to find extra spaces due to the influx of taxis. Over supply of taxis in hotspots are leaving rural and market towns empty.” Despite the single zone already being operational, a report before the executive said there had been a mistake in relation to


the


abolition of the previous zones. Councillors were asked in the report to retrospectively confirm their abolition again to provide


“emphatic clarity to its position”. However, Ripon-based Richard Fieldman, who represented 70 hackney drivers, urged councillors to delay the decision. Mr Fieldman said: “There’s


a


statutory process NYC has failed to follow. I ask you not to compound a bad situation by passing an illegal position but refer the matter to full council for consideration not just to its executive.” Cllr Greg White and NYC’s chief legal officer responded that they were satisfied the executive had the right to make the decision. The executive voted unanimously to confirm abolition of the seven zones and to create the single zone.


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