LET'S ALL TAKE THIS WIN.....Dads Defending Daughters

Today is the culmination of a Driver led five day drive-in at Kings Cross/St Pancras this Spring, and shrewd bartering with Camden Council, during the following months.

Ray Mann negotiated an Experimental Order that was approved in May, and promised to be put into place by mid June. Mid June turned into mid July.

When nothing was done by mid July, another five day demo was called. Camden pleaded with Ray to speak with the instigators of the demo to call off the protest; with a guarantee that the work for the Experimental Order had been signed off for mid August.

Mid August arrived and the signs went up in Pancras Road, informing the public that work would commence on the 22nd.

A week long protest was immediately called, for Monday 5th September, just to 'encourage' Camden, who have a reputation for reneging on promises.

During the Driver led five day protest, the RMT and LCDC were in full support, and the LTDA had their Advan present.

The demonstrators, who fluctuated between 300 to 500 on any given day, were from all the Orgs and Unions, and some unaffiliated drivers.

We all know who called the drive-in, who wholeheartedly supported them, who participated in the drive-in, who refused to support it, and who claimed to know nothing about it.
We all know who got the Experimental Order on the table, and accepted and finalised.

A mention in dispatches to the RMT's Andy Vito for assisting Ray Mann, must be acknowledged.

Also it would be unfair not to mention the high vis marshalling carried out by the Mayfair Mob, the LCDC and LTDA after the demo.

We also know who stated that an Experimental Order of double yellows, with double blips and signage, was a waste of time, insisting that an airport style pick up and set down zone was the only way.

And we all know that this week saw an unelected quango taking credit for the Experimental Order, once the signs went up.

If they want the 'win', the 'victory' or whatever they wish to call it, let them have it. Who cares?

Does it really matter that the misinformed remain uninformed?

What I can categorically state without fear of contradiction, is that we the drivers who demonstrated for those five days at St Pancras, chipped in to pay all the fines of all the drivers who fell foul of the authorities that day.
It is common practice for driver led protests, to cover each other when Orgs and Unions are unable or unwilling to do so.

All this fighting amongst ourselves is detrimental to the cause.
We all know who physically wins back the ranks, flooding them with cabs, forcing the Scabs off.

We all know who negotiates hard for new ranks. We all know who called mass demos, stopping London.
We all know who invaded the BBC and got 'Uber rape' into the public domain.

We all know who had seat ads and receipt pads with assault stats printed up.
We all know who got the Freedom of Information rape stats for the trade.
We all know who blew open TfL's Ubergate emails.
As we all know who signed off on a toxic card machine fiasco.

And we all know who sat in silence whilst the London Taxi trade burned, during their time on the TfL GLA board.

You can all take the plaudits, if that is your thing. But you must all take the blame too.
Who cares who gets the pat on the back?

Who cares who points the finger or who is to blame?
All this disinformation is splitting the trade from within. This is far more dangerous than TfL or Uber.
Let us all put the past where it belongs.

And let us join together, fighting a common enemy.
I do not care which Org or Union you belong to. You are a Taxi driver, the finest in the world. I do not care what colour your lanyard is or which political Party you support - you are a Taxi driver.

Let's get the Orgs and Unions to put aside their petty differences and focus on the challenge before us.

Orgs and Unions seem constantly bickering and unsupportive of each other, in a feeding frenzy for membership.

In truth, the Orgs and Unions are your mouthpiece. 'Your' mouthpiece, not theirs.
Tell them what you want. If they refuse to listen, vote with your feet and leave. Attend branch meetings, and speak up.

Do not be like the twenty thousand apathetic drivers who leave everything to others. Signing a direct debit and leaving the decisions and proactivity to your Union or Org, is not enough. In fact it is detrimental.

If you remain silent, how are they to know what you want?
How are we supposed to show force, if you do not turn up?

A driver I'm on nodding terms with, whom I know from many demos going back decades, with Georgie Vyce, Alan Fleming and the like, was receiving a ribbing about his proactivity.

"Citizen Smith" was having the piss taken out of him because he had lost work during the five day St Pancras drive-in.
One jovial antagonist worked out his friend had lost around twenty working hours during that week.

It was all good fun, but one comment struck home: "I don't do demos." said one laughing driver, "They don't achieve nothing."

Although his double negative is true, his shiftless sentiment is all too common amongst the subservient majority.
And then came Smithy's retort, "No they don't. Because wankers like you can't be arsed to turn up."
There is no reply to that truism.

The state of this trade can be summed up by the realisation that only fifty percent of drivers are in a Taxi organisation. The other half remain out in the cold.

We have a newish Mayor of London; Sadiq Khan.
I cannot help but admire a man who has risen to his station from such humble origins. 

No one gave him his education - he took it. What Mayor Khan has achieved, he fought and worked hard for.
The Mayor of London cannot be bullied; not by us, not by Uber, and not by the Government.

I am not saying that a man like Sadiq Khan cannot be influenced or seduced by promises of higher office, but I believe he cannot be bought off as easily as his predecessor.

Our fight is not against Khan. Our fight is alongside Khan.
It is not about unqualified protectionism. Ours is a righteous battle against Uber; a company totally bereft of any redeeming virtues.

A company globally reviled by good, hardworking people like you.

A company backed by Goldman Sachs, who would skin a turd to turn a dollar.
They are also backed by the Qataris and Google; who will invest in anything, even Uber-rape, in their fight to diversify before their respective bubbles burst.

The highest form of human existence is to be a servant.
Often mistakenly viewed as the lowest level; to be a servant is to be of value. To be of service to others.
Otherwise you become insignificant and your existence pointless.

Drivers on social media spout endlessly on about dress codes, credit card machines, brooming, meter rates, etc. They could also help their trade by making sure it still exists this time next year.

People use Uber because of price. A price kept low by deregulation and TfL compliance. This is where we make our stand - the rest is incidental.

Be more proactive, support protests, support a Union or Org, and be more vocal at meetings - to paraphrase JFK, 'Ask not what your trade can do for you. Ask what you can do for your trade.'

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If C4 are looking for innocent victims, here's a few: .....by Veritas

• The British taxpayer for subsidising this company with tax credits and housing benefits.

• The British taxpayer for not receiving what's due from Uber's tax machinations.

• The other drivers who have suffered the RTA's brought about by massive overwork, poor driving standards, no knowledge of a complex and dynamic city.

• The victims of the predators, the shattered families, the blighted lives.

Still it's all about technology and we are all Luddites said Boris

No we are not, we are decent, honest hard working people who deserve better, just like every other victim.

TfL do you job and hound this anti social mob from our shores.

These are your rules....not ours. 

Why are you not enforcing them ?

 

  

 

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Channel 4 News Special : Uber, the real lives of its drivers...

Just incase you missed it last night, Channel 4's Ciaran Jenkins investigates the real lives of Uber drivers....."I don't see my wife, I don't see my kids, no holidays, no security, less than the minimum wage, assaults by drunken passengers" but they still do it. 

Funny though, not one word about the the Tax Credits, Housing and other benefits !

...

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Camden Council Announce New Set Down Area At St Pancras.

In September and December 2015, in partnership with Transport for London (TfL) Camden Council trialled an airport style drop-off system outside St Pancras International Station. The trial saw the drop-off and pick-up bays segregated from the carriageway with cones, so vehicles would need to enter the area and keep moving rather than wait or double-park.

The idea was that this would encourage self-policing amongst motorists. Signs were erected to notify motorists of where to go and our enforcement team, along with officers from TfL and British Transport Police, were on hand to support the trial.

Following a period of consultation, we have  revisited the design of the original system. The two bays between the entrance to the station and Euston Road will be removed and replaced with double yellow lines and double kerb “blips”. These markings indicate that no waiting or loading is permitted at any time.

Vehicles that are stopped for no longer than necessary to allow passengers (and their luggage) to alight will be exempt from the restrictions. However, vehicles will not be permitted to wait or stay at the location for passengers to arrive or any other purposes.

Drivers who may need additional time to drop-off or pick-up passengers are advised to use the bays north of the entrance to the station, which will retain their current time limit, or the NCP car park.

Why are you making changes?

We believes the new restrictions will lead to the following benefits:

Reduction in congestion caused by vehicles waiting longer than two minutes

Reduction in vehicles double parking

Increased safety for pedestrians by increasing visibility of the road that had been reduced by parked vehicles

Increased safety for cyclists who will no longer be forced into the path of on-coming traffic

When will this happen?

It is expected that the work will be carried out during the week commencing 22nd August 2016, weather permitting. Works will be carried out at night and will involve the removal of white bay markings and laying down yellow markings in their place.

There is likely to be a short “settling in” period of a few days during which TfL and our enforcement officers will be present to advise drivers. Following this, Penalty Charge Notices may be issued to vehicles breaching the restrictions from 29th August 2016.

The scheme will be monitored and additional signage will be installed if necessary.

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MAYFAIR MOB (MM) RANKS UPDATE : Taking The Work Back

Firstly the MM would like to thank TFL Ranks & Highways for their hard work and support over the last 18 months.

BEDUIN

Islington Council are raising an experimental traffic order after agreeing to rank time changes. The new rank plate should be in place soon. The MM would like to thank Smithfield Tennants' Association for their help in getting the consultation over the line. 

SUSHI SAMBA

TFL are currently trialling a rank here on Friday and Saturday nights supported by trade marshals. Although this needs a permanent rank for every night, this is a step in the right direction. The MM have submitted plans to TFL for a permanent rank and also have other options if this plan is rejected.

SKY GARDEN

Plans have been submitted to TFL to move 2 rank spaces from the top of Philpot Lane to outside Sky Garden at the bottom.

KANALOA

Plans have been submitted to TFL for a 2 space taxi rank outside this venue.

SEXY FISH

Plans have been submitted to TFL for a rank on Berkeley Square just up from the entrance. The MM understands that the LCRC have also requested a rank here in Bruton Lane. We feel that our plan would serve this venue better and produce more work but will support any rank gained at this venue by the trade. 

SIX STOREYS

We have submitted rank plans to TFL for a rank at this venue. The venue is due to open this Autumn in Soho Square. We have also entered into dialogue with the owners of this venue. 

HEAVEN

Plans have been submitted to TFL for a 3 space rank in Villiers Street. 

ARTS CLUB

DOVER ST

We have requested a two space rank outside the Arts Club.

This will provide the club with a service as the new Novikov extension is expected to require existing rank space. 

We are in contact with various councils pushing for the appointment of new ranks, and the upkeep of existing ranks

 

We are also working on other projects which will benefit the trade immensely once completed. We will update the trade when we are able to.

We are working with the UCG and RMT on various ranks and highways projects and hope to achieve more positive results for the trade through this collaboration.

We would like to thank all drivers that are currently working the ranks. TFL's biggest hurdle is taxis parked on working ranks as councils will reject rank requests whilst this is happening. Please use common sense if you need to leave a cab on a working rank in case of emergencies by not leaving it on point.

Please follow @givethem10 for the latest ranks info and please

GIVE EM 10. USE EM OR LOSE EM 

Be lucky drivers

Editorial Comment: 

Well done to the Mayfair Mob where land yard colour counts for nothing.

This amazing work load has been carried out voluntarily, by a group that is currently excluded from the official Joint Trade Rank's Committee. 

Didn't I read somewhere that Val Shawcross has thrown out the engagement policy?

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Geely In Partnership With Uber, To Make Taxi Drivers Obsolete.

Geely owned, Volvo Car Corp. and ride-hailing giant Uber Technologies Inc. have signed a $300 million agreement to co-develop autonomous sport-utility vehicles that will either be used as self-driving taxis or sold to consumers.

The two companies will announce the joint project Thursday, saying the Swedish auto maker will conduct much of the initial engineering on a platform for an XC90 SUV that is capable of piloting itself. At some point, Uber will take that technology and use it as the foundation to develop its own self-driving vehicle technology. Volvo will do the same.

Under the agreement, Uber will buy XC90 SUVs manufactured by Volvo. Volvo is owned by China’s Zhejiang Geely Holding Group Co. and has been among the more aggressive players in the established auto industry when it comes to developing and advocating for autonomous vehicles.

Uber, known for its ride-hailing service, has been developing autonomous vehicles and envisions a day when those cars could replace its tens of thousands of contract drivers. It recruited a team of researchers and scientists from Carnegie Mellon University, hired the hackers who wirelessly took control of a Jeep in 2015, and earlier this year hired Ford’s Sherif Marakby to head its global vehicle programs.

Uber and Volvo will work together on dynamic mapping, object identification and other hurdles that face many companies working on driverless cars.

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All Rise.....But Will Our Orgs Rise To The Challenge?

So here we have it Uber is seeking judicial review over improvements to the PH regulations.

All others in the PH world are in favour.

It's entirely reasonable that PH drivers have an appropriate decent level of English as they have to deal face to face with others, many of whom won't have English as a native tongue.

The same applies to having the phones (yep telephones Uber) staffed by London based staff with knowledge of the topography. 

As for insurance, it's a no brainer, how can you licence a PH vehicle for a year yet not have the appropriate insurance in place for the period? 

If people want to have SDP insurance then they have to surrender the PH vehicle licence and pay the CC, you can't have it both ways.

We already have cars being driven by one licensed and two unlicensed drivers, people falling asleep at the wheel, daily RTA's, multi devices on windscreen, rampant touting, virtual PFH the list goes on and on and it's getting worse.

It's certainly interesting and we wonder if any e mails and content of telephone calls from officers in TfL or indeed between the UTG and TfL will come to light?

What's clear is that despite the smooth PR exterior behind that is a company that can't abide any proper standards for passengers or drivers as the cost base rises to the true cost of provision and that will derail the sweatshop.

I won't make predictions on the outcome, but we should certainly now be using the famously trumpeted one million pound fighting fund informing the public of the FACTS.

All the unions and orgs need to get together and issue a joint statement on this in order to counter the propaganda and this time without seeking individual acclaim.

Will we rise to the challenge?

No further questions M'Lud.

I'm Spartacus

  

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