Giant Uber drivers protest live as convoy grinds downtown roads to a halt

One of the approximately 500 drivers who took part in today’s protest is Nadeem Hussain. The driver from Hall Green said: “Uber promised us that we were partners but generally as time went on they started to reduce the fares.

“Because of the cost of living, fares should be going up, but they’re not. Rates are reduced daily, down, down and down.

“Basically we get £4.19 or £4.16 a fare and that includes holiday pay. We are the backbone of this company – if every driver didn’t accept any jobs, Uber would be lost.”

The demonstration began with speeches by notable figures, including lawyer Ayoub Khan and independent candidate Ladywood Akhmed Yakoob, in front of the Uber Greenlight Hub in Aston Cross Business Park, off Rocky Lane, at 4pm. He then traversed the local roads, the tunnels of the city center to New Street Station.

Drivers ask:

The end of dynamic pricing

The end of fixed prices

The End of Unfair Termination

New recruitment freeze

Good evening. Fed-up Uber drivers are staging a “significant protest” in Birmingham city center tonight. In a convoy of “hundreds of vehicles”, motorists are currently venting their anger at the company as they slow down the main roads near New Street Station.

Minhaj Uddin, spokesman for the Uber Drivers’ Union UK, said: “We stand firm in our position and will continue to protest until our demands are met. We refuse to accept Uber’s mistreatment any longer.

The union said they had given Uber two weeks to negotiate, but claimed they had not responded, “forcing drivers to step up their efforts”.