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St Albans Travel Chaos This Saturday As St Albans Council Fails Cabbies Over Fare Rise

City’s cabbies to strike this Saturday 4th October 2008

At a meeting of the St Albans Council, Licensing Committee on 26 September 2008, the Councillors voted not to allow a fare increase for the City hackney carriages despite the fact that fares have not been increased for 2 years.

In a further blow to the City’s professional drivers the Council have also voted in changes that will see any driver with six points on his or her driving licence will be unable to get a license to work for a year.

Terence Flanagan, GMB National Organiser for professional drivers said, “I know that the City’s professional drivers are determined to confront the Council with a series of strikes. This coming Saturday (4th October) will see the first ever ‘strike’ by self-employed licensed cabbies. Because of their self-employed status they can choose to work or not to work without reference to any employer or legislation. It will be interesting to see the Council’s response when the city centre this weekend is devoid of cabs from 10 pm on Saturday night until 4 am on Sunday morning.


The GMB members who work as part of St Albans vital transport network are available to attend any re-opening negotiations that the Council may wish to consider before the weekend. Yet I have never seen Councillors so apparently contemptuous of the industry.


To disallow a fare increase in the present recession beggars belief. Diesel is currently priced at £1.22 a litre, considerably more expensive than 2 years ago when it was approximately 82p a litre. Despite urgent appeals from licensed hackney and mini cab drivers present at the meeting their request was denied. Seemingly the prospect of cab drivers being unable to pay their mortgages or being forced to leave the industry is of no concern to the Council.


The Council also agreed a scheme that will bar cab drivers with six points on their driving licence from holding a Hackney or Private Hire licence. With the present number of cameras points are not hard to obtain given the number of hours that professional drivers have to work to earn a living wage as a result of St Alban’s Council fares freeze.”


Ends


Contact: Terence Flanagan, GMB National Organiser for professional driver on 07958 275339 or GMB Press Office: Steve Pryle on 07921 289880.

Utter Madness....It says 6 points but that means a A maximum of 3 points are acceptable...cos the next time you get Knicked you'll get 3 points...not 1 point or 2 points...its Increments of three. therefore anymore than one speeding offence and your on the Dole for a year is what they are really saying!!!

Only you skip could go on holiday to a country that no longer exists

CC

It did when I went

But not when you came back?

Are you scouse by any chance

CC

Scouse SCOUSE, YOU DAFT HAPETH born in Plymouth raised in Yorkshire schooled in north Wales living in Scotland you must be joking, OH sheet I married one