Taxi strikes planned for this weekend have been called off Some members of Cardiff's Hackney Carriage Association took part in a strike last week
Planned taxi strikes in Cardiff have been called off.
Some members of Cardiff’s Hackney Carriage Association were planning to strike this weekend but say a letter from Police and Crime Commissioner Alun Michael has prompted them to reconsider.
That call was made before a strike last weekend, which the group claim 200 drivers took part in . Private hire firms were not included in the action and not all drivers took part.
The strike, originally planned for four hours was reduced to two hours and on Friday, it was called off after an hour.
This Friday, when the strike would have been in place, is when Uber will launch in Cardiff city centre.
'Based on requestThe strike was planned in response to anger about the reaction to sex attacks in the city centre and complaints made that drivers were not taking all fares who tried to take taxis.
Drivers said they were frustrated at the handling of complaints.
But since the first strike, Mathab Khan, the group’s chairman, appeared in court earlier this week and had a 10-day suspension for not taking fares upheld by magistrates.
The court found he had refused to take a fare from Churchill Way in Cardiff city centre to Claude Road in Roath.
He has written to members of his group and said: “The planned strike on next weekend and following weekend has been cancelled based on request made by the Police and Crime Commissioner in his open lette r to the Western Mail newspaper dated 7 April, 2016.
“However the campaign against the arbitrary policy created by licensing section recently based on pressure from media attention and use of its sub committee instead full committee or Magistrates Court, and allowing only two minutes time to cross examine the complainants and submit a proper defence is totally unacceptable.
“Therefore the management committee have decided to take legal action in Administrative Court against Cardiff council if it is feasible, a meeting with legal team has been arranged for next Friday afternoon, we will keep you in loop/up dated in due course.
'Thanks for your support'“Once again many thanks to everyone of you for your wholehearted support at the strike held on last weekend, it is greatly appreciated.”
A council spokesman said: “Last autumn the issue of refusal of fares became prominent in the local media and the council received many complaints. Council officers decided to deal with these by taking them to the Public Protection Committee to consider potential disciplinary action. This was in view of the volume of complaints, public concern, the Committee’s function to protect vulnerable members of the travelling public, and the desire to simplify the process for the complainant, who is the ultimately the service user.
“During the time in question, the council did appeal to the taxi trade to take vulnerable women home.”
He said Mr Khan made a media statement defending drivers on the same day as he refused a fare.
“The council shares the view given by the court, that Mr Khan should seek independent legal advice on the process moving forwards.
“The message is very simple, we would advise all drivers to understand and abide by their licensing conditions, or face enforcement action for breaching the law.”
source:
http://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/wales ... n-11215738
Login
Register
FAQ
