Luton Airport passengers will face difficulty getting home today as Addison Lee drivers stage their first 24-hour strike over claims they are earning less than the minimum wage.

Addison Lee was granted the exclusive right to operate at Luton Airport in 2012, meaning passengers will have few other options to get home by taxi if Addison Lee cars are not available.

The majority of the 50 drivers who work at the airport will strike this morning at 5am to 4.50am tomorrow morning. They have complained that Addison Lee has increased the commission it takes from their journeys, netting those who work an average of 70 hours a week an hourly rate of £4.72.

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They say this is below what their counterparts in other areas of the business earn. According to the Independent Workers Union of Great Britain (IWUGB), the drivers have been protesting against their employer's decision to increase commission for a number of months but the company has been "unwilling to negotiate".

Last year  Addison Lee lost its appeal against an employment tribunal decision which found that drivers were not self-employed contractors running their own businesses but in fact employees of the taxi company. The ruling found that drivers were entitled to receive the national minimum wage and holiday pay.

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The IWGB said: “While we are not surprised that Addison Lee’s vulture capitalist owners would try and draw every last ounce of blood from Luton’s drivers, we are shocked that a Labour council is so happy to sit by and do nothing while drivers earn below the minimum wage. With this strike we want to send a message not only to Addison Lee, but also the council: Do your job as a regulator and stop letting these companies drive your citizens into abject poverty.”

An Addison Lee spokesperson said: “We engage directly with our self-employed Luton driver partners to help them earn a decent living. We have invested almost £7m in our Luton operation since 2016, which has benefited drivers directly, and average Luton driver partner pay increased by 11 per cent between 2017 and 2018. We regularly review our driver deal to ensure it is competitive.”

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