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St Albans Travel Chaos This Saturday As St Albans Council Fails Cabbies Over Fare Rise

City’s cabbies to strike this Saturday 4th October 2008

At a meeting of the St Albans Council, Licensing Committee on 26 September 2008, the Councillors voted not to allow a fare increase for the City hackney carriages despite the fact that fares have not been increased for 2 years.

In a further blow to the City’s professional drivers the Council have also voted in changes that will see any driver with six points on his or her driving licence will be unable to get a license to work for a year.

Terence Flanagan, GMB National Organiser for professional drivers said, “I know that the City’s professional drivers are determined to confront the Council with a series of strikes. This coming Saturday (4th October) will see the first ever ‘strike’ by self-employed licensed cabbies. Because of their self-employed status they can choose to work or not to work without reference to any employer or legislation. It will be interesting to see the Council’s response when the city centre this weekend is devoid of cabs from 10 pm on Saturday night until 4 am on Sunday morning.


The GMB members who work as part of St Albans vital transport network are available to attend any re-opening negotiations that the Council may wish to consider before the weekend. Yet I have never seen Councillors so apparently contemptuous of the industry.


To disallow a fare increase in the present recession beggars belief. Diesel is currently priced at £1.22 a litre, considerably more expensive than 2 years ago when it was approximately 82p a litre. Despite urgent appeals from licensed hackney and mini cab drivers present at the meeting their request was denied. Seemingly the prospect of cab drivers being unable to pay their mortgages or being forced to leave the industry is of no concern to the Council.


The Council also agreed a scheme that will bar cab drivers with six points on their driving licence from holding a Hackney or Private Hire licence. With the present number of cameras points are not hard to obtain given the number of hours that professional drivers have to work to earn a living wage as a result of St Alban’s Council fares freeze.”


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Contact: Terence Flanagan, GMB National Organiser for professional driver on 07958 275339 or GMB Press Office: Steve Pryle on 07921 289880.

The strike by self-employed members of the GMB Professional Driver Branch who work as licensed hackney carriage and cabbies in St Albans is set to go ahead this Saturday 22.00 pm and 04.00 am Sunday.

GMB’s chief negotiator has tried to contact St Albans’ council with a view seeing if talks could avoid Saturday’s strike which will disrupt the travel home plans of the City’s weekend revellers. The dispute was further exacerbated yesterday when the drivers received a report of a driver who had an unsubstantiated complaint against him, dealt in his absence with no opportunity for him to respond in anyway and he was issued with a written warning by the Council’s licensing officer Karen Hollands.

A meeting of the St Albans Council, Licensing Committee on 26 September 2008, the Councillors voted not to allow a fare increase for the City hackney carriages despite the fact that fares have not been increased for 2 years. In a further blow to the City’s professional drivers the Council have also voted in changes that will see any driver with six points on his or her driving licence will be unable to get a license to work for a year.

Terence Flanagan, GMB National Organiser for professional drivers said, “This latest incident has brought home to St Albans’ drivers that the new disciplinary procedure puts all their licences at risk of malicious unsubstantiated complaints. GMB will of course be representing this member in an appeal against the Council. This coming Saturday (4th October) will see the ‘strike’ by self-employed licensed cabbies. Because of their self-employed status they can choose to work or not to work without reference to any employer or legislation.


The failure of the Council to even attempt to stop this action demonstrates its contempt for its residents and its licensed cabbies.”


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Contact: Terence Flanagan, GMB National Organiser for professional driver on 07958 275339 or GMB Press Office: Rose Conroy on 07974 258123 of Steve Pryle on 07921 289880.