Union president: Livery drivers were given permission to operate at LPIA

Tory Austin, president of the Bahamas Livery Drivers Union (BLDU), told Guardian Business yesterday that livery drivers have the right to offer their services at the departure door of the Lynden Pindling International Airport, and were given permission by previous minister of transport, Glenys Hanna-Martin. According to him, the union does not want a fight with the Bahamas Taxi Cab Union (BTCU), but is prepared to take legal action if necessary to defend their right to operate on the line at the departure gate. Austin was responding to a recent article in Guardian Business , in which President of the Bahamas Taxi Cab Union Tyrone Butler said taxi cab drivers are concerned about what they claim is the encroachment of livery drivers at the LPIA departure door.

Austin said: “A few years ago, Glenys Hanna-Martin had given us permission, and allowed us to operate from the airport, so we have a call-up system, just like anywhere, just to meet the demand. You might remember now, the time has changed. This is 2025 we and there’s a demand for black car service, and we are focused on delivering a product that is bar none to the world.



” Austin said the agreement, granted via a letter signed by Hanna-Martin under the previous Perry Christie Progressive Liberal Party administration in 2012 to 2017, allows the BLDU to operate with a call-up system and on the line at the departure door. There is a call-up system in place for livery drivers, where they have a holding area a quarter mile away from the departure door. Austin said the livery drivers have been operating on the line at the departure door due to the high demand of tourists and the need.

Austin claimed the issue with the BTCU is not with the call-up system at the holding area, but with the livery drivers being on the line, in front of the departure door, competing with taxi drivers. “We have an agreement, but the BTCU has its own interpretation of the laws, and we are prepared to go to whatever legal measure we need to,” Austin said. When asked for a copy of the letter given to him by Hanna-Martin, Austin said he was not allowed to show a copy of it to the media.

“The agreement was signed by my predecessor and was signed before I got into office. He continued: “We are prepared for any legal battle that is necessary..

. Until then, we think that we have every right to be at the airport, just as a taxi driver does. We want to provide a service to supply the demand of the clients that are coming into this country.

” Austin added: “We don’t condone or want to ever get into any hostile environment, or disrupt any of the services of this country, or anything with regard to transportation. We are always open to sitting down and having discussions and negotiating on behalf of our drivers, and also for the country. We want to do things in the right manner, and as professional ambassadors in this country, that’s what we aim to do.

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