Taxi Driver Online

‘Don’t make low-pay minicab drivers pay London congestion charge’ mayor is urged

Two east London borough councillors are among 24 from all over London who have signed an open letter to City Hall today urging the mayor to scrap plans for the Congestion Charge for minicab drivers.

It’s the latest stage in a long-running protest campaign by the angry drivers which also includes blocking London Bridge tomorrow.

Tower Hamlets Council member Gabriela Salva Macallan from Bethnal Green’s St Peter’s ward put her name to the letter of support, along with Newham Council member Sasha Das Gupta from Forest Gate.

The letter urges Sadiq Khan to reconsider his decision to bring in the £11.50 daily charge from Monday for minicab drivers, which is now being challenged in the courts by the drivers’ trade union.

The charge could cost up to £3,000 a year, with many drivers earning below the minimum wage.

“These costs will be too much to bear for many,” the Labour councillors’ letter stresses. “Drivers will be forced out of their jobs, or be thrown into poverty and forced to work longer hours to get by.”

The mayor argues that the charge is necessary “to reduce congestion and air pollution” across London.

But the letter insists: “The costs of protecting our environment cannot be borne on the backs of the most vulnerable. Private hire drivers are some of the most exploited and precarious workers in London, taking home ‘poverty’ wages despite working gruelling hours.”

It follows a vote by Labour members on the London Assembly calling for the Congestion Charge on minicabs to be withdrawn. They urge instead a limit on driver licenses, a levy on operators such as Uber and a minimum wage enforcement.

TfL’s own impact assessment shows congestion would only be reduced by one per cent, with a negative impact on air pollution, the Independent Workers union claims. Licensed ‘black cab’ drivers, meanwhile, continue to be exempt from the charge.

The union has now applied for a Judicial Review of the mayor’s decision and is continuing its ongoing protests. Drivers plan to park their minicabs on London Bridge tomorrow to block it to traffic, while lobbying City Hall.

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IDFIMH

If Bojo the clown had been allowed to bring restrictions in it wouldn't be necessary but the vast numbers being plated PH means something needs to be done. I was told a figure elsewhere that approximately 10 to 15 percent of licensed London PH are NOT actually PH it is being used as a scam to avoid the charge so what do TFL ......................

plug the loophole

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lack of modern legislation is the iceberg sinking the titanic of the transport sector

High Court grants permission for a judicial review against the Mayor over imposition of congestion charge on minicabs in London

https://www.taxi-point.co.uk/single-pos ... -in-London

In what can only be described as a monumental decision, the High Court has granted permission for the Independent Workers Union of Great Britain (IWGB) to launch a Judicial Review against Mayor of London Sadiq Khan's plan to impose congestion charging on the private hire industry on the grounds that it discriminates against and breaches the human rights of a mainly BAME workforce.

The IWGB have argued that the introduction of the £11.50 congestion charge on minicab drivers is a case of indirect discrimination under the Equality Act. The charge is being imposed on a workforce that is mainly BAME (94% of London's 107,000 minicab drivers are BAME according to TFL), while black cab drivers, who are mostly white, continue to be exempt.

They union have also argued that the policy is also in breach of a number of articles of the European Convention on Human Rights that cover discrimination, property rights, right to a family life and ability to carry out a profession.

The IWGB has launched a crowdfund campaign on Crowdjustice to raise £50,000 to finance the legal challenge and assembled a legal team which includes renowned discrimination barristers Ben Collins QC, Nadia Motraghi and Tara O'Halloran of Old Square Chambers.

Todays decision is the culmination of several weeks of protests by minicab drivers, who are demanding that the congestion charge be scrapped, as it represents an unfair burden on their already stretched budgets. The protests have seen hundreds of drivers block a number of major roads and bridges in the capital.

The union has proposed a number of alternatives to this policy, including a cap on the total number minicab driver licenses, a levy on minicab operators such as Uber and Viavan, and the enforcement of worker rights by Transport for London (TfL)

The Independent Workers of Great Britain Union is seen as the leading union for precarious workers. It has taken legal action against Uber, Deliveroo and several other so-called gig economy employers. Last year it organised the first nation-wide strike of Uber drivers.

The hearing is set to take place on 9 and 10 July.

A very long way to go, but well done to those involved in at least getting this case to a full hearing.

Not convinced they will succeed, but I think it gives them time to maybe come to an arrangement with the Mayor.

Although not sure what that could be.

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IDFIMH

They are only low paid because they don't charge enough, charge the right fare and you could be well off

says Mr discount himself

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lack of modern legislation is the iceberg sinking the titanic of the transport sector

It's ironic.

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Grandad,

I wonder how many of them could find their way to London Bridge without the use of a satnav?