TAXI MEMBERS DEMAND JUSTICE

RMT helpline 0800 376 3706 :: july/august 2015 :: RMTnews 5 Taxi drivers in London and across the country, fed up with attacks on their livelihoods and the free rein given to well- connected corporations such as Uber, fought back last month with a protest at Parliament. Cabbies were protesting at the failure of Transport for London and other local authorities to enforce existing regulations and challenging the excuse that the law as it stands is insufficiently clear. Together with other concerned organisations, RMT is campaigning for a change to the law – there must be a statutory definition of ‘plying for hire’. Speakers at the rally included Raja Amin of RMT Midlands regional council, Mick Bailey and Lewis Norton from RMT London Taxi branch, Mohammed Halim of the Birmingham Taxi branch and Umar Khan of the Leicester Taxi branch. Grahame Morris MP, a member of RMT’s Parliamentary group who put down Early Day Motion 142, said that smartphone apps such as Über were circumventing the law governing the taxi and minicab industry. His EDM supports existing regulations whereby private hire vehicles (PHVs) may only pick up passengers when pre-booked rather than from a rank or in response to being hailed. It says that such regulations provide passengers with important safety protections against unregulated drivers who have not undergone extensive criminal record and medical checks or had to pass a formal taxi driving assessment like licensed taxi drivers. However Transport for London was failing to carry out its licensing and enforcement functions and is allowing PHVs to operate and that this was primarily due to the absence of a statutory definition of plying for hire. “This undermines public confidence in a safe and secure licensing regime and will ultimately undermine the viability of the current taxi service,” he said. Since Uber started operating in London in 2012 the number of people applying to study The Knowledge, the geographical training for licensed taxi drivers, fell from 3,326 to 2,159 last year. RMT Parliamentary group convenor John McDonnell MP called on the government to bring forward urgent legislation which provided a clear statutory definition to protect the distinction between taxis and PHVs. TAXI MEMBERS DEMAND JUSTICE Parliament rally demands the right to ‘ply for hire’