Black cab manufacturer London Taxis International has been hit by another blow - this time a strike at its Coventry manufacturing plant.

Staff at London Taxis International walked out on indefinite strike last week over pay.  The 200 staff at its Coventry plant were dissatisfied with a 2.9% pay increase offered by management.

Workers at the plant, represented by the T&G and Amicus, rejected LTI's initial offer of a 2.1% increase with the imposition of monthly pay and annualised hours, and are now demanding a four per cent increase with no strings.  Workers are also angry at bonuses paid to top management.

Management claimed that the company had enough vehicles stockpiled to meet current demand, but claimed that the strike would be very damaging to LTI in the longer term.

LTI has posted two years of consecutive losses, with the company having been hit hard by the downturn in the London black cab trade, the main market for the company's TXII purpose built taxi.

Alternative cab?
In another possible blow to LTI, one of its major distributors is rumoured to be developing its own 'alternative' taxi to compete with the TXII as well as those supplied by vehicle converters like Jubilee Automotive Group and Allied Vehicles.  Industry sources indicate that the vehicle would be Fiat-based.

LTI has already lost market share to these alternative taxis in many areas of the UK, and Allied Vehicles has been pressuring provincial local authorities that still adhere to the Metropolitan Conditions of Fitness (CoF), which specifies a turning circle that only the TXII and the troubled Metrocab can satisfy.  Last year Transport for London's (TfL) review of the CoF resulted in the retention of the turning circle requirement, but the threat of legal action from Allied Vehicles resulted in an early 'review of the review' by TfL, which is ongoing.

Click here to read views on this topic or post your own