Statement From The Independent Taxi Alliance (ITA) ..... Back To Industrial Action 1st March, 16:30-18:30

                  RETURN TO DIRECT ACTION! 

The City of London and corrupt TfL leave us no choice. 

We're not standing-by and watching the death of our trade, by starvation!

                  

                  ITA STATEMENT OF INTENT

In response to the City of London’s inability to lift the proposed restrictions on Licensed taxis entering Bank Junction, it is with regret-but nonetheless valour- that ITA calls industrial action. 

To be clear, this is not a demonstrable attempt to highlight the trade’s insurmountable grievances against its regulator, but a systematic and principled protest against covert politics that are intended to destabilise and weaken the licensed taxi trade. 

It is worth noting, that the licensed taxi trade is a self sufficient industry and does not rely in any way on privileges from the state. 

The City of London were genuinely sympathetic to the trade’s cause and were generous enough to meet with representatives of the ITA and the RMT to discuss concerns, but were told,  in no uncertain terms, that the meeting did not constitute a negotiation. 

The overwhelming sentiment taken from the meeting regarding Bank Junction was TFL’s involvement would override any appeal made by the licensed taxi trade.  

To be clear the City of London have obliged TfL's requirements on the back of unverified statistical evidence that has TfL's fingerprints all over it.

It is true also that an alternate decision would entail a lengthy bureaucratic process to be determined by numerous departments. Those representing the Corporation were told about the automatic decision to resume industrial action if the restrictions were not lifted.

Make no mistake, the City of London have obliged TfL’s requirements on the back of inconsistent, unverifiable, evidence. Much of the data that the City was in possession of was not credible, did not tally, and quite frankly had TfL’s finger prints all over it. The ITA cannot in any way consider it as anything other than a malicious attempt to further undermine the taxi trade, and enhance TfL’s  monopolisation of transport 

We believe the industrial action proposed is a fair and measured response, confirming that the argument is firmly with TfL and not the City of London. The decision to proceed, lies at the  heart of the Square Mile. As always, the option for further talks is on the table, hence why we have called for the action to start at the beginning of March, but we will not be appeased.

Industrial Action will commence on Wednesday 1st March 2017, and the ITA demand is clear and unequivocal;

LIFT THE RESTRICTIONS IMPOSED ON LICENSED TAXIS AT BANK JUNCTION. 

The ITA view the decision as a further impediment on our democratic right to earn our living, engineered by TFL. The taxi trade have shown that behaving impeccably, and meeting ALL of TfL’s additional licensing requirements does not achieve anything, in fact,  obliging the TFL has, if anything, facilitated the time for the most damage to be inflicted. 

We will not stand by and accept a situation where our own regulator surreptitiously engineers us towards bankruptcy. If we lose the City- which is indelibly linked to a taxi drivers heart- we lose our livelihoods anyway. One thing the taxi trade cannot do, is lose the City under the premise of being unsafe, whilst buses are perceived to be safe, yet have the poorest safety record.  That in itself, constitutes a public health risk

This is a fight for survival! 

EXTRA COMMENT :

We will be organised even though we are not an organisation. This is a war against TfL's attempts to kill us off. The City of London have decided the battlefield will be on their doorstep.

This is a mixed lanyard coalition of drivers who will stick up for themselves, if no one else will.

When this battle starts, we must remember those who said and did nothing!

#StopTheBuses

#DriverFedDriverLed 

Prepare for a long drawn out fight!

It's been alleged that the last weeklong protest cost over £1m to police. Just imagine, that's £64m over the 18 months experiment.

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The Shame Of Transport For London's Mess : Totally Failing The Public, Nationwide.

Again, we see TfL registered private hire vehicles, using the Uber App to work doing local pick ups and drop offs, many miles from the area they're licensed to work in.

We've seen TfL registered vehicles working the streets of Manchester, Liverpool, Bristol, Luton, Portsmouth, Oxford Reading and many more.

Recently we had complaints from Southend, that local drivers who have lost their Southend Council issued licenses, have been spotted driving minicabs for Uber in Southend. 

Over the weekend we have now been informed that London TfL registered cars are not only working the Uber app, they are also illegally touting work off the local Lee-on-Sea ranks. When confronted, the drivers become extremely aggressive and threaten violence. 

    

      With thanks to Colin McLion 

Last week, we saw drivers in Liverpool surround a TfL registered Uber and escort it onto the motorway, in the direction of London. Ironically, we were later informed that the driver actually lived in Liverpool, but found it easier to get a PH licence and his vehicle licensed in London. 

TfL have turned a complete blind eye to this scandalous behaviour from Uber drivers, saying its the problem for the local councils affected. It's only a matter of time before tempers reach breaking point and violence becomes common place. 

TfL are now protecting their stakeholders (Uber) business model, by refusing to answer a Freedom of Information Request asking for the actual number of drivers licensed by TfL registered to Uber, saying that this information would be commercially sensitive. 

This was their reply to the FOI request.

Editorial Extra from Lee Ward.

Why would I expect TfL to deal with this below, spotted in Sheffield, if they can't deal with them on their own doorstep...  How many borders were crossed for this job to be covered?

TFL, PARTNERS IN AN ILLEGAL TRADE NATIONWIDE

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Cheating husband sues Uber for revealing affair to his wife and 'causing their divorce

A businessman is suing the company Uberafter it tipped off his wife about his affair. 

The app-based company, which acts as a instant hail minicar app service allowing people to hail nearby cars to their exact location, is facing a lawsuit after the man's wife was alerted to his location while he was cheating on her with another woman.

The man, from southern France, had requested a car using his wife's phone, according to local reports.

But when he gave the phone back to her, the app continued to send notifications to her phone about his whereabouts - even though he had logged out of the account.

The couple has since divorced and the businessman has reportedly filed a lawsuit against Uber worth €45million.

Speaking to AFP news agency the man's lawyer, David-André Darmon, said: "My client was the victim of a bug in an application.

"The bug has caused him problems in his private life."

He added that the man wished to remain "discreet and anonymous".

The bug is a known flaw which has affected other customers, with some confused users taking to Twitter to ask why they were still getting friends' notifications even though they had logged out of their accounts.

According to Le Figaro , the flaw does not affect Android phones but was witnessed on iPhones used prior to a December iOS update. 

When Le Figaro contacted the company for comment, a spokesperson said: "Uber does not publicly comment on individual cases, including the case of divorce proceedings between spouses."

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Taxis To Be Deregulated And Replaced By Uber Down Under

Melbourne taxi drivers have staged two demonstrations in protest against the state government's scheme to buy back their taxi licences.

Up to 200 taxis blocked the Bolte Bridge as part of the protest at peak hour this morning, causing major delays for commuters. 

Video from the 9NEWS helicopter showed cars banked up behind the cabs as they crawled at speeds of around 10km/h.

Congestion had eased around 10am, VicTraffic advised. 

This afternoon, drivers flooded the streets near state parliament to demand full licence compensation. 

Many drivers, clad in bright yellow t-shirts, carried signs emblazoned with the message: “Fair go for hardwork in Victoria”.

The Victorian government wants to deregulate the taxi industry by abolishing taxi licences and introducing a single registration for taxis, hire cars and ride-share services like Uber

It proposes to compensate taxi licence holders by paying $100,000 for their first licence and $50,000 for up to three others.

However, some licences cost up to $500,000 and many holders fear the buy-back scheme will send them broke.

Victorian Taxi and Hire Car Families (VTHCF) spokeswoman Sandy Spanos said drivers were staging protests to highlight the plight of some 3500 Victorian families who will suffer under the deal.

“We need you to come to the party and pay us out. We are mums and dads, grandmas and grandpas and we don't want to be on welfare," Ms Spanos said. 

Taxi driver George Goutzioulis said he would fight for proper compensation of his family's three licences, with the current deal set to refund just 20 percent of their investment

We bought under the impression it was industry regulated but now that's been ripped away from us all," he said.

Protesters also called for Transport Minister Jacinta Allen to resign over the issue.

VTHCF warned today’s protest will be one of many disruptions put on by drivers until a total compensation deal is reached.

Opposition Leader Matthew Guy said the government needed to sit down with taxi drivers and negotiate a fair deal because drivers needed certainty.

“We must start at what drivers say their licence plate is worth and what the government says they're worth and then have a discussion

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Patience Isn't A Virtue I'm Blessed With.... by Harry Wall.

    Driver lead, direct action..D-Day approaches.

Another week closer to D-Day in May and still no sign of the orgs meeting up to plan a joint strategy to fight for our survival, they're all still doing there own thing. I'm assured great strives have been made but we must exercise patience yet still no joint planning committee. 

Patience isn't a virtue I'm blessed with and neither are my creditors as I'm sure is the case for most, if not all, of us. But as the days roll by and my tolerance levels disappear, being asked to have patience is not what I want to here.

Especially when the evidence against Uber driver's incompetence and illegalities are mounting daily, and not just here it's worldwide.

Bernard Hogan-Howe gave a virtual endorsement to law breaking earlier this week when he branded us all moaners, which may well be true but I'd say we had good reason lately given his officers non-interest approach to taxi law. I wonder if he's heard of TRIP (Taxi Response to Major Incidents Project)? It might do him good to find out and enquire if the "competition" have anything like it in place, then apologise in writing. 

To allow rickshaws to ply for hire outside Hamleys and Selfridges on the pavement is shameful, but it's a regular occurrence and as we all know, get your back wheel caught in a box junction and it's curtains. Thankfully, TFLs bitch number 2 is soon to retire so let's hope someone with nuts and integrity replaces him.

The next bit of wonderful news is Pimlico Plumbers boss Charlie Mullins lost his appeal in court this week. It now means he must recognise his staff as employees and afford them the same workers rights all employees are lawfully entitled to.

I say wonderful for two reasons, a) It doesn't bode well for Uber's appeal due soon and b) I can't stand the man.

It should send a message to all "gig economy" type businesses that their days of exploitation are coming to a timely end. It should also set the precedent that ruining industries without any regard for the existing workforce will no longer be tolerated. 

With the Uber virus slowly infecting the whole country it seems the sensible members of society are finally waking up to the reality of what this type of slave labour means. Let me make it absolutely clear, I personally couldn't care less if Uber drivers earned 50p per hour, but it's the knock on effect that impacts on us that leads to my lack of compassion. 

Add their attitude towards us and the hardships their thievery is causing us and our families, I really couldn't give a toss.

However, this may present us with an opportunity.

If and when Uber lose the appeal TFL will be in tatters with the fallout far reaching, our orgs must immediately lodge a joint vote of no confidence in TFL. Also, in my view, this should be closely followed with a concise, detailed plan and request for self governance answerable to the Secretary of State for Transport. 

It should detail enough to outline an interim governing body to replace TFL in all aspects of the day to day running of our trade, made up of the chairmen of all orgs to start with, but quickly followed by a voting process by which all cab drivers can vote for their chosen candidates to fill managerial positions. These positions would have a term life of three years in the interest of fairness but if competent, those men or women would be returned to that position. 

This would mean all cab drivers would be required to belong to an org which would be the only stipulation.

Once this body is in place, trade authorities further a field could use our model as a way forward for their own cab trades nationwide, eventually forming a proper National Taxi Alliance.

In order to achieve any of this our orgs will need to be swift and bold in their actions, no nonsense, just a determination to get the job done. It's up to all of us to encourage them to rise to the challenge that, inspite of it's enormity, can be done providing they leave no prisoners. I honestly think this is our chance to reclaim our right to the livelihood we all worked so hard for. As it stands, all the orgs are waiting for Uber's second license to be granted before any legal challenge is mounted. 

I think that's a mistake but I'm not legally trained so naturally they must take the experts opinion, I don't understand why challenging the first one is a lost cause. The evidence seems impossible to argue with as so many people have said but.............

In conclusion I'd like you all to persevere and "be patient", hopefully the good times will return soon.

Remember, we don't have to settle for anything!

Be lucky .

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Taxi Repeatedly Rams Into Uber Cars On Old Airport Road.

SINGAPORE - A 69-year-old taxi driver is assisting with police investigations after he repeatedly rammed his taxi into several Uber cars outside the Old Airport Road Food Centre on Saturday (Feb 11) morning.

According to a statement from the police, they were alerted to an accident involving a taxi and four other cars along Old Airport Road at 10.02am.

Based on preliminary investigation, the police have ruled out drink driving. The 69-year-old taxi driver is currently assisting with police investigations, the statement said.

The driver can be seen repeatedly reversing the yellow taxi several times then surging forward to hit the car in front of him. The impact of the repeated hits sent the other car surged it forward to hit other vehicles. The taxi driver studiously though avoided hitting the car behind.

Customers at the food outlet have speculated that the taxi driver had a road dispute with the driver of the car in front. But other cabbies are saying the driver snapped when he spotted a line of Uber drivers forming an unofficial rank.

     

A taxi driver who spoke to a local news channel on conditions of anonymity said:

 "The cabbie went berserk because he was frustrated with Uber and Grab for stealing away his business and illegally waiting around the area, forming unofficial ranks, touting and waiting for jobs on their phones .”

He went on to say:

 "We are all upset with these parasites hanging around the airport stealing away at work. It was just a matter of time before a driver lost it".

Taxi company ComfortDelGro who own the London Taxi radio circuit ComCab, has reached out to owners of the damaged cars.

Ms Tammy Tan, group corporate communications officer from ComfortDelGro Corporation Limited, said: "We are relieved no one was injured during the incident. The driver has given his statement to the police and we are assisting them in their investigations. We have also activated our loss adjustors to follow up with owners of the cars that were affected."

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Cabbies threaten dramatic new Uber protest - More Proof Uber Problem Is Being Politically Managed

A dashcam video clip, showing an Uber car driving the wrong way along York's Nunnery Lane

CABBIES have voted to block York city centre unless council bosses heed their angry protests against Uber drivers 'flooding into the city.'

But a council officer has urged them not to 'take matters into their own hands,' saying the authority would investigate complaints and take action where appropriate.

The GMB union said more than 100 hackney and private hire drivers attended a 'stormy' meeting yesterday to vent their anger after City of York Council's alleged opening of rendezvous points for private hire drivers across the city.

A union spokesman said: "These are points where private hire vehicles can wait for calls from their office. The York taxi trade believe that they have been put in place for the benefit of Uber drivers who flood into the city at weekends from outside the area."

Bill Chard, from the GMB’s Professional Drivers’ Association, claimed changes were being introduced without proper consultation and without any demand from the York trade.

"When questioned, the council have replied that they do not have to consult on this issue and even said that they had carried out some consultation," he said.

"There were over one hundred present at our meeting including proprietors and representatives of both Hackney and Private Hire Associations and not one person present said that they had been consulted or accepted any need for these rendezvous points.

"York are acting like some banana republic dictators, riding roughshod over the interests of local drivers and local businesses in favour of outsiders who will not put a single penny into the York economy.”

Terry Osborne, a private hire representative from York, said: “This was another heated meeting with York’s home grown drivers being ignored time and time again by City of York Council."

Attendees spoke of instances they had witnessed or videoed on their phones of drivers from outside the York area acting unlawfully and unsafely and putting lives at risk.

The Press revealed last week that a series of video clips assembled from dashcam footage, showing Uber drivers driving the wrong way down various streets, had been placed on Youtube by York drivers.

Uber said then that it took all allegations of dangerous driving very seriously and would contact the private hire drivers that it could identify as Uber partners and remind them of their obligations.

It said any driver that broke the terms of their Private Hire licence or Uber partnership risked not only losing access to the Uber app, but also risked losing their private hire licence.

Mick Rix, GMB National Officer for the Hackney and private hire trade representing over 20,000 members in the industry came up from London to attend yesterday's meeting, and promised the GMB would back the York drivers' campaign.

He said: “York based drivers meet the city's demand, they are local people who spend their money here and they do not cause extra pollution by driving from West Yorkshire because they are already in the city.

"I understand why the drivers are so angry when they perceive that the council is bending over backwards to appease the outsider UBER vehicles.”

A spokesman added that the meeting concluded with a vote in favour of 'blocking the city centre if the City of York Council continue to ignore the trade.'

Matt Boxall, head of public protection at the council, said private hire pick up points were introduced on both Lendal and Davygate a year and a half ago to help address long standing noise complaints in a nearby area.

“The pick up points were discussed at meetings between the council and the trade on occasions as long ago as January 2014, well over a year before Uber applied for a licence," he said.

"We are not aware of any complaints about the pick up points from the drivers, the public or GMB since and we continue to have regular meetings with drivers. It is important to note that these are merely pick up points, and not waiting areas.”

He added that anyone with a concern about a licensed driver or vehicle should report it on 01904 551525 or public.protection@york.gov.uk, and dangerous driving incidents should also be reported to the police.

“As with any complaint, we will investigate and, where appropriate, take any action as the law allows. We continue to urge drivers not to take matters into their own hands."

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