ADDISON LEE

This weekend we have become aware of groupings of Addison Lee drivers organising a strike for this Monday. This is not an action sanctioned or organised by UPHD though we stand in full solidarity with all Addison Lee drivers. We are, however, asking Addison Lee drivers to not strike as planned but instead join a UPHD convened meeting to be organised in the coming days.

The situation for workers at Addison Lee has seriously deteriorated on the back of recent fare cuts of as much as 30-40%, increased insurance premiums. In the wake of the fare cuts, drivers continue to pay high rental rates and a plethora of additional itemized such as 'admin' and 'credit card fraud protection'.  Drivers are increasingly frustrated with the complexity of Addison Lee's payment model making it extremely difficult for a driver to figure out their position on a day to day basis.

We also recognise the entire industry now in peril for drivers and operators alike largely due to TfL and Boris Johnson's reckless stewardship of our trade. TfL have allowed an unfair competitive advantage for Uber in allowing a firm which pays no tax to speak of in the UK, avoids VAT and violates worker rights to exploit our city and its people. George Galloway speaking as a current Mayoral candidate has referred to the relationship between TfL and Uber as 'corrupt'.

We also recognise that Addison Lee has at least shown some willingness to respect driver representation - something Uber has steadfastly refused to do. (For that matter, TfL too has refused to properly recognise private hire driver representation while offering extensive access to the taxi trade.) Whether Addison Lee is prepared to go beyond recognising worker representation to taking action on their concerns remains to be seen.

We believe UPHD has a special responsibility to use our platform constructively to help Addison Lee workers and management resolve some of the issues at hand. To this end we are calling on those Addison Lee driver members considering strike action to suspend it and instead come to a mass meeting for Addison Lee drivers which UPHD will arrange in the coming days. At this meeting we will help facilitate and organise Addison Lee drivers with the aim of forming a clear worker manifesto for presentation to their management. We will then request a meeting with Addison Lee's CEO. Depending on the outcome of this meeting our members can then decide what further action is appropriate at that stage.

In the spirit of transparency, we would to like it make known that Addison Lee's legal team contacted UPHD yesterday and asked us to remove one of the slider images on our website. The image was a typical London scene from the perspective of a private hire driver which incidentally included an Addison Lee branded vehicle. The image is not the property of Addison Lee and we had proper license to use it. We do not believe it infringed on Addison Lee's trademark rights in any way. However, in the spirit of constructive engagement so we may best represent our Addison Lee driver members,  we have decided to remove the image as a gesture of good will to Addison Lee management.

For many organisations you might imagine that internal workings such as described in this post might remain confidential and hidden. But that is not how we do things at UPHD. We are always transparent, forthright to a fault and member interests always, always come first. On that we will never compromise.

https://www.google.co.uk/?gfe_rd=cr&ei=yx3nVqHjCofS8Af6iInIAQ&gws_rd=ssl


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