Taxi drivers in Rochdale are to strike for 24 hours starting at 6am on Monday (January 24) and are set to cause chaos by a 'go slow' round the town centre.
It comes on the same day that First Bus drivers have planned the latest in a series of strikes over pay.
Hundreds of the 1,200 taxi drivers in Rochdale will also drive slowly around the town centre culminating in a 10am meeting at One Riverside - the main civic centre for the town.
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Similar action, in protest over measures to introduce a clean air zone across Greater Manchester along with a common set of minimum licensing (MLS) standards, is understood to be planned by taxi drivers in each of the other nine boroughs in the city region.
The main thrust of the taxi drivers' grievance is that from January 31 a private hire vehicle must be less than five years old and vehicles more than 10 years old must be scrapped.
Abrar Hussain, owner of Cars 2000 in Rochdale, told the Manchester Evening News: "The cost of a vehicle less than five years old is in the region of £15,000. The majority of private hire cars in Rochdale are worth between £3,000 and £4,000.
"They are trying to impose the MLS in one of the most deprived towns in the country. Already, a lot of drivers have left the business because of Covid.
"They've retired or become delivery drivers because they can't make taxi-ing pay."
He said the majority of taxi customers in Rochdale are people who can't afford their own car.
"The MLS will push up fare prices to the point where people can't afford to get a taxi," he said. "We will lose a hell of a lot of drivers and fares will quadruple."
Referring to consultation over the MLS which took place in 2020, Mr Hussain said: "The consultation served no purpose because the council didn't listen to our concerns. We keep emailing them, but we got no replies."
Councillor Sarah Rowbotham, Rochdale's portfolio holder for climate change and sustainability, however, defended the introduction of the MLS.
She said: "In 2018, Greater Manchester’s 10 local authorities agreed to collectively develop, approve and implement a common set of minimum licensing standards (MLS) for taxis and private hire services.
"At that time the primary driver was to ensure public safety and public protection, but vehicle age and emission standards in the context of the GM clean air plan and decarbonisation agendas are also now major considerations.
"An eight-week Greater Manchester wide consultation took place between October 8 and December 3 2020 seeking feedback for the proposals of the MLS.
"We have met drivers a number of times to listen to their concerns and we are still listening very carefully to what drivers are telling us in the hope that further assistance and reassurance can be provided.
"It is unfortunate that the strike action is taking place across several Greater Manchester districts.
"However, we strongly believe that the MLS will benefit both drivers as well as customers, installing public confidence in a well-regulated taxi and private hire sector service, to deliver safe and high-quality services to residents and visitors in Rochdale and Greater Manchester, plus contributing to better air quality."
