Taxi Driver Online
http://www.taxi-driver.co.uk/phpBB2/

London's congestion eases
http://www.taxi-driver.co.uk/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=4937		 Page 1 of 1
Author:  GBC [ Mon Nov 20, 2006 8:37 pm ]
Post subject:  London's congestion eases
I'm praying this one goes on forever, not for the extra jobs, but for the extra road space, it was like a Sunday out there this afternoon.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/london/6164378.stm
Author:  captain cab [ Mon Nov 20, 2006 8:39 pm ]
Post subject: 
Quote:
'Union intransigence'


Do they post here too?

CC
Author:  captain cab [ Mon Nov 20, 2006 8:39 pm ]
Post subject: 
Quote:
'Union intransigence'


Do they post here too?

CC
Author:  GBC [ Mon Nov 20, 2006 8:46 pm ]
Post subject: 
Twice I believe. :D
Author:  captain cab [ Mon Nov 20, 2006 8:50 pm ]
Post subject: 
Quote:
Metroline described its offer as "still the best deal in London".


Better than the GMB?

Surely not :shock:

CC
Author:  GBC [ Mon Nov 20, 2006 8:55 pm ]
Post subject: 
Strike action hits bus passengers

There were big queues at bus stops due to the strike
Bus passengers are facing delays as drivers stage a second strike over a failure to settle a pay dispute.
About 60 Metroline bus routes mainly serving north and north-west London are affected by the 24-hour strike which began at 0400 GMT.

The Transport and General Workers' Union wants a rate of £11.00 an hour - a 6% rise - compared to the present £10.33 an hour (5% rise) being offered.
Metroline described its offer as "still the best deal in London".

But the TGWU said a rise of 5% would leave Metroline workers up to £3,000 behind the average wage of other London bus workers.

'Bus workers behind'

Union official Jim Buckley said: "When you are behind you want to catch up and that's what we are trying to do because Metroline bus workers are behind in the pay league not only in terms of wages but also on allowances and shift premiums."

Bus routes operating out of King's Cross, Harrow Weald, North Wembley, Holloway, Potters Bar, Perivale, Edgware, Willesden and Cricklewood garages are affected.

Night bus routes to north London from Trafalgar Square are also affected.

Passengers are being advised to use alternative means of transport.

Drivers belonging to the union walked out for the first time last Tuesday in a row over pay, affecting thousands of commuters.

'Union intransigence'

The union and Metroline have had talks at Acas, the conciliation service, since the last strike.

But talks broke down despite Metroline increasing its initial offer by 1% to 5%, and the union moving its claim down from 6% to 5.75% for the eight months from 1 April 2006, and 1% for the 3 months from 1 January.

A spokesman for Metroline said: "There is no evidence to support the T&GWU's assertion that drivers are paid £3,000 less than the average, in fact Metroline's drivers are paid as much and in many cases more than average.

"The T&GWU is demanding an increase of 6.5% to achieve their aspiration of £11.00. Following negotiations at ACAS their demand actually rose expecting staff to receive an increase from January of 6.75%.

"This supposed reduction in their demands demonstrates the intransigence of the trade union, who are simply not negotiating with us."


Thats 30% more than you get for driving an Addison Lee Minicab.
Author:  GBC [ Mon Nov 20, 2006 9:19 pm ]
Post subject: 
'Miserable' Monday as capital is crippled
By Peter Law
Comment

COMMUTERS suffered an awful start to their working week when the Tube and over ground train services were thrown into chaos today.

This morning, five of the capital's busiest lines were either suspended or suffered severe delays because of late finishing engineering works, signal failures and a computer meltdown.

The Central, Circle and District lines are still experiencing delays from this morning's problems.

London Underground's woes deepened this afternoon when a fire alert at Uxbridge suspended the Metropolitan line between Hillingdon and Uxbridge, while a faulty train at Green Park caused severe delays on the Victoria line.

continued...
Over-ground train services on several routes in and out of the capital were also disrupted by poor weather and poor rail conditions, with passengers told to allow for extra time for their journeys.

London Underground also had to call out 14 ambulances to help passengers who had either fainted or slipped over.

A woman at Shepherd's Bush Central line station suffered a suspected broken leg when she fell down a stairway.

The failure by maintenance contractor Metronet to finish engineering works at Monument Station on time meant the District and Circle lines were completely suspended in both directions this morning.

The lines did not start running until 7.40am and are still affected by severe delays.

Metronet was also involved with a problem on the Central line which was shut during rush hour between Whitechapel and Leytonstone after a new timetable crashed the controversial firm's computer system.

The line did not start operating until 8.43am this morning and still has severe delays.

Passengers on the Northern Line also suffered a disrupted service because of four signal failures in the Wimbledon area.

A Transport for London spokesman said services had also been affected by passengers slipping over or fainting.

"We've called 14 ambulances to attend incidents this morning, there has been so many that it has affected our service," he said.

"A lot of people don't eat breakfast and we seem to be having a lot of fainting due to that."

The Piccadilly Line had minor delays after a woman fainted on a train at 9.10am.

The spokesman said engineers were working to resume a normal service for this evening.

London mayor Ken Livingstone said Metronet had unnecessarily ruined thousands of Londoners' journeys this morning.


London Assembly transport committee chair Geoff Pope said: "With the triple whammy of a strike on the buses, late running engineering work and signal failures, it has been a miserable Monday for thousands of Londoners simply trying to make their way to work.

"Passengers have been inconvenienced, London's businesses have lost valuable employee time and the capital's reputation as a good place to do business has been chipped away a little more. "

Transport union RMT renewed its call for the part-privatisation of the network to be scrapped.

"Privatisation of Tube infrastructure has demonstrably failed, failed and failed again," RMT general secretary Bob Crow said.

10:21am today
Author:  GBC [ Mon Nov 20, 2006 9:20 pm ]
Post subject: 
Why I drive a Taxi in London. :wink:
Author:  captain cab [ Mon Nov 20, 2006 9:22 pm ]
Post subject: 
Ahh liberalisation of public transport :lol:

CC
Page 1 of 1 All times are UTC [ DST ]
Powered by phpBB® Forum Software © phpBB Group
http://www.phpbb.com/