{"id":15868,"date":"2018-08-06T15:55:05","date_gmt":"2018-08-06T14:55:05","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/unitelive.org\/?p=15868"},"modified":"2020-11-12T12:58:19","modified_gmt":"2020-11-12T12:58:19","slug":"london-cab-drivers-legal-action-uber-earnings","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/?p=15868","title":{"rendered":"‘No profit without responsibility’"},"content":{"rendered":"
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London cab drivers are banding together in a potential group legal action against ridesharing app Uber for damages and loss of earnings reportedly totalling more than \u00c2\u0141500m.<\/p>\n

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Unite\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Cab Section is encouraging its members who are registered with Transport for London (TfL) to sign up to take part in the legal action<\/a>, which is being handled by law firm Mishcon de Reya and will be fully funded by litigation funding firm Harbour.<\/p>\n

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Unite and other organisations involved in the potential legal action, including the Licensed Taxi Drivers\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 Association (LTDA), United Cabbies Group (UCG), and London Cab Drivers Club (LCDC), among others, argue that cab drivers have suffered losses to their earnings over the five years that Uber broke regulations in the capital, between 2012 to 2017.<\/p>\n

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\u00e2\u20ac\u015bIt\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s been well-documented that London cab drivers have seen a substantial loss of earnings over the last five years, at least by about a third \u00e2\u20ac\u201c and this is linked directly to unfair competition that Uber itself has admitted,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 said Unite\u00c2\u00a0National Taxi Committee chair\u00c2\u00a0Mike Hedges. \u00e2\u20ac\u015bIt\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s only right that if people are losing money because a company has been doing something illegal, then that company should pay the money back.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

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London cab drivers, including those who are not trade union members, are eligible to join Cabbie Group Action at no financial risk to themselves whatsoever. The litigation funding firm will cover all legal costs in the potential action, whether cab drivers win or lose.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bAt this stage of the process there\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s no commitment from drivers \u00e2\u20ac\u201c all they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re being asked to do now is register their interest saying they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d like to be part of the action,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 Hedges explained.<\/p>\n

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\u00e2\u20ac\u015bIn our view, we recommend that members register their interest because, first of all, it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s the right thing to be repaid for loss of earnings, and secondly we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve met with the law firm, asked the relevant questions and have determined there is no risk to our drivers. Lastly, the greater number of cab drivers who sign up, the more feasible the group action becomes and the more likely it is that a quicker settlement is reached.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Licence renewal ‘beggars belief’<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

News of the legal action comes as Uber was granted a 15-month probationary operating licence in the capital last month, after its licence was removed<\/a> by TfL last September. At an appeal hearing in June, Uber admitted that it had operated outside TfL\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s regulatory framework since 2012 \u00e2\u20ac\u201c it agreed with TfL over its concerns including Uber\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s failure to report serious crime such as sexual assault and the way it conducted background checks on drivers, among other issues.<\/p>\n

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The ridesharing firm vowed that it would clean up its act, and convinced Westminster magistrates that it had implemented enough reforms that it could continue to operate under a limited probationary licence.<\/p>\n

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But Unite believes these reforms are far from being enough to be able to ever trust Uber again.<\/p>\n

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\u00e2\u20ac\u015bThis isn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t the first time that Uber has lied, cheated and tried to evade regulations,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 Hedges said, as he explained the company\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s use of the software Greyball, which enables the firm to deliberately \u00e2\u20ac\u0098hide\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 from regulators. \u00e2\u20ac\u015bThey lie and cheat all the time, all over the world.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

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\u00e2\u20ac\u015bThis is the same company that when passengers were sexually assaulted and harassed in vehicles and passengers reported it to Uber, the company did nothing \u00e2\u20ac\u201c they essentially covered it up,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 he added. \u00e2\u20ac\u015bHow any company can get a licence back after all that simply beggars belief. That the firm was only given a 15-month licence \u00e2\u20ac\u201c it asked for an 18-month licence but this was denied \u00e2\u20ac\u201c doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t inspire a lot of confidence.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

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Fair competition call<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Unite Cab Section rep Peter Rose explained other ways in which Uber has simply ignored regulations.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bThey haven\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t been following regulations to the letter of the law \u00e2\u20ac\u201c this has happened many times,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 he told Sky News this morning. \u00e2\u20ac\u015bTelephone lines are a requirement, premises are a requirement, planning permission is a requirement under the [Private Hire Vehicles] Act 1998 \u00e2\u20ac\u201c all of those were ignored by Uber.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Responding to criticism from Institute of Economic Affairs research fellow Rebecca Lowe, who claimed cab drivers were taking part in the legal action because they simply didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t like competition, Rose said that Unite objects only to competition that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s unfair.<\/p>\n

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\u00e2\u20ac\u015bI\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve been competing with 25,000 cab drivers my entire cab driving career,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 he said. \u00e2\u20ac\u015bI\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve also been competing with other private hire services apart from Uber and all those private hire services have managed to conduct their business in a fair and reasonable manner and have always adhered to the rules.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

He pointed out that apps in and of themselves are a\u00c2\u00a0as a technology more than welcome\u00c2\u00a0 \u00e2\u20ac\u201c if they are developed within regulations, such as Addison Lee\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s app.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Hedges vowed that Unite will continue to hold Uber and other companies like it to account. He highlighted another Unite campaign lobbying for a National Cab Act<\/a> that aims to close many of the loopholes that Uber now exploits, such as cross-border hiring which the police themselves have called \u00e2\u20ac\u015bthe biggest threat to policing nationally.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bThey can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t come and just make up their own rules,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 Hedges said of Uber. \u00e2\u20ac\u015bThey have to operate within the framework that everyone else operates within.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Rose agreed.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bThere should be no profit without responsibility.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

If you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re a registered London cab driver and believe you should be compensated for loss of earnings from Uber, register your interest with the Cabbies Group Action here.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

London cab drivers are banding together in a potential group legal action against ridesharing app Uber for damages and loss of earnings reportedly totalling more than \u00c2\u0141500m.   Unite\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Cab Section is encouraging its members who are registered with Transport for London (TfL) to sign up to take part in the legal action, which is […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":10255,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[17],"tags":[316,33,718],"wps_subtitle":"London cab drivers to join legal action against Uber for loss of earnings","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15868"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=15868"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15868\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":25996,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15868\/revisions\/25996"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/10255"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=15868"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=15868"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=15868"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}