ADCU begins battle for driver workers’ rights against private hire operators outside of London
The App Drivers & Couriers Union (ADCU) is taking its fight for workers’ rights in the private hire sector to the UK regions today.
Two Northampton based members of the ADCU, Shafqat Shah and Samuel Adjei, will appear at the Employment Tribunal in Watford to argue for their right to be recognised as workers with the right to the minimum wage, holiday pay, paid rest breaks and protection from discrimination.
The ADCU have accused Bounds Taxis of operating a similar self-employed model to that of Uber which has left drivers with no rights to ‘workers’ protections.
The latest action follows a recent Supreme Court judgment which stated that Uber drivers are entitled to receive rights that include the national minimum wage and holiday pay.
Yaseen Aslam, ADCU President, said: “Throughout the UK we see that almost the entire private hire industry has copied Uber’s model of worker exploitation by misclassifying workers so to deny them their statutory rights.
“It is unfortunate that Bounds Taxis has not been willing to meet its legal obligations as an employer and that neither the government nor Northampton City Council have stepped in to insist they do so. The ADCU will not hesitate to take what ever action is necessary to clean up the trade.”
Last week private hire firm Addison Lee was told by the Court of Appeal that they would not be permitted to appeal an Employment Tribunal’s decision that drivers are entitled to workers’ rights. Addison Lee’s appeal to the Court of Appeal had been put on hold in anticipation of the Supreme Court judgment.
