London Mayor ‘supports’ Uber talks over London service

(Reuters) London mayor Sadiq Khan said on Sunday he supported efforts by Transport for London (TfL) to reach a compromise with Uber after the taxi app confirmed it would appeal in a running row over workers’ rights.

“Uber are challenging Transport for London through the courts as is their right to do so... I support the TfL commissioner meeting with the global CEO of Uber to see if we can reach a compromise,” Khan told the BBC’s Andrew Marr show.

The interview came just three days after new Uber boss Dara Khosrowshahi said he was hopeful of winning back the company’s London operating licence.

‘Productive talks’

Speaking at the New York Times DealBook conference in New York, Khosrowshahi said he had held productive talks with London regulator TfL, which has deemed Uber “unfit” to run a taxi service in the city – where Uber has some 40,000 drivers.

“We were guilty of not communicating,” he said. “I think we were generally immature in how we deal and dealt with regulators.”

He added that Uber staff was working to accommodate the “perfectly reasonable asks” from Transport for London, the taxi regulating body.

The comments came shortly before news broke that Uber had lost its appeal against a ruling that its drivers are employees of the company, rather than self-employed contractors.

The appeal decision upheld last month’s ruling by a London employment tribunal that Uber’s drivers are entitled to holiday pay and the national minimum wage.