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Burnley Taxi Drivers Threaten to Strike
16th July 2008
Angry cabbies have threatened to strike over plans to send them back to school to learn how to treat their customers properly.
Taxi drivers in Burnley have been told that they must enrol on a new B-tec course in customer service before they are fully qualified to get behind the wheel.
And private hire and hackney carriage workers, some of whom have picked up fares for 30 or 40 years, say they feel insulted by the Burnley Council demand.
With fuel costs and insurance premiums already rising, many drivers also resent the £180 fee for the course, which is being offered in conjunction with Chorley College.
The course is believed to concentrate on a number of customer service aspects, including helping passengers out with their shopping and opening doors for fares.
Blueprints for the B-tec scheme have been issued to private hire and hackney carriage drivers, with their respective associations given until the end of the week to make their representations to the local authority.
The borough’s licensing committee will then be asked to consider the plans at a town hall meeting on July 31.
Mohammed Arif, chairman of Burnley Private Hire Association, said: “There was a meeting about this last night and the members overwhelmingly decided that this is going over the top.
“Recession is coming, everyone has been hit hard, and now the council comes up with brilliant ideas and again we have to pay the price.”
Mr Arif says taxi drivers are so unhappy at the moves that they may be force to go on strike, unless their protests are considered.
The private hire association has already been lobbying local councillors, regarding their opposition to the course, ahead of the licensing committee meeting.
Jamil Munir, chairman of Burnley Hackney Carriage Association, said his group ‘strongly opposed’ the B-Tec course.
“The hackney trade has invested many thousands of pounds well before the council introduced deregulation. Maybe it should have introduced the measures then, before new applicants invested to obtain cabs, so they would have known what lay ahead,” Mr Munir added.
But Peter Henderson, principal licensing officer at Burnley council, said: “Through this proposal Burnley, like other areas across both Lancashire and around the country, are seeking to build on the skills existing taxi drivers have, and ensure new drivers meet the standards required for a top quality taxi service across the borough.”
He added: “It is important to stress the training programme is still at the proposal stage and the council will consider all views on the matter before a recommendation is made by the licensing committee and subsequent decision taken by the executive.”
Coun Roger Frost, Burnley council’s environment member, said: “We will work alongside taxi drivers to ensure these proposals deliver a professional taxi service that benefits both the drivers and the people of Burnley.”
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Kind regards,
Brummie Cabbie.
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Lets hope the Burnley boy have a little more backbone and fight this all the way. 