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Tuesday, 14th October 2008

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Cabbies claim strike success



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Published Date:
20 May 2008
Taxi drivers in Preston, Lancashire, claim a one-day strike was a success despite failing to reach a deal over the city's station taxi rank.
Cabbies staged a 90- minute protest convoy through the city centre on Monday.

They are angry over plans to limit the number of taxi rank spaces at the railway station to 12.

Drivers' leaders will have fresh talks with licensing officials at Preston Council today after 70 licensees occupied the reception area of the town hall demanding city leaders enter the increasingly bitter dispute.

Pete Tyson, Preston Hackney Carriage Association's treasurer, said: "What we want now is for them to talk seriously about finding additional ranking space in the city centre."

The strike was announced after talks with Virgin Trains last week ended in stalemate.

It follows a previous strike earlier this month when cabbies refused to pick up fares and carried out a "rolling protest", bringing the city centre to a standstill.

Driver Mark Selley said: "The protest went well, but I'm not sure whether Virgin will lose any sleep over it."

Commuters queueing outside the station were baffled when drivers refused to carry them.

Some were handed leaflets by cabbies explaining the reasons behind the protest.

Alison Matthews, who was visiting family in Preston, backed the drivers.

She said: "Virgin are taking away a service and depriving the drivers of their living."

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  • Last Updated: 20 May 2008 10:24 AM
  • Source: n/a
  • Location: Preston
 
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Red Rosie,

Preston 20/05/2008 11:47:09
Driver Mark Selley said: "The protest went well, but I'm not sure whether Virgin will lose any sleep over it."

I'm sure, Mark. They won't. All you've managed to achieve is to alienate your own customers.
2

macdaddy,

20/05/2008 12:41:50
Again, Red Rosie speaks nonsense, say no more!
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Red Rosie,

20/05/2008 14:57:19
Go on then, macdaddy, what have the cabbies achieved other than getting up the nose of everyone they've got in the way of, or refused to transport?
4

barnfarm,

20/05/2008 15:32:11
They stood up to be counted in defence of their livelihood RR. I call that a result. Or should they have just rolled over when beardy Branson started throwing his corporate weight around?
5

Red Rosie,

20/05/2008 16:08:58
I've no problem with them standing up to Virgin, BF - but they've not actually done that. They should have picketed the station entrance and made passengers aware of the problems. But by refusing to take customers they have potentially caused huge problems for the very people who pay their wages while not actually affecting Virgin in any way.
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barnfarm,

20/05/2008 17:24:39
Picketing the station entrance would probably have been illegal. As it stands, all the prospective customers, many of whom are probably regular users, are now well aware of the situation.
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Sam Tana,

Ribbleton 20/05/2008 19:01:56
Perfectly legal to protest - this wasn't a strike against an employer, so those rules wouldn't apply. A few of the cabbies walking around with placards complaining about the taxi rank plans would have been more effective than blocking the roads. And since when have people getting taxis at a major railway station been "regulars"? I bet the vast majority are either strangers in town or infrequent visitors.
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barnfarm,

20/05/2008 20:10:12
Since when is Preston a major railway station (if you need to learn the difference just take a quick trip to Piccadilly or Euston)? And of course there will be a significant number of regulars - a word which also covers weekly, bi-weekly or monthly clients. You people should try and have some pride in the city - seems most posters on this subject in recent weeks are oddly delighted to have a public purse subsidised South East based corporation call the shots.
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Sam Tana,

21/05/2008 01:45:04
Are you having a laff, Barnfarm? It's on a main line and it's a junction for both the Manchester and Blackpool lines and more than 3.2 million people use it every year. I'd say that makes it a major railway station.

And what does "having pride in the city" have to do with it? Pride in the fact that people arriving here looking for a taxi get treated like rubbish by the very people who should be providing the service, just because they are having a tiff with the rail company? Pride? Shame, more like!

But you're right (at last) about Virgin calling the shots. When did it become their railway station? It should be a job for Notwork Rail, or whatever they are called this month.
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barnfarm,

21/05/2008 12:28:41
It's perhaps a third the size of Piccadilly, half that of Victoria or Lime Street, various percentages of various truly major rail terminals around the country... Sizeable Preston is, major it ain't.
And odd you are ashamed of Prestonians feisty enough to make an almost certainly doomed stand (which cost them a day's pay) against a corporate behemoth. I for one wish them well - almost regardless of the merits of their case!
Btw, what ARE you proud of? The Fishergate Centre? The ring road?
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