Coronavirus: Support our taxi drivers
Our Hackney cab and taxi driver members are ready to do 'whatever it takes' to help keep the country moving during the coronavirus crisis, but they are facing financial ruin without immediate government support.
Sign our petition to the Prime Minister: Taxi drivers can't wait until June to be paid.
Support us and we can help support the emergency services.
Taxi drivers are self-employed, the chancellor's offer of 80% of earning up to £2,500 a month for the country's 5m self-employed, matching the support given to employees, is welcomed, but making them wait until June for their first payment is not. We need payment now, not in June.
The government promised to do ‘whatever it takes’. Taxi drivers need the government to:
- Wage support straight away. No delay, until June.
- No means testing of Universal Credit or other benefits.
- Suspending or reducing all taxi related running costs, including licence plate fees, monthly radio fees, rental fees and insurance payments for taxis not on the road.
- Backing loan repayment holidays for private hire vehicles and moratoriums on marking down drivers’ credit files.
- Emergency interim payments to keep the taxi on the road.
- Reviewing the licensing regime and stop all payments for licences, with a three month temporary extension for those expected to renew in the next 12 months.
- Provide or reimburse taxi drivers still on the road with the protective equipment (PPE) needed to keep them safe.
Hackney cabs and taxis are:
- Fully licenced and DBS checked.
- Clean, safe and wheelchair accessible.
- Equipped with a glass partition separating driver from passenger.
- Cleaned and disinfected after every journey during the coronavirus pandemic.
Unite taxi and cab driver members stand ready to help support the country during these unprecedented times. Already taxis in London are being used to take the homeless to hotels across the capital.
We’re calling on the government and local authorities to hire our taxis to:
- Transport patients to and from non-emergency or non-coronavirus related appointments.
- Deliver shopping for the elderly or transport them to and from supermarkets.
- Transport key workers to work and deliver medical supplies.