Leadership dispute at United Taxi Company

Members of the United Taxi Company (UTC) were at the center of an internal rift that has no end in sight, gathering in the parking lot near the old terminal at the VC Bird International Airport yesterday.

The UTC executive has lost the trust of some of its members, leading to two men, Henley Daniel, and Ian Joseph, claiming to be the legitimately elected president.

A new executive comprising both experienced and new members was voted in last week, with 49 of the 91 members of the UTC in attendance.

Last year, more than half of the body’s members signed a petition to remove the then-executive, whom they blamed for causing division and creating a hostile environment.

Daniel, president of the former executive, said he was not going to accept last week’s election results and sought to justify why.

In his speech, Daniel said that although his executive should have been more open and discussed internal organisational issues more often with members, his team had nothing to hide from its members and would have done better moving forward.

However, concerns remain that nearly 50 percent of his members did not want him in the seat. When asked, Daniel and members of his executive said that they were “unaware” why some of the disgruntled members were willing to vote against him.

In January, Ian Joseph and many of his UTC supporters threatened to remove the executive through a petition but instead issued an ultimatum letter to the executive demanding a meeting within two days following intervention by the Tourism and Transportation Minister Charles Fernandez.

Elections were scheduled for January 24 but were later delayed until April 3 following that meeting with UTC leaders.

During the meeting, Saiid Greene, who attended at the behest of Daniel, told the attendees that any disagreement among members of the organization should be dealt with like any disagreement within the “confines of the family.”

Daniel, Greene, and a lawyer for the organization reiterated numerous times during the meeting that the organization should operate like any other company rather than an association.

The United Taxi Company represents taxi drivers who service the airport and was changed from being known as the United Taxi Association a year ago.

It is unclear how much of the current rift between members hinges on this issue of a company versus an association, as efforts to clarify information on how the UTC board is structured under its current rules were unsuccessful.