Kirklees taxi drivers could strike over licence fee hike

Apr 18 2009 By Barry Gibson

ANGRY cabbies are threatening strike action over an inflation-busting licence hike.

Kirklees Council decided this week to increase the annual taxi driver licence renewal by 62% from £37 to £60.

Licences for Hackney carriage cars will rise from £106 to £135 and for private hire cabs from £125 to £135.

Amjad Nadeem, secretary of Kirklees Hackney Carriage Association, said yesterday: “These increases are far too much. We’re talking to the private hire drivers about the possibility of a demonstration or a strike against this.”

Mr Nadeem said takings were down because of the recession. He said: “Our trade has been in the firing line from day one of the economic crisis.

“Last year, a Hackney driver could expect to take £120 during an eight-hour shift on a Saturday night. Now it’s down to £80. For a day shift during the week, we used to take about £50, now it’s down to £30.”

The council’s cabinet justified this week’s price hike by saying it brought Kirklees into line with the rest of West Yorkshire.

But Makhan Singh, who drives a Hackney cab in Huddersfield town centre, believes the comparison is unfair. He said: “Leeds, Wakefield and Bradford are cities, they have more trade than we do.”

Mr Singh added that other councils in West Yorkshire protected legitimate drivers by clamping down on illegal taxis.