FEE FOR STAND AT RAILWAY STATION

Press, Volume LXXIII, Issue 22108, 2 June 1937, Page 8

FEE FOR STAND AT RAILWAY STATION

AUCKLAND TAXI-CAB DRIVERS SEEK REDUCTION (rBES3 ASSOCIATION TELEGRAM.) AUCKLAND, June 1. The taxi-cab drivers of the two principal companies operating in Auckland have made a decision which will mean a boycott of the arrival platform at the Auckland railway station, unless the department consents to a reduction in the charge of £1 a year at present made for the privilege of waiting at the platform to pick up fares. The decision was made at a mass meeting of drivers belonging to the two companies, as well asj independent drivers, but it was ex- ] plained that the companies themselves were not concerned in the difference that has arisen. The charge of £1 a year for what is known as the railway licence is considered excessive by most drivers, particularly in comparison with the sum of Is a year charged by the Auckland Harbour Board for taxis plying for hire on the wharves. Drivers interviewed explained that the railway licences had expired as from Monday of this week, and said that none of the drivers had renewed his licence, as they were waiting \ for a favourable reply from the department. If their request lor a lower charge were refused, they would simply not renew their licences and thus would discontinue waiting at the arrival platform. The operators of private taxi-cabs said that no matter what reply was received they would continue to pay the fee, as their livelihood depended in a large measure on the amount of work they obtained at the station.