RMT London Taxi Branch

January 2011

Happy New Year to you all…

Happy new year to all London taxi-cab drivers and let’s be totally honest with the 4th of January VAT rise of 2.5% there isn’t a taxi-cab driver here in the capital a penny richer in 2011. Along with a very slow start to the New Year the grey clouds had already appeared on the horizon for the Mayor Boris Johnson dropped a bombshell on the taxi trade before Christmas and introduced a 15 year age limit that was neither necessary nor required.

The residual value of all taxi-cabs will fall and we will all end up out of pocket because of this daft policy that does nothing to improve the air quality here in. the capital.

Open the roads up and let traffic move a little more freely and over night the air quality in the capital will improve. Remove some of the empty buses that clog Oxford Street from the centre of town for a few hours a day!

However the bad news didn’t end there whilst some in our trade celebrated the fact the annual overhaul was once again scrapped the London taxi trade took a dangerous step towards the private hire trade by accepting a twice yearly MoT test coupled with two visits to SGS from 2013.

Welcome to mini-cab standard tests for London’s taxi-cabs and all agreed by people who should know better. But then again on closer inspection one of these trade orgs holds a 20% stake in a company that books phv’s/mini-cabs. We at the RMT said NO to age limits and we sought a decent scrappage scheme for all taxi-cabs within London, this we shall campaign for.

Breaking news.

Great to hear that the LCDC is to follow the RMT and object to clause 19 of the LLA and TFL (no.2) bill.

Pedicabs are dangerous and it is time to ban these objects from the public highway. Put Pedicabs in the Parks.

If the LCDC wants to save time and member’s money all they have to do is contact us and we can co-ordinate our efforts and defeat this bill before parliament.

Some within the taxi trade wish to give pedicabs ranks/bays which will lead to a call by mini-cabs/phv’s for waiting areas (ranks) on the public highway. You should note this has been discussed at the surface transport panel which is a sub-committee of the main TFL Board. This is the same panel/board that approved partitions in mini-cabs/phv’s.

The taxi trade have a representative on both the surface transport panel and main TFL board.

If you want to save your trade/job join the RMT London taxi branch and get a voice and not just a vote!

Sean Kellet RMT Ranks and Highways Representative led a sub-committee of the branch and produced an excellent response to TFL/TPH consultation regarding PHV’s/mini-cabs. If you wish to read our response in full please do log onto www.rmtranksandhighways.blogspot.com and click on appropriate link. On behalf of the branch may I thank Sean Kellet, Paul White, Jason Heath, David Vidgen, Mark Sherlock and Len Martin (all working taxi-cab drivers).

Please note if the illegal ranks of cars/mini-cabs/phv’s are not removed from outside bars/clubs where satellite office status (SOS) was granted by TFL/TPH the RMT London branch will take whatever action is appropriate and necessary to protect the hard earned right “to ply for hire” of our members. We look forward to the result of this consultation.

TPH’s first Winter Newsletter.

We would firstly like to congratulate the Director of TPH John Mason for producing a rather decent looking newsletter (what next a blog?) however it appears a number of very important issues have been left out/glossed over or maybe omitted by mistake. Therefore we thought it best to highlight some of these issues in the hope they may appear in future newsletters in far greater detail.

• Details of licence revocations of taxi-cab and private hire drivers. Separate figures/stats for both industries please we wouldn’t want to blur the lines between both trades would we?

• Details of the number of attacks/sexual assaults in private hire/mini-cabs/touts vehicles and if the case arises although extremely rare in a taxi-cab.

• Conviction rates/charge ratios of phv/mini-cabs that have been arrested for touting.
  

  is this picture a first sighting of the TFL foldaway table?

An example of a sign which we need to see more of onall taxi ranks and stands.

We have formally complained to Westminster City Council regarding a very serious issue which affects us all we shall keep you posted via the web and newsletter.

Please note you get more information on two sides of A4 then pack into a paper/rag full of ads.Join the RMT online www.rmt.org.uk or text/call the branch on 07899 786 433 and request an application form.

or text/call the branch on 07899 786 433 and request an application form.

On that note can we once again wish you all a prosperous and happy new year from the committee of the RMT/LTB.

Join the RMT London taxi branch at www.rmt.org.uk or contact us via mobile/text on 07899 786 433