Not having written an article in Call Sign for some time, I would like to bring you up to date with my thoughts and activities over the past few months. Although you may not necessarily be aware, there are always matters to be dealt with which are not always for publication. We are in a highly competitive area where the line between reporting information to you, the members, and giving away too much to competitors, is finely drawn.
The Future of the Trade
The future of the trade is still not clearly defined as the licensing
of minicabs has not yet got into its stride. The task of this elected
Board is to protect your interests as taxi drivers and that we must not
forget! Dial-a-Cab cannot stand alone and we must work together to ensure
our future prosperity.
The biggest weakness over many years has been the divisions
within the trade of which our enemies have taken full advantage. There are
exceptions; take for instance the London Taxi Board. I know it has come in
for severe criticism from time to time and it still has its divisions and
differing opinions amongst itself. Nevertheless, it has over many years
done important work on behalf of the trade without getting the credit it
deserves. I feel certain that we would have been in a far worse position
had it not been in being.
I go back many years in this trade and I recall the advent of
minicabs which first became a threat with mobile radio communication. An
organisation was formed with the intention and promise to 'get rid of
minicabs'. We all know how successful that was! With a little thought, you
could see how doomed to failure that objective would be. Why? Well the
basic fact is that where there is a demand for a service, then eventually
that will be met in one form or another and the trade was not giving a
service in the outer areas. Gradually we lost more of that kind of work
and
moved into the inner areas while allowing others to help themselves to a bigger and bigger slice of our work.
Non-Licensed Drivers on Dial-a-Cab
I still believe that the trade will face an even bigger threat once the
new licensing gets under way -
not only from private hire drivers, but also from the types of vehicles
that they will be using. Let me make it quite clear, it has never been the
policy of this Board to my knowledge, to suggest the use of non-licensed
drivers. As the Chairman prior to Brian, I along with that Board
commissioned a report into the feasibility of providing a limousine
service while using our own members as drivers. That report was put to the
members but not acted upon, although it was accepted in principle should
we ever wish to do so.
Having put 35 years into this Society, a large part of my
working life by any standards, I have no wish to see us go backwards -
particularly as we are now the market leaders. Whilst I
am elected by you, whom I greatly respect, then I will work to improve our
lot whether it is in a high or low profile.
Marshalling and Jarta
Now to other matters in which I am involved. I recently attended a
meeting at Heathrow as the Airport Representative of JARTA to discuss the
advent of the new boundaries which come into effect in the early part of
next year and to see how it will affect the local journeys at LAP.
It has always been the policy of the trade at Heathrow
Airport to push for designated local ranks with specific drivers and
an
equitable tariff. So far, this has met with little success for various
reasons. Now it appears that there could be an agreement to resolve both
issues.
We do get requests on occasions for marshals to facilitate
the picking-up of taxis and this works quite well and certainly adds
prestige to our service. You may have noticed our chaps from time to time
at different venues. They all do a good job on our behalf and as the
demands grow for this facility, then we will increase our usage.
Meanwhile, to those drivers who responded to our call for more volunteers,
I thank you all and ask you to be patent, we will get to you eventually.
Paul Bishop
One of my other tasks is to represent the Society at funerals when a
member has passed away. This is obviously a very sad duty which I
undertake on behalf of the Board of Management. Unfortunately, there are
times when members are ill, or even die, and we know nothing about it
because we haven't been told. But where we do know, then we like to show
our respect on behalf of all of you, to show that they are not forgotten.
I recently attended the funeral of Paul Bishop who died
tragically at the young age of just 44. As you can imagine, it was a very
sad occasion. But, at the same time, it was inspiring to hear how much he
had accomplished in his comparatively short life. He worked wholeheartedly
for a babies charity and to hear the tributes that were paid to him made
me feel very uplifted just to know that with all our shortcomings, there
are still those that think of others before themselves.
The many Dial-a-Cab members that attended the funeral was in
itself a tribute to Paul's accomplishments in his so-short life. On behalf
of us all, our condolences go out to his wife and children.
Aubrey Siteman
