ZERO TOLERANCE!

THE CHICAGO WAY

It is time for zero tolerance.

TfL have instructed our undermanned police force to nick drivers queuing (not illegally ranking, or illegally parking) to enter Paddington and Kings Cross Stations; whilst Private Hire and Uber plot up where they want.

If this continues, we will flash demo and close those areas.

You hit us? We hit back.

Most of us grew up on the streets and housing estates of London, before the class gerrymandering and ethnic cleansing was instigated by this Government, to accommodate Tobies (Toffs on Bikes), who wished to live nearer work.

Are we Londoners going to bow down to a bunch of pen-pushing pricks whose sole purpose is to oversee a Taxi genocide, on behalf of a corrupt, bought and paid for, Tory government?

No we are not!

We are not going to take TfL's bullying tactics anymore.

They are trying to wear us down. And keep us down.

We are going to show TfL that we refuse to be intimidated.

We will fight back on every front!

"You wanna get Capone? Here's how you get him..." The Chicago way.

We hit everything they do to intimidate us.

We hit everything they fail to enforce.

They are nicking Taxi drivers for queuing to get into stations. Whilst leaving Minicabs to do as they please.

The inconvenience Minicabs cause, plotting up in St Pancras Station, is only part of the issue. What about the security aspect?

Why should we be blown to kingdom come, because no one cares to do their job properly?

We refuse to stand for it!

Monday 18 April 2016 marks the start of a week of civil disobedience from the Taxi trade.

Every evening at 17:00, Taxis will blockade Kings Cross and St Pancras Stations, front, back and surrounding areas.

This action will continue every evening until the authorities promise to police the drop off zones.

If they break their promise? We will be back.

Once we have forced the authorities to get up off of their privileged fat arses and do their job of securing St Pancras, we will turn our attention to Paddington.

Remember this, once Uber and Private Hire are allowed a feeder park in Heathrow Airport; they will target our stations.

Uber and Private Hire have been shitting and pissing in the streets and gardens around Heathrow.

Have they been punished? No! They have been rewarded.

Do not think we are going to take a Private Hire feeder inside Heathrow, lying down.

The new Mayor will be made acutely aware of where we stand.

We will stop the world.

Join us now, to fight back.

NO SURRENDER!

A wild animal is most dangerous when wounded

Ever watched a boxer, well behind on points, fight the last few rounds?

Ever watched your team turn it on in the last ten minutes of a game because they are losing, and thought 'Why didn't they play like this from the start?"

We the Taxi Trade are in the last ten minutes of our game.

If we can score one goal, we will get that vital replay at home.

We must lift our heads and go that extra mile. Hit the opposition with everything we have. Force them back into their own penalty area.

Fight like we have nothing to lose. Because literally, that is the case; we have nothing to lose.

The game is not over! It is time to play like a team.

A champion never throws in the towel. And a team of champions always play to the final whistle.

So do not give up. That is what TfL and their masters want.

We, as a Trade, have been misrepresented and betrayed.

We have waited for something to happen, for promises to be kept and for the sleeping eighty percent to wake up. All we got for our troubles was to end up further down Shit Creek.

That was then, this is now. It is time to show our Dunkirk spirit.

We are not going to hold our hands up and surrender, because some rich arsehole thinks we are insignificant.

Those of you who have been fortunate enough to travel in Taxis abroad, know only too well how highly regarded we are by our fellow cabbies across the world.

They are looking to us to show them the way.

We are not going to shy away from our responsibilities.

We are going to fight!

We are going to get that replay!

We are going to let them know, in no uncertain terms, if we go down, we are taking each and every one of those bastards down with us!

Join the RMT, so we can become one powerful voice.

Leave the subservient eighty percent who are submissive to TfL and their condescending board.

Join the proactive twenty percent, who do everything for you on your behalf.

Refuse to be bowed by bullying officials and their underhand tactics.

Help turn the Pro Twenty percent into a Pro Fifty percent.

Help turn TfL on its head and make the new Mayor realise we are playing for our lives.

A CALL TO ARMS

WHY THE RMT?

Last night I attended my first RMT meeting.

To say I was impressed is an understatement.

I witnessed correct, democratic procedure and a unique way in which members have a genuine voice.

The passion and fight within that room was unmistakably positive and uplifting.

And most importantly, the RMT have a cohesive plan to win back our Trade from a disruptive and destructive TfL.

At the moment, TfL have mismanaged its way into a situation where there is a thin tissue of difference between Taxis and Private Hire.

If we do not grasp this last chance of fighting back and reversing TfL's abhorrent disregard for the Taxi Trade, we will be doomed to a one tier system where money trumps all.

Why the RMT?

What the hell has any Org or Union, including the RMT, achieved?

Fuck all, is the answer.

So again, why the RMT?

Unlike the LTDA, who are no more than a TfL apologist, the RMT London Taxi Branch did not have enough members.

Now through favourable happenstance, the RMT have an influx of new members who are willing to fight.

Frontline members like the Mayfair Mob, who has actively given the opposition, especially Uber, a bloody nose.

Innovative members who are not scared of getting their collars felt for a just cause, like Dads Defending Daughters.

Members who have been fighting to preserve your ranks in Shoreditch, the West End and City.

Members who regularly turn up on demos, no matter who calls it.

Members who are willing to Flash Demo at a moment’s notice.

Members who galvanised, when Boris tagged us Luddites, and marched ten miles in the pouring rain for a common cause.

Members who are sick to the back teeth of a Government who believes we are an insignificant paper tiger, to be brushed aside for their illegal profiteering.

They are passionate, energetic, and understand our sense of urgency.

The RMT membership wants to be proactive, and not sit on its hands waiting for empty promises.

The RMT, like its new members, will lead from the front.

The more members the RMT has, the bigger their clout.

For the sake of our future, I hope you join the RMT.

NO NEWS IS BAD NEWS

TAXI BLACKOUT

A few weeks ago, my friend Sean Pier rang the editor of Taxi, the trade magazine, published by the LTDA. To ask him why there was no mention of the Dads Defending Daughters protest, on 9th March.

Sean told the editor how the Dads Defending Daughters demo caught everyone by surprise; including the BBC and police.

Explaining that Dads Defending Daughters are a cross Org group of concerned Taxi drivers. Who felt the safety of Londoners was being undermined by TfL, and condoned by a BBC blackout and corrupt politicians.

Sean told him that Dads Defending Daughters funded all their own banners, placards and leaflets out of their own pockets. And how they all took the risk of getting their collars felt and licenses jeopardised, for a just cause.

He went on to explain that although Dads Defending Daughters count themselves as fathers first and taxi drivers second, they marched as a trade unit.

As we all know, rape and sexual assault by Private Hire and Uber, has gone through the roof.

Assaults have been allowed to flourish, to mute public anger and protect the Board of TfL. To appease Uber lobbyists and culpable MPs who value profit above people.

Taxi's editor apologised, saying he had heard nothing about Dads Defending Daughters. And asked Sean to provide pertinent information and photographs, via email. He finished the call by promising to publish a story in the next edition.

But there was nothing in the next edition of Taxi magazine.

The BBC have a track record for putting celebs and the threat of scandal before the welfare of young people. So their blackout was expected, even though Dads Defending Daughters brought their protest to the very steps of Broadcasting House.

What was not expected, was a blackout by our own trade paper. By the LTDA.

Dads Defending Daughters consists of LTDA members, UCG, LCDC, Unite and RMT members.

Dads Defending Daughters is not an Org. Nor does it want to be.

To a man, every Dads Defending Daughters member of the LTDA has vowed to leave them.

Nor will any member of Dads Defending Daughters pick up another copy of Taxi ever again. They can rot in their stands.

All the LTDA do is spout rhetoric, beguile their members with false promises, and sleep with the enemy.

They have lead this trade by the nose, to exactly where TfL and their Board of Deregulators want them.

How so many pay so much for so little, baffles me.

Deregulate this bunch of shysters. Get rid of Oddy, by getting rid of your membership.

We are fighting TfL.

LTDA are TfL in disguise.

EMPATHY IN HIGH PLACES

Today I received a positive letter from my local MP, Bob Neill.

I wrote to every Mayoral candidate, the Prime Minister, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, the Mayor of London, my local MP for Bromley & Chislehurst, the Suzy Lamplugh Trust, Rape Crisis England & Wales, and every single Taxi Charity we serve.

I received just five replies.

Personal replies from Bob Neill and Zac Goldsmith.

And assisted replies from Sadiq Khan, George Galloway and Boris Johnson.

I thank each and every one of those named. I know they are extremely busy individuals. Three of which are on a hectic campaign trail.

Of the other Mayoral candidates; I do understand they too have a busy schedule.

The Suzy Lamplugh Trust and Rape Crisis E&W seemed more concerned with donations than doing anything positive.

Sadly I have to report that not one of our Charities acknowledged my correspondence.

I thought their board of governors or management would have been only too pleased to give something back to a trade who have worked so tirelessly on their behalf.

Patrons of charities are excellent in the art of persuasion. They could have been of valuable service to the Licensed London Taxi trade, in our hour of need.

I wonder who they would turn to, if we were no more?

Empathy from the hierarchy is not enough to combat apathy from our own rank and file.

We must start looking after ourselves.

Do not listen to what anyone promises; including your own Union/Club/Group/Association. Look instead to what they do. Actions speak louder.

Loud speaking actions are all well and good if they ultimately achieve something.

What has your Union/Club/Group/Association actually achieved?

Very little, is the answer I keep hearing.

So let's honour our side of the bargain. And insist they honour theirs.

Be more proactive.

Be more hands on, at branch level.

Tell your Union/Club/Group/Association, through their chain of command, what you expect from them.

If you are not a member of a Union/Club/Group/Association with legal cover, then you are a lone fool, and probably a member of that subservient eighty percent who hinder this trade.

If you are a member of a Union/Club/Group/Association, then you must at least meet them halfway and attend meetings, ask questions, proffer ideas, vote on issues, and answer a call to arms if need be.

We do not have to be alone.

We are legion ... if we are many.

THE TIME HAS COME

Let’s take the fight to them!

Like most of you, I have heard about this impending Demo to close LAP for twenty four hours.
And like most of you, I welcome it.
If you intend to Demo, get Union cover. I have joined the RMT.
Why the RMT? Because they seem to share our sense of urgency.

Street Demos by the UCG have galvanised the Pro20. But unfortunately, apart from that, they have achieved very little success or media coverage.
Sitting silently, listening to the toothless GLA discuss our demise, has not helped our cause either.
We have lobbied en masse and on a daily basis, to no avail.
We have written to and emailed our MPs, with little to no response.
Before the school holidays last year, we were promised by Tom Watson and Unite the Union that something positive will be happening. Well eight months later the only positives I can see are all on the opposition's scoreboard.

The LTDA have lured us into this mess. I lay this, perilous situation we now find ourselves, firmly at the door of Taxi House.
Anyone who is still a member of that culpable association needs their apathetic heads examined.

Opponents of upping the ante, say that it will be a Public Relations disaster.
Which public is that?

The public who waves his phone at scabs, whilst you roast on a rank?

Or the public who buy your Big Issue, as you stand outside Novikov, watching scabs doing your job, as you wish you did more?

There have been calls to block every bridge from Tower to Wandsworth, and bring London to a standstill.
Boris has already done this with his CSH Blitzkrieg. Who would notice the difference?
Anyhow why stop London, when you can stop the World? Let's see the BBC refuse to cover that event.

Yes we will get bad press. At the moment we are getting no press.
Before Dads Defending Daughters turned up on the last Demo, with placards and banners, people would approach us asking why we were there.
Let's face facts, no one knows about our plight.
And moreover, very few care about our plight.
How many of us, not directly connected, gave much attention to the Miners or the Print Workers?
But we do care about the Firemen and the Steelworkers. Why? Because we have empathy, born from a common injustice.

You cannot sit on your hands, hoping everything will turn out rosy, while the Mayfair Mob, Shoreditch Mob, Flash Demo and the LCDC/UCG do all your bidding.

There comes a time when you have to play your part, and become part of the solution and not the problem.

You are either with us or against us. There is no just cause for abstention.

Uber cannot compete with Licensed London Taxis. They are just a plastic Addison Lee.
But they are competing, and driving us out of business, in an extreme form of professional genocide. Uber have achieved this, due to the incestuous personal and professional relationship they have with your Prime Minister, Chancellor and Mayor. Aided by many MPs, on both sides of the House, who place profit before public safety.
Uber are backed by massive corporations who wish to purloin our livelihood.
And still some of you want us to carry on regardless, head in the sand, hoping it will all just go away.

It is time to man up. And stand up to these bullies.
Let's be able to tell our Grandchildren, 'I was there. I fought for my rights. I was part of that Movement.'
Win or lose, I promise you, you will be saying those words with pride.
If we are going down, let's go down in history!

EMAIL/LETTER TEMPLATE TO MP/MAYORAL CANDIDATE

Email or post this to your local MP.
Simply fill in the name of your MP at the top, and your name at the bottom.
_____________________________________


Dear 

It is unacceptable that the government is doing nothing to stop Uber from destroying the licensed London Taxi trade, a national icon.

It has been reported in the press that Uber despite being a US$50bn US headquartered company and generating a lot of business in the UK pays less tax than just 4 individual London taxi drivers. I understand from an interview George Galloway did with Steve McNamara (General Secretary of the LTDA) that Uber has a company in the Netherlands where it benefits from lower tax rates. There are various OECD initiatives looking at similar tax structures of companies and understand that the UK has recently adopted new tax laws addressing them. It is difficult to understand why the government is so supportive of a company which is taking away business from lifelong UK tax payers when it hardly pays any tax in the UK.

Tfl which sets London Taxi fares argue that Uber is encouraging competition and giving consumers choice but this is at the expense of putting at risk the livelihood and eventual employment status of 25,000+ men and women who are licensed London Taxi Drivers. it is not only the drivers who are being affected but the manufacturers of London Taxis, mechanics, call centre staff and 'knowledge' trainers etc.

Tfl set licensed London Taxi fares high. Uber is aggressive with its strategy. It is offering extremely low prices, a 'race to the bottom '. This, unless stopped will leave Licensed Taxi Drivers unable to compete on price. Price is something which Licensed Taxi Drivers are unable to control. Unfortunately, as things stand, there is an obvious outcome- Uber will price so low until it is the only provider on the market. At that stage, it will be almost certain that Uber will increase its prices.

The Licensed London Taxi trade also supports the concept of Social Mobility. It is a qualification which many men and increasingly women from working class backgrounds go into.

The taxi drivers are hard working, have passed the 'knowledge' which requires high levels of skill, memory, dedication and commitment. The Licensed London Taxi trade provides good role models to future generations that perhaps without academic qualifications you can work hard to have a solid and previously secure lifelong profession. This opportunity for Social Mobility for Taxi Drivers and their families is being taken away by completely unfair competition.

The safety of London Uber customers seems to be a low priority of Tfl. Firstly, Licensed London Taxi Drivers are required to have an insurance policy (Hire and Reward) which covers passengers in the unlikely event of any accidents. Uber drivers are not currently subject to the same insurance requirements which is unsafe and irresponsible. They are merely required to have Third Party Fire and Theft policies in order to get passed as a licensed mini cab driver by Tfl. Such insurance only covers the third party and this lack of insurance protection allowed by Tfl is not in the best interests of the public.

Secondly it has been reported that Tfl are not keeping the public informed of the sexual attacks which are purportedly being carried out by mini cab drivers. By not sharing this information it is not allowing the public to make an informed choice about their transport options.

Finally, does it seem right that the head of our government is associated with senior Uber staff, given the involvement of the government in the support of Uber?

What do you propose to do to support the licensed London Taxi drivers?

Yours sincerely,