UPHD Chair Nader Awaad writes in Issue 1 of UPHD Review:
Dear Drivers, the 17 February is only weeks away bringing back the memory of our fallen colleague driver Gabriel who lost his life on a Bolt job. We have a vigil in his memory on that day at the spot where he died. It’s our opportunity as drivers to show the operators and the media that we value our health and safety and we are determined to improve it.
Lately we had a serious incident with a driver in Birmingham on a Bolt job, in addition to other incidents the drivers are facing on a daily basis. The operators and licensing authorities should take these issues seriously. Only through our commitment and solidarity as drivers can we enforce a change and improve the current practices. I would ask you all to attend on the day on 17 February and show solidarity with our demands and our fallen colleague.
As a union we operate as a democratic organisation, the voice of drivers and we are driven by drivers’ demands. We rely on members giving their time and efforts to support the drivers cause. The chairman (myself) and the committee that run the union and followup on issues are all unpaid roles. The time invested by the leadership team on union work comes out of hours we could be working. We do it because we believe in our cause and our commitment to improve the drivers’ terms and conditions. What is required is for all members to play their part in our fight.
Members need to attend our regular meetings, contribute to the discussions and vote to choose our demands and take part in collective actions to win them. Members need to attend our protests and strikes when we call for one. Its only through our solidarity that we can achieve the changes we are looking for. Paying your monthly subscription is an element of being a union member.
The other element and the most important of being a union member is to take part in the activity the union does in our fight to improve our conditions. Winning our fight against the operators and TFL can be achieved if the driver community are united, committed and doing its part in our fight to gain justice. As chair and Committee we are determined in our cause, all that we need is the support of members and drivers community.
A message from IWGB President Alex Marshall:
A happy new year to all private hire drivers. My name is Alex Marshall and I am the president of your union the IWGB. Before being elected president, I worked as a courier in London for 8years. While working as a medical courier at my previous employer The Doctors Laboratory, the workers got organised and took action that resulted in winning pay rises, holiday pay, pensions, and loads of other changes that improved all of our lives. During my time I have also been involved in many other campaigns against Deliveroo, Uber, Bolt and various other exploitative employers.
Private hire drivers have always worked under extremely precarious conditions and the pandemic has emphasised this even more. The low pay and lack of basic rights like holiday pay and sick pay have made the last two years exceptionally difficult for private hire drivers and now we are faced with the increasing costs of fuel and living in general.
However, there is much to be positive about. Despite these obstacles, UPHD has continued to grow and launch campaigns to force operators and the government into treating drivers better. We have seen many leaders emerge who are willing to fight for better pay and rights. 2022 is the year of the private hire driver and together we accelerate towards the much needed positive changes that you all more than deserve. Let’s get active, organised and ready to fight to ensure drivers win better pay and conditions!
IWGB PRIVATE HIRE DRIVERS 