Taxi Driver Online

keep the [edited by admin] out of our trade and go fix some boilers ,

well oh dear!!! did you not want the public to know about this

so i suppose that the HEATHROW TARIFF should be kept quiet as well as the proposed price hike due shortly

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GMB PDB London Branch President
Vice-chair National Organising Committee
07956-884076
www.gmbpdb.org.uk
AFFORDABLE CCTV FOR EVERY LICENSED DRIVER
www.gmbpdb.org.uk/gmb-cctv.htm

WTF have taxi fares got to do with bus lanes?

CC

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Think of how stupid the average person is, and realize half of them are stupider than that.
George Carlin

Nice constructive comments from a (presumably) member of the black cab trade.

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IDFIMH

Don, WTF are you on about?

This thread is about Bus Lane access.

There's an annual tariff review which takes into consideration many factors. This is negotiated through a formula and the three recognised trade bodies, as it always has been.

We stick to those fares, unlike some of the companies and drivers you represent who can pick and choose their rates depending what day / month / how busy they are / what the weathers like / whether London’s being bombed at the time etc

The freedom to work my own hours and receive a decent return has more than compensated me for the many miles I cycled whilst on the Knowledge.

I'm not sure how my customers 'repay' me, no more than they repay Tesco when they're shopping there.

I provide a service. They pay. Simples.

You mean the £2 extra on the meter that customers pay, when each cab pays £5.50 entry fee?

I'd say they were getting a bargain.

It's also the reason I don't do Heathrow unless it's really busy.

Thank the Lord the chaps at Heathrow don't negotiate anything else for the trade.

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IDFIMH

Bit like how you like to keep quiet how many SERIOUS sexual assaults are committed in PHV's every year...eh Mr Glave.

Pretty sure the GMB led the crusade to get minicabs license, as opposed to many in the black cab trade who fought it.

And I'm pretty certain no-one in a position of authority in the licensed PH trade want anyone in it who is involved in such activities.

In the same way no-one is saying you are Mr Worboys part 2.

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IDFIMH

I didn't know the Gmb were involved back then

CC

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Think of how stupid the average person is, and realize half of them are stupider than that.
George Carlin

That may be so, but many of these touts who can also become sexual predators are FULLY LICENSED by the PCO.

They may work for a firm or a satelite office and do his own bit of touting on the side.

As for Worboys that was ONE case in how many years

Sorry, you can not compare the two.

Regards.

I Feel a need to go into diatribe mode,so here goes.

1.THE GMB WERE NOT INVOLVED UNTIL A LATER DATE IN REGARD TO LICENSING,HOWEVER WE WERE THEN KNOWN AS THE GREATER LONDON PRIVATE HIRE DRIVERS ASSOCIATION, now you know why GMB pdb exists.

2.YES WORBOUYS WAS ( one )case but with how many assaults attributed to him and yet still the enquiries go on.

3. visit say CHARING CROSS railway station at about 0130 and stand in the taxi queue,then wait for licensed cab drivers to approach and ask where are you going ,if you give a local address they move on but if for instance you say Brighton then wait to be given a quote. THIS IS TOUTING but your lot call it CHERRY PICKING.

4.The reason that private hire/minicabs came into existence was due to the black cab trade failing to provide Londoners with a good service,"DONT GO SOUTH OF THE RIVER MATE" IT IS LITTLE WONDER THAT THE MINICABS WERE SO SUCCESFULL DUE IN THE MAIN TO YOUR TRADES INTRANSIENT ATTITUDES.

5.The knowledge does not afford you the right to use bus lanes as some of your trade profess,the only thing that you gain by doing the knowledge is THE RIGHT TO PLY FOR HIRE.

6.The law abiding private hire trade pay more money into the coffers of TFL than you do and are as pi**sed off about the touting situation as you are we welcome all efforts to stamp out this as you do.WE are continuously berating the PCO/TOCU/TFL authorities about the lack of on street enforcement, and so join with us and become more active.

7. GREG cant believe that you cycled,must have been on a lambretta or vespa !!

rant over

_________________
GMB PDB London Branch President
Vice-chair National Organising Committee
07956-884076
www.gmbpdb.org.uk
AFFORDABLE CCTV FOR EVERY LICENSED DRIVER
www.gmbpdb.org.uk/gmb-cctv.htm

With reference to no.6, below is a statement from Eddie Lambert, branch chairman of the London RMT.

At October's branch meeting which i attended, member's unanimously voted to HAVE NOTHING to do with the GMB.

If they wish to also demand a public enquiry that is their own business.

I thank you.

Statement From The RMT Taxis Branch London

Reference the recent allegations made in Taxi Newspaper (published by the LTDA). These allegations are in the hands of our legal advisers and we, the Branch, will take their advice as to whether to take legal action on this matter.

However, in the meantime,, as Branch Chairman I would like to spell out our actual position on the issues raised.

Following the two recent demonstrations at Penton Street regarding the situation whereby a man with a serious medical condition was accepted onto the Knowledge, it was decided that this incident appeared to be part of a pattern of decisions made over the last few years that reflected badly on the integrity and world- wide reputation of London’s taxi drivers.

With this in mind it was decided to try and find out what the hell was going on at the PCO and the only way this could be done in a manner that would reveal all the workings of the PCO would be a PUBLIC ENQUIRY.

A press statement to this effect was issued. Following this statement I was contacted by Terrance Flanagan, a National Organiser of the General, Municipal and Boilermaker’s Union (GMB) about this. The GMB position was they too are very concerned about this issue and fully support OUR call for a Public Enquiry. They have a series of issues they want raising and listed some of them.

The RMT position was that we have our issues pertaining to the Hackney Trade, and they have theirs regarding the Private Hire Trade, but by us both supporting a call for a public enquiry and utilising our respective political contacts, we would have a much greater chance of success in the matter. If both sides of the trade-divide in London are calling for this enquiry then most people would realise that there must indeed be something going wrong in the PCO.

Make no mistake, this call is a MASSIVE CALL and we will need every political end available to us to get this accepted.

The last thing Terry Flanagan said to me was “I know we will have a fight to the death with you over the Bus Lanes issue but that is a different issue for another day. Lets get the PCO sorted out first.”

Ref “The RMT sells out to Pedicabs”

It is true that the RMT Taxis London Branch do seek to sabotage the bill currently going through Parliament. We are opposing clause 19 which seeks to introduce a “Voluntary Registration” I will say that again A Voluntary Registration Scheme. Two of the nine pedicab operators in London have indicated they may be prepared to take part. Not sure that the riders of these things will be very keen to line themselves up for Road Traffic Act violation tickets. It would be a case of the turkeys voting for Christmas. All the riders will just change to the companies that are not part of the voluntary scheme, leaving the scheme yet another piece of useless legislation.

At the end of the last century the Hackney trade was talked into allowing a Bill to pass through Parliament that would licence mincabs and so bring them under control, and by raising vehicle and driver standards reduce their numbers. Well, we have seen the result of that and we are not falling for that 3 card trick again.

Any scheme which gives any sort of credibility to the Pedicabs (at least on paper) will make it much harder to clear these death traps off the streets.

Once clause 19 is defeated, and have NO DOUBT it will be, the RMT will seek cooperation of our members in the Underground, and on the buses, the Fire Brigade Union, Unison (ambulance drivers) and other interested parties to clear these vehicles off the highways and into the parks where they can operate safely and without being a major root cause of traffic pollution.

Let me just add here that the RMT has not had any talks or any other form of communication with any member/s of the Rickshaw/pedicab community. If they do happen to also wish to defeat clause 19 then that is coincidental.

sadly your points about the guys "cherry picking" are 100% valid.

We do have bad eggs in this trade. The idiots who won't go South of the river...........more a fallacy nowadays than years ago but it does still happen from time to time but the worst of the lot are the ones who do tout outside Charing Cross stn, Dover St winebar etc etc. The trade has moved on from the days when minicabs took a foot hold, we thankfully have more drivers like myself who only want to earn a living and care not where the job takes us. I don't hang it up outside venues and choose my job, it chooses me regardless whether i'm on a rank or driving along the road and i take them to their destination!

As i understand it, and i'm happy to be corrected. We have access to bus lanes because we have a meter and thus unlike PH who work to a fixed price or £X to the mile our price is subject to variation because of traffic conditions etc.

The knowledge gives us the right to ply for hire as you correctly state but it seems many members of the PH fraternity feel they also have a right to ply for hire as witnessed any night in and around London! The level of enforcement or the attitude of the "law abiding" PH to want rid of these touts should not be down to how much you swell TfL's coffers! It should be simply down to the legalities of the situation and the remits within which you are legally allowed to work.

I'm not up on all the work the PH are doing to eradicate touting but i've yet to see any formal remonstrations by the likes of Griffin or Wright on any media outlets and so far the situation in London doesn't appear to be improving. Perhaps you should be championing for the removal of the idiotic satellite office ruling as set up by the previous (and frankly useless) incumbent at the PCO.

If that’s a 'diatribe' you need more practise.
Just follow me for training, or Terry, minus the Elvis coat.

Warboys was one in a million, one tozzer out of thousands. One guy in over two decades, come on Don get real, how many hundreds, if not thousands of attacks were carried out within the Minicab industry within that same timescale?

As Mr acabbie says, I've yet to hear anything official coming out from the London Minicab trade about the scale of touting, or is that because the company proprietors are quite happy to turn a blind eye, because they still collect their radio fees and the drivers can top up their crap money by touting?

Steve Wright to date is the only guy that seems to have acknowledged the problem and scale of it.

The Charing Cross / Liverpool Streets clowns are a problem, although I've seen them hanging up, I've never seen them approach punters, when they're parked on the Taxi Rank in a Taxi, people tend to approach them. Since the PCO in its infinite wisdom decided to remove the directional rank facility, (which worked well) this activity is now marrying drivers with jobs to take them home. Personally I'd like to see every Station Rank designated as a directional rank after say 1am.

And I did complete The Knowledge on a cycle, in fact I'm going back to racing next year, admittedly as a vet (over 40) nowadays, buts that’s why I'll never have to spend 10 minutes removing my belly from behind the steering wheel before I get out of the Taxi.

Why do you think Mr acabbie bought a Mercedes Vito?