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that we have received the so-called fare increase display
stickers (neither fair nor an increase), you now have all the
proof you should need to show conclusively that the people who
purport to represent us in these matters simply do not know what
they are talking about. They have once too often committed us to
working in a deteriorating, hostile environment for an
uneconomical return. Just as depressing is the total silence
from our Board of Management on this subject. Several of them
are entitled to and do attend JTC and JRTA meetings on our
behalf where, in my opinion, they should make it known that
ODRTS will not be party to this annual farce. I am aware that
credit work brings a better return, however, until we are able
to work exclusively off the radio or data, the cash work must be
at a more realistic price. It was Michael Foot MP who said: "What politics is all about is to try to combine protection of your principles with effective action. It is no using having effective action if you do not protect your principles." (10.11.1980) CO-OPERATION I was getting ready for work one morning last week listening to Radio 4, when I switched to LBC where my attention was drawn by a senior police officer saying arrangements had been made between the police and a licensed taxi radio circuit, which turned out to be Mountview, whose cabbies will keep a look-out for wrong doers and anything suspicious, report it to their control room who will then pass it on to the police. What about the friction between the police and anyone constantly driving in central London, asked the interviewer? That’s no problem implied the senior officer, cabbies know and understand the difficulties, its all good natured stuff! Several days later my good friend Ray Snare, dubbed by Hackney Jack as the Southgate werewolf so now you know who I mean, accepted a job from his Mountview radio dispatcher to deliver five packages to five different addresses in W1. Second delivery was to the building on the corner of Davies St and Weighouse St, sensibly he tucked the cab out of everyone’s way in Davies St opposite the building and ground floor security directed him to the first floor reception. The werewolf trains two or three times a week at the YMCA so he is up the stairs and down again in a trice, thanking the security guard and he’s out in the street and …. his cab is being clamped! Not by a contractor but by two constables. "I’ve been three and a half minutes," said Ray checking his watch, "my meter is running, the cab windows are down, I’m delivering packages!" An older man came over as a witness for Ray to corroborate his story. He said he was a journalist, which seemed to annoy the police. What’s your name and address, they demanded? It was all to no avail. Ray had to call up another cab to continue with the deliveries while tourists took photos of a London taxi with a clamp firmly attached. Two hours later and after paying to be released, they came and removed it. The constables had said the packages were too small to constitute a bonafide delivery as per a case in the Police Gazette they had to be four-fifths of five eighth of – yes, my sentiments exactly! So please note, if you are given a small package to deliver, ask your customer to place it in a large - preferably wooden – crate and make sure you are photographed staggering from your cab, with Big Ben in the background to confirm the exact time! The money saved by not being clamped will go towards the cost of hernia trusses available from the Clamp Club. |
Here his yet another example of blatant stupidity in the guise of law and order, a misuse of the authority that goes with the uniform. A modicum of common sense is all one needs to realise that cab drivers are at times placed in impossible situations not of their own making. We do not take our taxis into Oxford Street, Bond Street, Knightsbridge or wherever the traffic is and customers get in or out, on purpose. The opposite is the case and don’t take my word for it. The professor of pathology at Charing Cross Hospital not long after it opened at Fulham Palace Rd said that in his opinion, London taxi drivers probably suffered more stress than any other workers in London. Some recognition of our problems is long overdue, particularly from the police. Talk of co-operation is premature, because the words mean working together towards the same end. What the police really mean in this cab crime watch scheme is they require our help with their problems, which are also community problems. Fine! The London licensed cabbies of today are a sober law abiding responsible body of people doing a very demanding job of work and as soon as the Hendon police training college encapsulates that aspect of us in its training of potential policemen and women instead of whatever rubbish they pass on at present, then yes, you can have help and assistance from some of us but not co-operation, because you are not prepared to give it. At the second monthly meeting held in the Board room of Brunswick house last night, I discussed with the Chairman and three other members of our Board of Management (John Saunders, Allen Togwell and Steve Sanders) a variety of interesting points. The meeting went on until just after 10.30pm and everyone had a good two pennies worth. The BoM members present are really putting themselves out to be available to all of us. John won’t thank me for saying so, but he had been on the go since 5.30am and they can only claim a limited number of hours pay in any one day, so most of the meeting time was unpaid. Where were you? I know what has happened regarding Dowty and why we have changed to our back-up supplier MDI. I know the cost differentials, whether contracts have been signed and I don’t have to listen to rumours and speculation. Did you know the John Bernardout affair was over and done with? You have every right to do your work, take your money and say you will leave it all to those who are interested, that is fair enough. But to those who want an ego trip at the AGM at everyone’s else’s expense, please remember, five days a week and a special late evening the first Tuesday in every month should be enough opportunity for all of us to sort out whatever we need to know. My deadline for this article is nigh and so I will be brief and leave most of what I wish to say for next month. Ever since the first week I joined ODRTS, I‘ve felt it to be a business that is running below its capacity. Over the intervening years, I haven’t changed my mind. Part of the problem is the high price we pay for the level of democracy we have as a co-operative. Unpalatable decisions which might improve coverage, turnover or cut costs, would probably be voted down and consequently remain unconsidered. The others reason are more contentious and I will present them to you next month I leave you with this thought: Brigands demand your money or your life. Women require both (Samuel Butler, 1612 - 1680)… |
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