CABBIES have voted to block York city centre unless council bosses heed their angry protests against Uber drivers 'flooding into the city.'
But a council officer has urged them not to 'take matters into their own hands,' saying the authority would investigate complaints and take action where appropriate.
The GMB union said more than 100 hackney and private hire drivers attended a 'stormy' meeting yesterday to vent their anger after City of York Council's alleged opening of rendezvous points for private hire drivers across the city.
A union spokesman said: "These are points where private hire vehicles can wait for calls from their office. The York taxi trade believe that they have been put in place for the benefit of Uber drivers who flood into the city at weekends from outside the area."
Bill Chard, from the GMB’s Professional Drivers’ Association, claimed changes were being introduced without proper consultation and without any demand from the York trade.
"When questioned, the council have replied that they do not have to consult on this issue and even said that they had carried out some consultation," he said.
"There were over one hundred present at our meeting including proprietors and representatives of both Hackney and Private Hire Associations and not one person present said that they had been consulted or accepted any need for these rendezvous points.
"York are acting like some banana republic dictators, riding roughshod over the interests of local drivers and local businesses in favour of outsiders who will not put a single penny into the York economy.”
Terry Osborne, a private hire representative from York, said: “This was another heated meeting with York’s home grown drivers being ignored time and time again by City of York Council."
Attendees spoke of instances they had witnessed or videoed on their phones of drivers from outside the York area acting unlawfully and unsafely and putting lives at risk.
Mick Rix, GMB National Officer for the Hackney and private hire trade representing over 20,000 members in the industry came up from London to attend yesterday's meeting, and promised the GMB would back the York drivers' campaign.
He said: “York based drivers meet the city's demand, they are local people who spend their money here and they do not cause extra pollution by driving from West Yorkshire because they are already in the city.
"I understand why the drivers are so angry when they perceive that the council is bending over backwards to appease the outsider UBER vehicles.”
A spokesman added that the meeting concluded with a vote in favour of 'blocking the city centre if the City of York Council continue to ignore the trade.'
Editorial Comment:
Councils around the country are turning a blind eye to uber and letting them flood their towns. The result being that respectable Licensed Taxi drivers and long standing private hire companies are being driven out of work by the predatory pricing of a company that pays virtually no tax in this country.
7 comments:
These councils are told what to do.
Why do you think there on £250 k plus per year.
There controlled by the spider in the centre of the web.
Cameron and Johnson saying lay off Uber they had been instructed from higher up
i.e. Corporations
Transport the mayoralship of London the legal system the NHS.
Etc etc etc are all strands of the same web.
Everything is connected
Wake up for fucks sake.
These arsholes have been bought and paid for
And tow the line.
Your all fast asleep wakey wakey.
Study real history.
This country is rotten to the core.
If you don't agree do your research....
And on it goes, all I see and here is taxis moaning , writing blogs and so on. Taxi drivers and the real ph need to come together and bring London to a standstill.
Its looking more like uber have bought TfL,with the nod to go national.
Well done the Liverpool drivers! This city is one place where the people stand up for themselves and the trade ensures the safety of its fellow citizens. What kind of hold has this non tax paying American giant, uber, got on this country?
It appears that the Travis Kalanick app is now spreading out from the Capital like a virus enveloping all that stands between it and the total annihilation of the legitimate taxi trade.A contagion is a harmful idea,theory or practice that has a corrupting influence,the virus continues to run roughshod over all the rules and regulations some of wich have been in practice for centuries.otherwise sober, honest and scrupulous authorities appear now to be seduced by this multinational. The world is now changing beyond comprehension and the warnings are obvious,sick to the teeth with the power of these behemoths the compliant silent majority stirred up by Brexit and Trump will triumph,as good always do
Its a shame that London Taxi drivers did not see the benefit of supporting a petition calling for a Public Inquiry into TfL.
A national campaign could have acheived more support than a petition set up afterwards focussed only on London to compete.
Petition · Theresa May MP: National Campaign Save Taxis & Private Hire from unregulated Uber with TFL Public Inquiry · Change.org
https://www.change.org/p/theresa-may-mp-national-campaign-save-taxis-private-hire-from-unregulated-uber-with-tfl-public-inquiry
If the Bristol Drivers tried to round up all the TFL,s working here it would bring the city to a grinding halt! This started a long time ago here ,first with the out of town taxis mainly from South wales working here, when I emailed the licensing authority they said I had to supply evidence to them to back up our claims, I,d more than likely get points on my license for using my phone or camera to do so than any chance of the illegal being questioned
Part of the problem seems to be cash struck local councils trying to balance their coffers, why else would South Gloucester license hundreds of new private hire vehicles when they must know they are being worked on the Uber platform in neighbouring Bristol?
Until something on a national scale happens to make the councils / government take notice then this is just going to continue to erode the Hackney trade as we know it. Why on earth would I invest £20 K plus on a new Hackney wheelchair approved vehicle to be licensed in Bristol when I can go 8 miles up the road , buy a cheap saloon car and drive the wrong way up one way streets till my hearts content!
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