{"id":24400,"date":"2020-10-27T18:22:08","date_gmt":"2020-10-27T18:22:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/unitelive.org\/?p=24400"},"modified":"2020-10-28T13:31:49","modified_gmt":"2020-10-28T13:31:49","slug":"uber-is-just-heaping-on-the-pressure","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/?p=24400","title":{"rendered":"Uber \u00e2\u20ac\u0098is just heaping on the pressure\u00e2\u20ac\u2122"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Local taxi drivers will launch a campaign to call for action against the proliferation of London-based Uber vehicles in and around Gatwick and Crawley \u00e2\u20ac\u201c which are causing hardship for local drivers whose livelihoods have already been badly hit by the Coronavirus pandemic.<\/p>\n

Campaigners are holding a rally this Saturday (October 31) to call on Crawley Borough Council to step up pressure on Transport for London and Uber to limit the operations of London licensed vehicles in Sussex.<\/p>\n

Campaigners are calling for a\u00c2\u00a0change in Uber’s\u00c2\u00a0‘Geo Fence’ meaning Uber vehicles should\u00c2\u00a0only be able to\u00c2\u00a0receive\u00c2\u00a0requests from the Uber app in the region where the licencing authority is based.<\/p>\n

Over 800 local taxi drivers have\u00c2\u00a0signed a\u00c2\u00a0petition demanding action to\u00c2\u00a0rein in the activities of London based\u00c2\u00a0Uber vehicles.\u00c2\u00a0 The issue has come to head as on October\u00c2\u00a031, Uber is ceasing its\u00c2\u00a0operation from a designated waiting area within the Beehive Lane industrial estate near Crawley.\u00c2\u00a0There is now a great deal of uncertainty about where hundreds of\u00c2\u00a0Uber vehicles\u00c2\u00a0will move to.<\/p>\n

Local taxi and private hire\u00c2\u00a0drivers, who are\u00c2\u00a0concerned for their livelihoods and the\u00c2\u00a0local economy where Crawley faces 57 per cent unemployment, are speaking out.<\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bAs taxi drivers we are embedded in the fabric of our communities,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 commented one local taxi driver, Zak Ben said.<\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bFrom business professionals to school mums, there isn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t anyone we don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t pick up\u00c2\u00a0and we know our town is struggling right now.\u00c2\u00a0We can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t afford to allow a multinational\u00c2\u00a0to take much needed business out of our local economy, it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s not on.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

Another driver Dan Barnes agreed, adding, \u00e2\u20ac\u015bRight now our industry is operating at around 30 per cent. Those drivers that aren\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t working \u00e2\u20ac\u201c aren\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t earning! If people can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t work then they can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t spend any money. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s that simple.\u00c2\u00a0How can our town recover from the pandemic if we are out of jobs? Uber working here is just heaping on the pressure.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bCrawley’s economic dependence on Gatwick airport means the town\u00c2\u00a0is being badly affected by the Coronavirus crisis,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 said Unite regional officer Jamie Major said.<\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bLocal taxi and private hire drivers are launching a campaign to ensure Crawley Borough Council and other local councils pile the pressure on Transport for London and Uber to restrict London based Uber vehicles from\u00c2\u00a0picking up fares around Gatwick and Crawley. The drivers are calling for a fair and level playing field.<\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bIt\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s wrong for a giant multinational with a controversial track record to damage\u00c2\u00a0local employment.<\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bWe urge the councils to take action to support the economy in and around Gatwick and Crawley,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 added Major.<\/p>\n

The protest will take place on\u00c2\u00a0Saturday 31 October from 1.00 pm at the Uber car park, Beehive Ring Road, RH6 OPB.<\/p>\n

By Ciaran Naidoo<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Local\u00c2\u00a0taxi drivers\u00c2\u00a0will\u00c2\u00a0launch a campaign\u00c2\u00a0to call for action\u00c2\u00a0against the proliferation of\u00c2\u00a0London-based\u00c2\u00a0Uber vehicles in and around Gatwick and Crawley \u00e2\u20ac\u201c which are\u00c2\u00a0causing\u00c2\u00a0hardship\u00c2\u00a0for\u00c2\u00a0local\u00c2\u00a0drivers whose\u00c2\u00a0livelihoods\u00c2\u00a0have\u00c2\u00a0already been\u00c2\u00a0badly hit by the Coronavirus pandemic.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":10255,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[811,523,33,718],"wps_subtitle":"Gatwick taxi drivers say\u00c2\u00a0no to Uber amid concerns for local economy","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24400"}],"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=24400"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24400\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":24404,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24400\/revisions\/24404"}],"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=24400"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=24400"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=24400"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}