Taxi drivers pay to improve their lives
WEAR Valley taxi drivers met last Thursday and agreed to pay £12,000 or more to investigate their deteriorating working lives.Racism rows, growing competition, and rising tempers are clouding the trade and drivers met at The Black Horse in Low Willington to discuss their concerns.
The meeting was held by the Wear Valley Taxi Proprietors¹ Association and a stew of problems were discussed with drivers pushing Wear Valley District Council to cap the number of licences available.
The Council will not cap the number of hackney licences until a survey is completed but says drivers must fund the survey themselves.
Simon Elliff, who owns Wheelz Taxi¹s and attended the meeting, said: ³We have asked the council to find out how much a survey would cost and theoretically have agreed to foot that cost if it is spread across all hackney carriage licences.
³It would mean hackney drivers paying an extra £50 on top of everything else next year which is disgusting.² ³Local drivers have been accused of racism towards the Polish taxi drivers but all we want is for everybody to be subject to the same checks.
³We also feel that it¹s ridiculous that some of these drivers are working 70 or 80 hours a week and getting less than the minimum wage.² ³I do enjoy my job but I don¹t like the conditions we work under or the lack of representation.² Ex taxi driver Mr Bob Ayre, said: ³I packed in six weeks ago because there are too many taxi drivers in Wear Valley.
³This has been going on for a long time and the number of taxi drivers should have been capped five years ago.
³In other places, if you want to be a hackney driver you have to buy a plate from somebody else but not here.² Mr Dave Halliday, who runs Aabat Taxis
said: ³These issues affect every taxi business and have been going on for more than 10 years.
³The council has been putting off capping and fobbing us off with the colour and age scheme.
³The problem is compounded by the fact that there is very little trade.
³We are fortunate that we are a long-running business with plenty of contract work.
³The money is nothing like it was even two years ago you make less than £30 or £40 a day working on the ranks now whereas 18 months ago it would have been more like £60 or £70 ³Self employed drivers are working for much less than the minimum wage but some of them have no choice.
³They might be slightly older or have an injury that would make another job impossible.² Tom Carver from Wear Valley District Council was not available to comment.
