Leeds taxi union threatened with legal action over ‘unacceptable behaviour’

Members of the Leeds Private Hire Drivers Organisation (LPHDO) have behaved aggressively and verbally abused officers at the local authority, according to a letter sent to the union from the council’s legal department. Drivers have even been told they could lose their licences if the alleged behaviour is deemed to have continued.

The LPHDO has strongly denied the claims and says the letter is evidence that the union itself is being “intimidated” and “victimised”.

Tensions between the city’s private hire drivers and the council have escalated this year, with drivers having protested outside Civic Hall over changes to licensing rules that have now come into force. Those who rack up nine penalty points for minor motoring offences on their licence could now face bans, down from the previous threshold of 12 points.

But in a letter seen by the Local Democracy Reporting Service, the council described the behaviour of some reps during the dispute as “unacceptable” and said it could take legal action if it believes it has persisted.

It accused union officials of “aggression and shouting” towards council representatives and of “verbally abusing” an officer outside Civic Hall by filming him without permission and “aggressively describing him as a liar”. It also claimed LPHDO placards calling for individual officers to be sacked “amounted to direct harassment” and said the union had made defamatory claims in videos posted online.

The letter added: “If there is any repeat of the behaviour described above, or any other behaviour which may cause harassment, alarm or distress to council officers the council will consider further action as it feels necessary. Such action may include commencing legal proceedings to protect its officers.

“I would remind you that any behaviour causing harassment, or which amounts to violence or threats of violence, could also result in a review of any licence held by the perpetrator.”

But Ahmad Hussain, the chairman of LPHDO, said the union strongly denied the claims. He said: “In that letter you can clearly see it’s the council who’s intimidating us. This is a democratic society and we’ve a right to express our feelings. We’ve not been abusive to anyone.

“The police have been to our protests and they know they’re peaceful. We’ve not caused any grief or incitement. We look after passers-by and we’re always courteous to them.

“Protests cause a bit of a nuisance and a bit of stress and alarm, but that’s what a protest is. We’ve not done anything wrong. The LPHDO is being victimised here.”

Mr Hussain accepted that individual officers had been filmed during protests, but said the union had not had any previous complaints about it. He added: “We are allowed to film in a public place. But if someone asked us not to film them, I would say it’s wrong for us to continue.”

A spokesperson for Leeds City Council said: “The council has a duty of care to ensure the health, safety and welfare of its employees at work. It has issued a legal letter to LPDHO following what we considered as unacceptable behaviour by LPHDO representatives towards council officers. As a result the council has laid out clear guidelines for future communications between the council and LPHDO in order to protect the personal safety of officers.”

The council said the union would remain recognised and would be consulted over issues relating to local taxi policy. It said union reps would still be allowed to attend public meetings.

But the local authority added: “Leeds City Council believes that the personal safety of its staff is of paramount importance and any future behaviour that is deemed to be unacceptable by LPDHO representatives may lead to the council considering further action.”