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and the saga continues
Angry York Hackney and private hire drivers met in York yesterday (Thursday, 9th February 2017) in order to once again vent their anger at the City of York Council for opening rendezvous points for private hire drivers around the city.
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.
The meeting concluded with a vote in favour of blocking the city centre if the City of York Council continue to ignore the trade.
Bill Chard, from GMB’s Professional Drivers’ Association said:
“Once again changes are 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.
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.”
Drivers are concerned with UBER vehicles from outside of York camping in the city centre illegally, plying for hire without insurance and generally ignoring York’s licensing legislation.
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.
We have delivered a safe service to the people of York for years but the council seem to be making changes without talking to us that seem to be designed to accommodate these renegade cars from outside our area.”
Attendees spoke of instances they had witnessed or videoed on their phones, including drivers from outside the York area, (Leeds, Bradford, Kirklees, Wakefield and Rossendale (Lancs)) 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 the meeting and spoke at length, promising that GMB would back the York drivers campaign saying:
“ 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.”
The meeting concluded with a vote in favour of blocking the city centre if the City of York Council continue to ignore the trade.
The City of York Council have said the pick up points were introduced a year and a half ago.
Matt Boxall, Head of Public Protection at City of York Council, said:
“The private hire pick up points were introduced on both Lendal and Davygate a year and a half ago to help address long standing noise complaints in a nearby area.’
The pick up points were discussed at meetings between the council and the trade on occasions as long ago as January 2014, well over a year before Uber applied for a licence.
We are not aware of any complaints about the pick up points from the drivers, the public or GMB since and we continue to have regular meetings with drivers.
It is important to note that these are merely pick up points, and not waiting areas.”
Anyone with a concern about a licensed driver or vehicle should report it on 01904 551525
Dangerous driving incidents should also be reported to the police.
As with any complaint, we will investigate and, where appropriate, take any action as the law allows.
We continue to urge drivers not to take matters into their own hands”
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lack of modern legislation is the iceberg sinking the titanic of the transport sector
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