Whose evolution is it
anyway...?
In a March / April Cab Trade News article
written by former Dial-a-Cab driver Frank
Braverman and called The Evolution of Radio
Circuits, Frank quotes a derivative of the
old classic: You don't know what you've got
till it's gone!
I have no desire to tell the
Cab Section of the T&G how to operate
their union, even though I doubt that there
would be much point in telling the brothers
anyway. However, Frank informs CTN readers
that the Union had previously voted to
oppose demutualisation of both DaC and RTL
and that their policy was still in place.
How many London cab-driving members on radio
circuits voted for that, Frank? And by the
way, as you obviously feel free to interfere
in the business of DaC or RTL, please make
sure that you get the names right - it's
Radio Taxis London and NOT Radio Taxis
Limited. Normally it wouldn't matter, but
with an important topic like this, guesswork
really doesn't do. I assume that's also how
you arrive at your dates. You talk of London
Wide being "launched in the 60's."
ComCab's predecessors actually arrived in
1974. You write of ComCab becoming a plc in
1979. 1979? Are you sure Frank? Add 18 years
on to that and you might be a bit closer...
In his article, Frank gives a
(very) brief - and in this context - totally
meaningless history of both Mountview and
ourselves while informing his readers that
neither company can become PLCs without the
consent of their members. So what was the
point of telling us? There can't be anyone
on Dial-a-Cab who really believes that Brian
Rice will wake up one day and decide that he
is going to demutualise DaC - in the words
of Tommy Cooper - just like that!
Frank then talks about the
"mid-eighties" when we went over
to Data Dispatch and "...grew into
multi-million pound businesses,
well-equipped to expand and grow as mutuals
aided by sound financial backing and good
leadership."
Well, yes, that first year of
DaC going live was a bonanza - but
mid-eighties?" It was actually April 29
1989 at 12.27pm and it was a red-letter day
for this industry. But look at the second
and third years following the launch when we
hit a recession and DaC were operating on a
day-to-day basis while on the way to losing
half a million quid in two years! Hardly
success. That, in the meantime, contained
RTL's first year going live and they had to
pay for their new Data system when business
was diabolical. Successful? Your version of
the word and mine obviously differ greatly,
Frank.
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I can't speak for RTL, but DaC
were in such a bad way that the question of
whether we were possibly trading illegally
reared a very ugly head and it was only
self-sacrifice by the drivers that got us
through it. That wasn't the fault of anyone,
just circumstances, but it does make Frank
Braverman's quote look rather puny...
But now, in spite of a worldwide slowdown and
the streets being quiet, we are still
successful and considered by many to be the
leaders in the field - certainly so far as
modern, in-house developed technology is
concerned. And what does Frank have to say?
"Subscribers should think very carefully
about just what they have to lose..." and
goes on to advise our subscribers to have a
rethink about those we have "entrusted to
act on our best interests" and I assume
that he is then referring to Brian Rice and
the Board, who he claims would sell us out
"...for thirty pieces of silver."
One can only surmise as to
whether Frank Braverman's view would have been
the same had he not been taken ill and
remained on DaC. The main question, though, is
now that he has nothing to do with this
Society, what business is it of his what our
drivers vote for? How many of our drivers is
he representing? Our drivers are not fools and
will weigh up the pros and cons very carefully
before voting on such a serious subject. They
don't need to be told how to vote by the
London branch of an organisation containing a
fraction of the membership that DaC has.
Fortunately for me (I suppose),
Frank won't respond to this article because he
took the precaution of adding to his article
that the T&G and CTN would not allow
themselves to become embroiled in "slanging
matches with those who have no satisfactory or
constructive answers for us or their
members." And just in case Call Sign
readers were also wondering, neither will they
resort or react to any vicious abuse. Damn!
Never mind, as it's none of the
Union's business anyway I'll have to manage
without their response...
Fare Decrease...
Yup, April was quiet with a captal 'Q'
- or more to the point - with NO queues of
anything other than empty cabs! And yes, for
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those of us who had become used to the
ridiculously high Tariff 3 between 8 and 10,
the fare decrease was even more noticeable when we were lucky enough to trap a job.
Just
as Call Sign said when the original T3
increase was first announced and for which we
were taken to task by various Internet lists
and the Mailshot pages of this mag, T3 was a
killer to this trade regardless of all the BS
put out by trade organisations who claimed to
have "counted" all the extra cabs
coming out at night when work was rather more
plentiful, which apparently
"proved" that T3 worked. In my mind,
that was the most stupid decision ever taken
by a trade organisation and at least I can
turn round and say that my view hasn't changed
since day one of the announcement.
We have had to sit and watch our
work dry up not just because of T3, but
certainly at a faster rate due to it's
reputation. Drivers - including myself -
received very few complaints from passengers
about T3, but that was only because those who
complained stopped using us long ago and moved
across to private hire. However, we must live
with what we have and between 8 and 10, that
is a decrease - especially if you miraculously
spot a four hander! So what are those trade
organisations whose petitioning for the
increase in the first place helped make the
decrease in work even worse, doing about it?
One organisation is reputed to
have several million pounds in the bank. I
can't help but wonder whether some of that
loot should be spent on telling the general
public - who they frightened away in the first
place - that cab prices have been reduced. No
doubt some passengers will gloat and say that
it serves us right, but we'll have to put up
with that.
When the aftermath of the Iraq
war has sorted itself out and the stock
exchange bounces right back, business will
pick up, but much of the fault will still lie
with those trade organisations who forced T3
on us "for our own good." The very
least they can do is to spend some of their
money advertising our "sale"
prices...
Call Sign Holiday...
In common with previous years, Call Sign
will be taking one month off in June and will
return for the July issue. I hope those of you
going away will have a great time and for
those of you who will be out there grinding
out a living, I hope that things pick up
quickly. Don't forget, if you are a DaC
subscriber or journeyman, Call Sign is your
magazine and we are always happy to hear from
you...
Alan Fisher
callsignmag@aol.com
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