Unifor is “hailing” an Ontario Superior Court of Justice ruling that found the City of Ottawa was negligent in enforcing its taxi bylaw, allowing Uber to operate illegally for two years starting in 2014.
The court found that this failure harmed the local taxi industry, many of whose members are represented by Unifor, the union said in a press release.
Unifor National President Lana Payne said the ruling provides long-awaited justice for taxi drivers who were negatively impacted by the city’s decision to permit Uber’s operations.
“Hard-working, established taxi drivers in Ottawa finally have some justice after being abandoned by their city, who succumbed to the whims of multinational tech giants,” Payne said.
The court’s decision follows a $215-million class action lawsuit filed in 2016 by Metro Taxi Ltd. and taxi plate holders Marc André Way and Iskhak Mail. They represented about 1,200 taxi plate holders in Ottawa, claiming that the city’s failure to enforce its bylaws allowed Uber to undermine the traditional taxi industry.
The court concluded that the City of Ottawa failed to uphold its bylaws and “capitulated” to Uber’s aggressive tactics. “Rather than continuing its partnership with the taxi industry to fight against this stronger illegal bandit taxicab company known as Uber, the city decided to abandon its partner,” the court said.
Unifor represents over 1,000 taxi drivers in Ottawa, working for companies such as Blue Line Taxi, Capital Taxi, and Westway Taxi.
Samia Hashi, Unifor’s Ontario Regional Director, emphasized the financial damage inflicted on drivers due to the city’s negligence. “Plates that were once worth upwards of $300,000 are now worth $10,000 or less,” Hashi noted. “While we can’t turn back the clock on what happened, our union is pleased to see the courts make the City of Ottawa and Uber accountable.”
