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Priority for ethnic minorities?
The recent proposals that have been put forward to "encourage" more
applicants from diverse ethnic origins to undergo the trials and
tribulations of the Knowledge have certainly stirred up a hornet’s nest of
opinions within the trade. These have been joined by those in the media who
consider themselves to be professional Londoners and so feel that they have
every right to comment on anything they consider is part of the fabric of
London centric.
Very few of these commentators from either of the above parties
have agreed with the proposals, and from what I’m hearing the most virulent
attacks on these proposals have come from the ethnic drivers within the
trade who have "done the Knowledge."
Quite rightly, they see these proposals as devaluing their personal
achievement in "getting out." There are few in the trade who would say they
breezed through the Knowledge, although some would acknowledge that through
their backgrounds, ex-police, armed forces etc, it wasn’t as hard as it
might have been. But they still had to go and do it and finance it
themselves one way or another. There are no short cuts.
I have heard on the trade grapevine that a well known driver from a
non-white non-middle class background is so annoyed with the proposals, that
he is carrying around a petition with him and asking any drivers that he
meets on the road that have also come from similar diverse backgrounds as
himself, to sign his petition.
"The road to hell is paved with good intentions." Apparently,
although often associated with another well known "professional Londoner,"
Samuel Johnson (Born Lichfield) when I Googled it, the first hit claimed
that it was wrongly attributed to the creator of the dictionary as we know
it today. The next two hits both used it in relation to race relations.
Perhaps this should be a warning to those who seek to meddle in the natural
progress of integration. Personally, I have never meet a cab driver who
fails to respect another driver purely on their background, but if these
proposals happen then the inevitable consequences will be a feeling within
the trade of a two level standard of driver. Those that have done it the
right way and those who - rightly or wrongly - will be seen to have been
"given their badge" and unfortunately, even if a driver from one of the
diverse backgrounds has done it the right way, the majority of other drivers
and the travelling public will assume that they are in the latter group with
a resulting lack of respect.
Whilst having a few words on this subject with Alan (Fisher), he
asked me what was the Union’s position on this issue? I replied that I
couldn’t give him an answer due to the branch not having had a meeting for a
year!
Jokingly he replied: "Nothing to do with you is it?" I had to reply
that actually it was partly. Due to several active branch members
challenging the democracy and financial accountability of the branch and its
branch officers, we have been subjected to some sort of investigating and
inquiry. This has been made to drag on and almost certainly will result in
some form of disciplinary action timed to coincide with the branch elections
due in November and December of this year. The purpose of this will be to
stop the dissident members from standing for election to those branch
positions that will be available. Although this will be appealed and most
likely upheld, the elections will have been held and usual suspects returned
in their current positions. After all, as one of the present cabal said to
me once: "We don’t like contested elections."
Eddie Lambert (V37)
See the article in this issue giving the views of 5 DaC drivers who
have ethnic minority backgrounds. As for the Union position, I couldn’t
possibly comment! …Ed
Emissions stealth tax?
Recently read an article in Auto Express
suggesting that TX4 taxi emissions are higher than a Citroen C6 2.7HDI V6
(230g/km) and which pointed out that while a taxi pays no congestion charge,
the Citroen is scheduled to pay £25 per day if Mayor Ken Livingstone’s new
G-band comes into fruition early next year. So how long before we are hit
with more TfL stealth taxes to make up for the fact that we can hardly be
expected to pay to enter London?
Watch out! Vote for Ken at your peril. Any customers in my cab who
admit to voting for Ken will be asked to leave forthwith!
As a separate topic, why is it that the PCO’s green disc parade
continue to abuse and flout the laws by picking up from clubs and street
hirings without any sign of pre-booking? We should all take their numbers,
phone the tout line and report them. I’m assured that all reported incidents
are fully investigated – albeit eventually!
Tony Arnold (F03)
There is no longer a tout line, but if any DaC drivers know of
specific hotspots where you believe touting is happening, then please let me
know via email and I’ll pass it over to Sgt Dave Hilson in case it’s one the
tout squad don’t already know about. Don’t believe everything you read about
the tout squad, they may be understaffed but they still nick plenty of them.
What the courts then do is another matter …Ed
Signals…
In my cab I have a telegraph pole, an MDT the size of a small suitcase and a
lump of a computer base in the luggage compartment footwell - considering
that it’s the year 2007, this I would consider not
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very modern. Have a look at the small Xeta unit or many of
the other data despatch units available in the modern world.
Last night, 4 September, was the first full day of the tube strike.
There was an abundance of street work and an abundance of radio work. The
thing is that once again it was impossible to do any radio work because as
per normal when it gets slightly busy on DaC as we all know, you cannot
accept jobs, book into zones etc, but last night was worse than I have ever
experienced on DaC. One word comes to mind – shambolic! So for four or five
minutes I stared transfixed at my stone age MDT and telegraph pole and
asked myself what is the point?
DaC needs to ask itself some serious questions, I think maybe a better
option as you are more interested in getting swish swanky offices than a
safe reliable system drivers can use, would be to return to voice despatch?
We could all be given 1950s type radio sets with little black hand-held
microphones and you could employ maybe a few more dispatchers? I believe
this would be a much better way of dispatching work than the current system
you try to operate at the moment.
When you interview new drivers at DaC, do you tell or ask them
these things: Are you prepared to become a lackey for our beloved minicab
friends? Are you prepared to run across London to EC5 to do work that our
minicab friends do not want? We expect you to do 40 jobs a month, but we
have a despatch system that is so bad that it will drive you insane?
On the subject of DaC’s beloved minicab friends, a few
comments; Mr Rice tells us time and time again that if we don't do the
minicab work, others will. I believe his attitude is defeatist and morally
wrong. Can you name me one other business that does the work of another
company that it is in effect in competition with? What we need is to abandon
any links with minicab companies and OUR chairman should be pushing for
progressive talks with the other London radio circuits for a unified stance
on this issue. If they don't adhere, then DaC should actively pursue ComCab
and Radio Taxis drivers on the premise that DaC is going to be the only true
London black cab circuit. The maths is staring you in the face.
Minicabs will not have black cab firms to do their rubbish, so what happens
then? Work it out for yourself, but as I say I can only dream. Under this
Chairman who is so ready and quick to succumb to the mindset of if we don't
do it, then the other two will, what chance do we have? Well DaC needs a
change and new blood at their swanky swish new offices, only time will
tell...
Daniel Priddle (N96)
Brian Rice replies: I was waiting for your letter to arrive,
Daniel, because I knew that if there was be one person who would complain
about the new offices - that yes, it had to be you! I just find it strange
that in the three or so years since you joined us from ComCab, this is no
less than the sixth letter of complaint that you have sent to the magazine!
Some of the previous ones complained that we are not as good as ComCab.
Considering the flak I have taken recently from the LTDA, I am beginning to
wonder if you are a plant!
We have a large terminal because that is what our members wanted,
not the small PDAs that cannot be read and which could be quite dangerous to
endeavour to read whilst the vehicle is on the move. Signals bad? Yes they
are when it’s very busy, but then again you know the reasons why because I
have replied and explained those reasons to you so many times. At the
end of the current financial year, we would have put £12 / 13million of
extra work through our system over the last two years and yes, it is a
problem for us to just increase our capacity to accommodate for our success.
Regarding our completing work for Private Hire/minicab companies,
yes, I know all the arguments for and against - that is why we give our
members the opportunity of opting out of doing this particular type of
work. So that now begs the question; why do you have the attribute so that
PH work is offered to you? Does that say something about you? It appears
that you want to blame me for everything. I have no problem with that, many
people have and continue to blame me for all types of ills - it goes with my
territory. However, I do hope you will stop short of blaming me for global
warming - but perhaps I shouldn’t hold my breath!
Finally, when you joined us we already had the "telegraph pole, the
small suitcase and the 'T' attribute", so why did you join – and possibly
more importantly, why are you still here? I’m not trying to get rid of you,
but when someone complains that their previous circuit was better, yet they
make no attempt to return to it, it just begs the obvious question – why?
Surely it can't just be so that you can write derogatory letters and get
them published - something that no other organisation within our industry
would ever do because as you undoubtedly realise, your letters would be
banned and confined to any other circuit’s rubbish bins. Could it just be
that you think we are the best?And more…
The signals during the tube strike were a joke. I
know there were far more jobs in the system than normal, but how on earth
are we going to cope when all this so-called new account work comes on? What
are the Board gonna do about it? It seems that month after
month, Call Sign has complaints from drivers regarding this,
but as Gary Leaver (J54) says, all the Board seem to do is slate drivers
about coverage and how we dress. I would quite willingly wear a shirt and
tie if DaC funded me the 2-3 grand extra it costs to buy a new cab with
aircon, not to |
mention the extra weekly fuel to run it and also if we were
given the roaders that the smartly dressed PH drivers get. Whilst it seems
we are just mopping up what they don’t want, I believe a basic t-shirt and
shorts ain’t such a bad thing.
Despite what Ron Desborough (P42) says, a standard cab is a bronze.
Does this come with aircon as standard? No! A silver is almost 3K more and
for what? The only difference is spotlights and aircon. Do you think that
warrants so much more? I have a wife and young family and that 3K is better
spent on my home and family.
Re coverage, how long has the Link been closing at 10pm? But what
has the Board done to improve service on E14? Same goes for EC5 and the SW
zones in the mornings. Nothing, that’s what? Well at least it seems that
way.
It seems DaC is becoming a them and us circuit - Drivers and Board.
I prefer to do account work and I bet so do most of our drivers, so the
Board should work with us and not against us and then maybe it will all work
out? Educate the drivers into dressing smart, don’t antagonise them by
asking them to see the Lewis Day marshal at London Wall, when our marshal
that DaC subs pay for is standing there. And don’t keep slating the drivers.
Rub people up the wrong way and they revolt, don’t they.
From a fat, lazy, smelly, unexercised, bootsale
clothes-wearing who bought a lovely Ben Sherman t-shirt at my last bootsale
for 10p (it had a little hole under the armpit but you can’t really notice
it), chip-eating, speeding moron who urinates.
More commonly known as Michael Beevor (N76)
Mike, Keith Cain has responded to your letter elsewhere in this
issue, but does it not concern you when you see more and more PH vehicles
serving large account clients with smartly dressed drivers? I won’t be
wearing a suit for work anytime soon, but the clients I’ve spoken to – and I
was considering an article on MD quotes about us, but decided against it –
don’t like scruffy drivers or dirty cabs. When there was only us, it didn’t
really matter, but that is no longer the case and neither is the excuse that
PH can’t cope with large corporates – they are catching up quickly …Ed
Questions, questions - and then questions…!
I just wondered if you could clear up some issues that we drivers come
across and need some clarification on the do's and don'ts. Is there a
minimum age of passengers we have to stop for? Sometimes you get kids on
their way home from school aged 11/12 - is there an age where they need an
adult to travel in a cab? What is the correct ratio of adults and children
to seatbelts, I had a job recently from the Tower where there were 2 adults
and 4 children aged 8 x 2 and 9 x 2, but they exceed the seatbelt limit of
5? The passenger quoted to me the ‘2 children under 10 count as 1 adult’ as
per the old fare chart and therefore there was less than the maximum 5
passengers? So is it 5 bodies in total including the children under 10 due
to the seatbelts etc?
When I took delivery of my new cab, I was on the rank at the Wharf around 5
cabs in and a passenger walked all the way down to me and said "I want this
cab, as it’s a brand new one." I explained (as if I needed to) how the rank
works - but who is right or wrong?
And finally how do drivers stand in respect of a PCN issued when on
a cash or credit card job issued by the system?
Mike Curwood (F51)
Mike, PCNs issued to drivers on account trips, cash trips and
credit card trips through the system, will be refunded after payment
providing the driver has taken as reasonable precautions as they can. As for
your other questions, I asked Judith Adams, the Senior Press Officer at
TfL’s Surface Transport & Enforcement …Ed
1. We are not aware of any law or regulation that states there is a
minimum age at which you can hail a taxi or travel alone.
2. The number of passengers is limited by the number of seat belts. If
the vehicle is licensed for 5 passengers, it will have 5 seat belts and can
take just 5 people. (Ed’s note: The 2 children under 10 refers to the fare
only).
3. Whilst the general principle of how a rank works is that the
first passenger in the queue takes the first taxi on the rank, the passenger
is perfectly within his/her rights to choose any taxi. In practice, the
driver would normally refer the passenger to the first taxi, but if the
passenger insists on any other taxi, the driver must accept the fare –
failure to do so would be a refusal … Judith Adams
Terminal photos…
Reading a recent copy of TAXI, I saw a photo of a
DaC terminal republished in Barry Hooper’s column. The terminal contained a
message that drivers have since been informed should not have been put out
as it had no authority from any Board members and in any case was incorrect.
It would be wrong to criticise Mr Hooper for trying to get his own back
against Brian Rice who criticised him in the last Call Sign,
even though it might have been more prudent had he asked a DaC Board member
why he message went out. My point is that whoever the driver was that took
and sent the photo, he should be put on complaint for bringing the Society
into disrepute. I can understand drivers being upset at the message before
we were told it was an error and should not have gone out, perhaps they
should have complained to the BoM or Call Sign. But sending it
to TAXI? No…
Divyesh Ruparelia (V59) |
