in a bid to block new recommendations on fares.

Joe Brown, secretary of the Bermuda Taxi Federation, said industrial action was also still possible as the industry strives to secure a better deal for drivers.

He was speaking in the wake of the publication of the report from a Commission set up to examine the taxi industry.

Chaired by former Premier Sir John Sharpe it recommended a 20 percent increase in the base rate coming into effect next month and reviewed in two years.

Taxi union turning to PLP From Page 1 It also recommended that the night surcharge for taxi fares be put back to midnight from 10 p.m., there be no change in the Sunday 25 percent surcharge, no duty rebate on taxi fuel costs and no use of taxis as mini-buses.

Mr. Brown said: "We are bitterly disappointed by the report even though it was what we expected because these Commissions never rule against Government.

"We knew this was going to happen which is why we did not bother making submissions to it.'' He said on the one hand it recommended a 20 percent increase and on the other recommended taking money away by changing the surcharge.

It also failed to agree with industry calls for rebates on fuel and repairs, which are a major cost to a taxi driver.

"We are not a political body, but now we must engage the support of the PLP and hopefully some members of the Government,'' added Mr. Brown.

"We also have a mandate for industrial action and to show Government just how disappointed we are in this report we must take some form of action although we will have to meet and decide what,'' he said.

Meanwhile, a taxi business has called an urgent special meeting to help decide its future.

The Taxi Cooperative, which once boasted about 100 cabbies, has seen its business dwindle as new regulations come into force.

Now its president George Scott is calling shareholders to the meeting to help plot its future operations.

"We are calling everyone together to look at options for the future like mergers or buy-outs and ask them what to do or whether to do things differently,'' said Mr. Scott.

He stressed: "We will carry on in business, but we have to look at the whole picture and let people decide how to carry the business forward.'' Mr. Scott, who made submissions to the Commission on the taxi industry, said at one time the Cooperative, a dispatching service, operated about 100 taxis but the number had dwindled to between 40 and 50 for several reasons.

"We have not had a fare increase for seven or eight years and former Transport Minister Maxwell Burgess made it optional for taxis to carry radios.

"There are about 600 taxis and four dispatching companies. If there were radios in each car there would be more business for those companies,'' said Mr. Scott.

The meeting has been scheduled for Tuesday, December 10, at the Bermuda Industrial Union offices at 7.30 p.m.

GOVERNMENT GVT UNIONS UNS