They shared information about Uber practices and reported drivers returning to the taxi industry after earning less money with ride share operators like Uber and Lyft. They described as “anti-union” Uber’s decision to halve its fare during a public transport strike in Philadelphia. The two-day strategy meeting was organised by the ITF and host union the National Taxi Workers Alliance (NTWA).
On the second day, representatives from seven taxi and transportation groups in New York and one city councillor told a press conference how companies like Uber are disrupting the industry, using drivers without the proper training or licenses and threatening taxi drivers’ livelihoods, forcing them to work longer hours for less money. Union leaders described ambitions to get a regulated taxi app off the ground which unions would own or simply endorse and promote.
ITF inland transport secretary Mac Urata told the press conference: “Already, 19 countries have banned Uber in one form or another – that’s more than one third of the countries where Uber claims it operates.
“Taxi drivers need to be protected from physical harm and robbery but how on earth can Uber and other so-called ‘ride share’ operators provide such protection for its drivers in private vehicles? The ITF family will ensure that Uber has no place to hide and will highlight and fight vigorously its illegal actions.”
Frank Moreels, BTB Belgium and vice chair of the ITF’s road transport section, described how Uber had started its operation unannounced in Brussels 18 months previously and, despite a ban by the local regulatory agency and a court order to stop operations, was still in business in Belgium.
