PROTEST PLIGHT TAXI DRIVERS ACROSS DEWSBURY
ARE STRIKING ‘INDEFINITELY’ SAYS UNION
On 1 September over 150 taxi drivers stopped working across Kirklees in protest at changes to their rent structure. According to the Dewsbury Reporter it was in response to Oakwell & Rex Taxis, in Dews- bury allegedly increasing weekly rent rates by £20 to £105 for drivers. Spokesman for the protest, Gregg Thompson said: “Taxi work has been affected massively with the Covid situation and drivers are struggling. Instead of providing relief to the drivers, the bosses have decided to increase the weekly rent. They charge drivers an extra £20 and in some cases even more. “Current rent is £85 weekly and the new rent structure they are proposing will see it rise well over £105 for most drivers. A large number of people are protesting this in Bat- ley, Dewsbury, Birstall, Cleckheaton, Heckmondwike, and surrounding areas.” A spokesman from Oakwell & Rex Taxis
Union said: “A driver can earn as much money as possible and pay a fix rent of £85 per week. From September 7 the rent struc- ture will be on percentages. A driver earn- ing up to £340 will have to pay 25% rent on the gross earnings and thereafter 15% on each hundred. “Also from September 7, the taxi fares will increase from £2.70 to £2.80 an increase of only 10p, which the drivers feel is an insult and are furious about. For example if a driv- er does 20-25 jobs a day they will be making between £2-£2.50 extra per day but will be paying more back in rent. “Drivers are not happy with this new rent structure. They are saying in this pandemic and difficult times it’s very hard to make a living. The night trades are completely fin- ished, pubs are closing, night clubs are not allowed to be open. “In certain areas across Kirklees they are still
in local lockdown. People are not confident to come out, and there’s fear of a second lockdown. “Drivers’ representatives have had meetings with the company bosses and have not come to an agreement, therefore the major- ity of the drivers called for a strike.” Drivers met again at Cliffe Street Car Park, Dewsbury to try to break the deadlock and come to some agreement, according to the Union. The Union representative said the strike will go on ‘indefinitely’ until drivers demands are met. Oakwell & Rex Taxis posted a statement on its social media page, which said: “Due to strike action by our drivers, we are currently running a reduced service and anticipate major disruption. We thank you for your patience.” The firm was approached for a comment on numerous occasions and has yet to provide a statement.
SOUTHAMPTON PHV DRIVERS PROTEST TO BE ABLE TO WORK FOR MORE THAN ONE FIRM
At least 30 Southampton PHV drivers protested outside the Civic Centre on Mon- day 7 September demanding flexibility in their jobs. They want Southampton City Council to allow them to use magnetic door signs on their cars, which will enable them to work for more than one firm, as well as reduce the risk of their vehicles being vandalised. But Cllr Dave Shields, cabinet member for stronger communities, said: “Magnetic signs can easily be stolen and placed on an unli- censed vehicle that could be used for unlawful purposes. We require the vehicle to display the current operator to assist those using the taxi to identify the vehicle they have booked. “There is no evidence that supports the argument that the removal of these safety requirements will increase the volume of work available to the trade as a whole. The number of customers will remain the same. “We are not aware of any increase in the number of vehicles being damaged and to our knowledge incidents of vandalism to licensed vehicles remain low.” However protest organiser Ali Haydor, the Southampton private hire trade representa- tive, has hit back saying the council’ s policy doesn’ t cover out-of-town PHVs. He said: “This has been going on for a long
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time and they keep on saying they want to protect the public. But out-of-town cars, licensed by other councils are using our lanes to pick up the same public in Southampton which they are trying to pro- tect. We understand council policy, we just want to have a bit of leniency as we have got to follow all of these rules.” Ali added that his drivers have to follow the council’s rules while other drivers are get- ting licences from elsewhere. Mr Haydor, who organised the protest with newly-elected representative Jamilur Rah- man, also claimed that more vehicles with a permanent sign are being vandalised. He said: “We want to be able to take the
signs off to give us privacy. Not all of these drivers from out-of-town have to have stick- ers. We want the flexibility.” However, another group of Southampton drivers has now backed the council’s stance saying the city council should not allow PHV drivers to use magnetic door signs as the safety of customers “must come first”. Ian Hall, chairman of Southampton Hackney and Private Hire Association, said: “We need to keep these permanent stickers on. The magnetic stickers can be stolen or fall off the vehicle and they damage the door.” Mr Hall who has been in the industry for more than three decades, said: “We were part of the group that agreed with the coun- cil that we needed to get away from these magnetic stickers to have a safety aspect for the customer because the customer is of paramount importance.” Joe Jones, part-owner of Southampton- based company Door2Door, said permanent door signs provide both customers and employers with “extra assurances”.He said he would be “reluctant” to employ drivers who use magnetic door signs. Clive Johnson, chairman or Radio Drivers Association (RDA), added: “I feel very sorry for people struggling but we have got to protect customers. The safety of our cus- tomers must come first.”
OCTOBER 2020
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