Taxi Driver Online

Express and Echo (Exeter)

July 10, 2007 Tuesday

Station taxis strike averted

Travellers at Exeter St David's station have been spared lengthy delays after strike action was called off by taxi drivers.

Commuters and tourists faced travel chaos when some members of the Exeter Hackney Carriage Association threatened to stop operating at the city's main station, which is used by over 1.5 million passengers a year.

The cabbies were annoyed that the station's operator, First Great Western, was proposing an increase in the rent it charges drivers to use the rank. Concerned their profit margins would suffer, some drivers threatened to boycott the station's rank.

The action, which was due to take place yesterday, would have left hundreds of commuters stranded, as many of the city's 59 licensed Hackney Carriage drivers withdrew their services. There was concern that people returning to the county from Sunday's Live Earth Concert in London could magnify the problem of resulting delays.

However, emergency talks between First Great Western and the cabbies cleared the stalemate and avoided strike action from being taken.

Bruce Spiller, chairman of the Exeter Hackney Carriage Driver Association, said: "There are always negotiations between us and First Great Western and it's all sorted now. There will be no strike action taken.

"I don't have any problem with First Great Western - we are on good terms."

A spokesman for First Great Western said: "We're pleased that this matter has been resolved and that no strike took place today."
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Well then WTF are you moaning about?

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IDFIMH