More insults directed at the Taxi trade by a biased Licensing authority

In a press release entitled PCO Notice 18/09,
(Click here to read fully) again we see a biased approach to the trade from an uninformed, belligerent licensing authority officer.
First sign of a complaint from any sector and out pops a PCO notice aimed at taxi drivers who are just doing what they have earned the right to do, Ply for hire.

In this down turn in the economy, with most of the ranks full and bulging at the seams, drivers are doing their best to conserve fuel and energy by waiting patiently to join the busier ranks all over London.
This is a direct result of passing out too many taxi's just to service the public for a couple of hours on the weekend with no thought of what you do with all these extra taxis in the quieter park of the week.
Not a single mention of the congestion caused at night, all over the West End and City, by illegally ranked, illegally touting mini cabs, that licensed taxi drivers have been complaining about for many years.

It seems recent replies from TfL and PCO officers show that private hire vehicles can park up anywhere they like, including 24 hour bus lanes, openly tout and do what ever they like with no fear of persecution from this administration.
Just another slap in the face.

Join the E-Mail campaign to Len Simkins, click here.

Also , why not complain to TfL directly click here.

There is of course a very simple answer to the lack of taxis working around 3am at on Friday and Saturday nights, introduce a rate 4 to run from 2am till 6am.
You only get what you are willing to pay for and if you expect drivers to work these unhealthy, unsocial hours, you will have to pay extra.
Mini cabs have been doubling their fares in these hours for many years and no one has complained publicly, or have they Len?

PCO Law Maker, Law Breaker.

The buss words of the day over the past few years has been Health and Safety.
You couldn't move without someone saying "You cant do that its against health and safety".

Tour of duty?
So Ed Thompson is taken to see the touting that is occurring outside Abacus in the city, after watching the commissioned DVD by the LTDA. He is confronted by the clipboard man who asks him repeatedly if he needs a Taxi.
Ed takes out his warrant card and asks the clipboard man,
"why are you not working inside the club as stated in the terms of your PCO license"
The man replies that he has been told by the management not to work inside the club.
Question 1. So who applied for the license to supply PHV's from this premises, the club or a private PHV company?
Ed goes in the club flashes his warrant card and demands to see the manager, whom he asks, "Why is the clipboard man out on the pavement? Why is he not working from inside the club premises?"
Manager says " he cant work inside, its against Health and safety he would be a fire hazard".
Ed asks "why wasn't this sorted out when you applied for planning permission?"
Manager replies we didn't have to, your colleague the nice Ms Dowdye took away the requirement to have planning permission for PHV operators license."

Face saving?
So to save face with the ever increasing backlash of angry, rebellious Taxi drivers, Ed starts to make waves with statements about getting more licensed ranks and revoking operators licenses.

Result
We get a rank in Cornhill hundreds of yards away from the offending club, pointing in the wrong direction and three out of the six clubs seen openly touting in the LTDA video have their license to provide mini cabs suspended.
Question 2. What stooped the PCO/TfL revoking the license of the other three clubs in the video, why have they been treated leniently?
Question 3. What happened to health and Safety then Ed?

Net result
all the clubs that had their licenses revoked have apparently appealed and are back trading again as before. No one wants to use the new rank in Cornhill and the city police come out on the side of the touts by persecuting the licenses taxi drivers for forming an unauthorised rank, plus at Liverpool Street drivers are being reported for over ranking.

Its frighting to think that the man in charge of the worlds best licensed taxi trade had no idea what his assistant had done. Two meetings at Taxi house later and a stroppy TfL officer who left the meeting comes back with the news of the revoked licenses. Is that it then.

Question; what now?
Answer; nothing!
The clubs still have lines of illegally ranked mini cabs available for immediate hire outside and we cant get TfL or the local boroughs to place licensed taxi ranks outside premises in reasonably placed positions.
To top it, we have Luke Howard defending the actions of the touts by saying "what they are doing is perfectly Legal".
If you want to know what side of the fence this TfL officer sits on just download these e-mails obtained under a freedom of information order
http://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/77....il%20270109.pdf
http://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/77....09.jpg.pdf.html
If ever there was proof that we are seeing the lines blurred between PHV and the Licensed Taxi trade, this is it.

The only way forward.
We must now make every effort to unite as a trade and put all our political differences behind us. It is clear who we are fighting. No more the faceless bureaucrat, under their own system of press releases we have the names of the people who are destroying this trade.

Over the coming months, the taxi trade will see mass protests, supported by all associations, unions and action groups. Plans have already been drawn up for a mass demonstration on foot outside the London Assembly City Hall on the 24th on June, with other venues such as the PCO Penton Street and Windsor House planned shortly afterwards.

Action Group still in there fighting
Nighttime action is still going strong and is expanding rapidly, thanks to the actions of the LTDF, LTCPR, LCDC, RMT, Dial-a-Cab, Radio taxis, Com-Cab and many other ordinary unaffiliated drivers. Even the LTDA has mentioned the action in the last edition of their Taxi Magazine.

All central London Clubs now have make shift ranks outside and the work is being taken back. The customers of these venues have shown that they would rather travel in the safety of the London Taxi rather than with these thieves who have been ripping passengers off for some time now with the full approval of the PCO/TfL and the Local Councils.

It is perfectly clear the people who are in charge of our future have lost touch with the trade they administer and have become bias in favour of Private Hire, we have seen the evidence on many occasions. The lenient approach they have shown to the constant law breaking by PHV operator's and drivers is a slap in the face to the every driver who earned the right to ply for hire by doing the knowledge.
It is time for a clean sweep at the top as these officers have proved to be unfit for purpose.

Photos courtesy of acabbie and Thomasthetaxi

London's taxis voted world's best

London's taxis voted world's best, again.

The capital's taxi drivers were named friendliest, safest and had the best knowledge of their city, according to the 1,400 travellers who voted.

They also came out on top in the cleanest and most available categories.

New York finished runner-up in the survey commissioned by Hotels.com.

AND NOW TfL/PCO ARE TRYING TO DETROY US...

The gloves are off…Round two…by Thomas the Taxi

After four months of waiting, London’s Licensed Taxi drivers have called for direct action.

Waiting for our man on TfL and his team from Woodfield road to actually do, what they are have been paid and paid very handsomely to do, is like watching paint dry whilst having pins poked in your eye balls.

Many drivers have become angry and impatient and are now banding together to form their own action groups.

Fight Back

We saw the start of direct action first, after a driver was assaulted in Hanover square outside the Jalouse night club, a small band of drivers from the LTDF action group formed a rank outside the club and started taking back the work. This proved to be so successful that within days, Dial-a-Cab drivers became the cavalry and targeted most of the other venues in the City and West End.

In a blatant bid not to be outdone, the LTDA quickly released a commissioned undercover DVD, filmed in the style of the video footage seen on the Anderson Shelter TV channel for over a year. They held crisis talks with top brass from the PCO/TfL and Westminster City Council and suddenly started to produce their In house news paper on a more frequent time scale.

After much talk and another couple of meetings, three clubs have had their licenses to supply mini cabs revoked, for touting openly on the pavement outside their premises. All the other clubs featured in the DVD footage seem to have escaped retribution from the licensing authority. Unfortunately the clubs that had their licenses revoked are still operating in exactly the same fashion only now without clip boards and high-vi jackets.

Then nothing…back to holiday offers and insurance.

The common everyday ordinary taxi driver is still out there on the firing line, night after night and it looks like we have been deserted again by our biggest trade organisation.

The drivers are psyched up and ready to go. No more the ”I’m alright jack” attitude that has plagued our trade in the past, everyone is up for it. Just look at the new fire in the hearts of the night drivers sitting outside these nightclubs, bars and venues, look at the anger and commitment on their faces.

The John Kennedy takes up the gauntlet

In a recent post on the LTDF forum John Kennedy, founder of the LTCPR has asked for support and received it, from the RMT and the LCDC to carry out a series of demonstrations at Key points and junctions on a regular basis.

The action will start with an on foot demonstration outside the London Assembly City Hal on the 24^th of June. This will be followed by further demos outside key TfL, PCO and Westminster Council buildings.

The authorities have created this chaos said John so lets give them the chaos theory. Letters, postcards, phone calls, emails, we visit en masse and queue at the counter..... then we arrange demonstrations and drive-in's when least expected, bit like the Tamils.....remember 300 hundred taxi-cabs driving around Charles the first for 30 mins will create havoc at rush hour.......

it will take 300 taxi-cabs to drive around Lambeth Bridge and the two roundabouts.....
Plenty of places a small number of taxi-cabs can target and cause disruption if the authorities continue to disrupt our working lives.......
Maybe we can start a "lets all do the conga we're sick of loosing wonga" campaign.....2 to 3 hundred taxi-cabs on targeted night time demonstrations.

Plans are also being drawn up for direct action to take place at night. Pickets of up to six drivers can be placed outside the offending bars and nightclubs. Obviously supported by the action group close by.

This post has been well received by the 1000 odd members of the LTDF and already there is talk on the ranks and in the shelters of support from the masses.

Keep logging on to the Anderson Shelter blog, The LTCPR blog and the LTDF forum for updates about the planned Chaos theory action.

Boris Johnson's 'near-death experience' with lorry caught on camera

One of Boris Johnson's missions as Mayor of London is to get more people out of their cars and on to their bikes.
But anyone who watches CCTV footage of the mayor's last outing on his own bicycle is likely to be put off for life.
On Friday morning Johnson headed out in London with transport minister Lord Adonis and Kulveer Ranger, his director of transport, to look at potential sites for new cycle "super highways". The routes are part of his plan for a "cycling revolution" in the capital.
Round a corner peddled the mayor and the minister, enjoying the ride, until a large lorry overtook them.
In what is being described as the mayor's "near-death experience", the lorry's back door then suddenly flew open, dragged a parked car into the street and smashed into another – just feet from Johnson, Adonis and Ranger.
A CCTV camera which caught the drama obscures the cyclists during the collision until 30 seconds later a figure that is unmistakably Johnson emerges, helmet in hand, scratching his head and lucky to be alive.
An aide to the mayor said: "It was pretty awful. They were shaken up and Boris was shocked. But it makes the case even more for his super highways."

Four Weeks On and Nothing New.....by Thomas The Taxi

After three weeks of positive action from the Tocu Squad, plus one night where police community support officers joined forces and politely asked mini cabs and touts not to illegally park in Charing Cross Road, we have seen very little difference to the scale of illegal ranking and touting on the streets of the West End and City.

Apparently three clubs have lost their so called satellite office license, but as they are appealing against this decision, they are now back to normal with illegal ranks and touts galore. The only difference is that in some cases the clip board Johnnies have taken off their high-vie jacket put down their clip boards and are now working in low profile.

Martin Lowe defends the current situation.

Martin Lowe, transport manager for Westminster council defends the current situation saying, “It’s all about getting people home safely”.

Well Martin, if its all about safety, why are 8-10 females still being seriously sexually assaulted (including rape) ever month?

This figure has not changed since the introduction of satellite booking offices in night venues in 2007 or with the safer streets initiative introduced last year by Westminster council. If its all about safety why are Westminster council in favour of licensing death-trap rickshaw bikes as taxis?

Statistics actually paint a sorry reminder that the people in charge of the public’s well being and safety actually are not fit for purpose and should be replaced.

Creating the perfect situation for sexual predators.

Allowing drivers to come to this country, some with serious criminal records that can’t be checked by the CRO, sign up with the PCO as PHV drivers without a British driving license is fundamentally wrong and a recipe for disaster. This is creating the perfect situation, where sexual predators can pick up potential victims. Unsuspecting lone females, who may or may not have been drinking, see the illegally parked ranks of licensed PHV’s outside venues and believing this to be perfectly legal put their complete trust in hands of these drivers.

Martin is this how you would wish your wife or daughter to travel home when they have had one to many drinks?

Unity.

Both the trade associations along with the Unite union have spent many hours in the past few months having meetings with top brass from TfL and the PCO which has produced very little results. The drivers have had most impact on the situation by just turning up at these venues and taking the work back from the scab cabs and touts.

This action was first started by drivers from the LTDF forum after a disturbance outside the club Jalouse in Hanover Square on the 19^th of March earlier this years. A couple of week’s later Dial-a-cab drivers embarked on an epic scale, to emulate the success of the LTDF and started a campaign to rank up outside clubs and take the work back off the touts.

Luke Howard defends the touts.

Luke Howard, spokesperson for TfL, has come to the defence of the touts saying the cab drivers are misinterpreting the law and that PHV drivers can legally rank outside night clubs. This is a blatant lie and must be dealt with by the associations and unions before we can move on to a solution.

1. It is illegal to act as a hackney carriage driver without badge and bill.
2. It is illegal for private hire vehicles to be found in public view available for immediate hire.
3. It is illegal to form an unauthorised rank.
4. It is illegal for a PHV driver to tout for passengers.
5. It is illegal for a third party (clipboard Johnnie) to tout for passengers for PHV drivers

It seems to us that Luke Howard is being used by his superiors at TfL to spread misinformation to confuse the Licensed Taxi Trade and yet the top man in charge of the TOCU squad, Joe Royal does not hold the same interpretation of the law as Mr Howard.

The solution is simple

The cause of the problem we now face came about by a simple rule change made by the PCO and announced to the trade by assistant head of the PCO Mary Dowdye.

In a press release (09/07) that slipped under the radar or the trade organisations it was announce that planning permission was no longer a critical requirement to obtain an operators license. This as we have seen has opened the flood gates to unscrupulous operators who have opened satellite offices in clubs, pubs, shops, doorways, alleyways and in one case in Charing Cross Road corner of Bear Street, with a chair up against a lamp post on the pavement. All this in plain sight and with, it seems, the complete acknowledgement and permission of TfL/PCO and Westminster Council.

As far as we can see at the Anderson shelter the solution is not in an enigma inside a puzzle, hidden in a maze, its very, very simple.

Repeal the rule change made in press release 09/07 and enforce the laws that already stand, simple?

The problem is that if this rule change ever takes place, then there will be a swift exodus of PHV drivers resulting in a huge loss in revenue for TFL. That being the case then the planned redundentcies at TfL would have to extend to the PCO.

Victory at last for the Gurkhas

At midday today, Home Secretary Jacqui Smith made the announcement to the House of Commons that the Gurkha Justice Campaign have been fighting for for years.

All ex-Gurkhas who have served more than 4 years in the British Army will have the right to settle in the UK if they wish.

After such a long fight, with huge ups and downs, this is a superb announcement.

We simply would not have won this fight without the massive, overwhelming support of all those who have supported our campaign. To the hundreds of thousands of people who have signed Gurkha Justice petitions, lobbied their MP, campaigned, attended rallies and marches - thank you so much to you all. This is your victory. It would not have happened without you.

The Government has now responded to that campaign after court cases, votes in Parliament, a huge media campaign and, most importantly, massive public support. I am delighted, and humbled, at what has been achieved by our remarkable team.

The whole campaign has been based on the belief that those who have fought and been prepared to die for our country should have the the right to live in our country. We owe them a debt of honour - a debt that will now be paid.

With warmest good wishes,

Joanna
www.gurkhajustice.org.uk

On my command, give them Hell...By Thomas The Taxi.

The revolution has well and truly started and the sleeping giant has finally woken up.
Drivers are taking it upon themselves to go out there and take every job back they can. Older drivers who in the passed have been apathetic now seem to have a new heart and are standing side by side of their colleagues. Tout bashing being the new by- line in their conversations at the watering holes.

This is an exciting and proud time to be a cabby, we haven't seen this type of unity for many years. But we must not lose sight of the people who have put us all in this position.
The next phase of our fight back will be against them.

Marshaled night ranks
There has been some speculation in the trade as to what has happened in the saga of the late night marshaled ranks in central London, who tendered, who didn’t and why. In an effort to clear up the myths and rumours currently doing the rounds at the ranks and shelters, a member of the LTDF, also a member of the LTDA decided to phone up Richard Masset and ask him outright what has actual happened.

In the thirty minuet phone call he was told;
They did not tender for a number of reasons, primarily it was a formal tendering process which required all sorts of things; company guarantees, bank guarantees, certain insurances etc,etc. The LTDA is a friendly society and whilst not particularly difficult it would have required setting up separate companies etc. It would also have required considerable administration re-paying up to 30 marshals, tax, NI etc. Bearing in mind it’s not set hours, holiday’s sick, swapping shifts etc. Other factors include the Cranborne St Rank is no longer going to be directional. They also had no previous ties with Liverpool Street. Because they were aware, that it was mainly going to based on cost and that whilst it’s quiet you might get drivers to work cheap, what was going to happen when the work picks up? It’s a 4 year contract. Also they were dead against using cabbies as cheap labour. As he put it Ed Thompson did not tender for his job on the basis that the cheapest got it!
He would not discuss Tony Ellis other than to confirm the LTDA had no problem with him running the ranks, when asked about the Badge article he suggested I speak to Tony Ellis via Comcab. He also made the valid point that with certain people they were dammed either way. Had they tendered and won the contract at taxi driver (night) rates they would have been accused of jobs for the boys, if they had tendered cheap it would have been exploiting taxi drivers. He also told me that for the same reasons they did not tender for the shared rank at Euston and that even the Paddington sharing scheme that has been going on for 10 years, is shortly to be directly run by the marshals and Network Rail.
Once again I found them very open and honest and very willing to talk to a member. We also touched on the night ranks and what’s going on at night at Nobu etc, he was full of praise for the DAC drivers and was interested to know if Comcab were putting it out as the LTDA had asked. (For the last two nights it has been going out) In a 30 min conversation I also learnt that Bob Oddy had taken members of the TfL board out last Friday night and that Norris and others had been repeatedly touted at various venues. The board apparently also turned up at a PCO/Police taxi check point in Charing Cross Road and wanted to know what was occurring? Especially as there were touts everywhere, he suspects the PCO won't be there this weekend!

We would like to thank David for his time and effort in getting this message out to the rest of the trade.

Here at the Anderson shelter.
We have heard about the great work Mr Ellis’s company is doing, regaining large numbers of passengers for the trade that were previously being lost to the touts at the O2 London Dome. We hope the Marshals carry on doing a fantastic job and we wish them all the luck in the world.

..........................................................................................................................................

Worrying time ahead as BNP set for record win on June 4 Euro elections
poll of 4433 votes shows the following:

Labour : 7.76% (345)
Conservative : 41.79% (1857)
Liberal Democrat : 13.46% (598)
Green : 1.91% (85)
BNP : 29.91% (1329)
UKIP : 2.72% (121)
Other : 2.45% (109)

Poll taken from the London Daily News

Things Look shacky for the government in a new pole from AOL;
Question: Does the MPs expenses scandal mean you'll change your vote?
Yes 70% 49045
No 26% 17897
Don't know 4% 2867
Notes on Poll Results
Total Votes:
69,809

An Inconvenience Demo...

Wednesday 2oth May 2.30 - 3.30pm.
Westminster City Hall, Victoria Street, SW1.

the London Taxi Trade is invited to join the RMT Taxis London Branch in a protest at the policies of Westminster City Council, which are putting the health ans wellbeing of every London taxi driver at risk.
They are exploiting a basic human need for gain. They are also giving criminals the opportunity for large scale fraud.

We want the return of the Taxi Rank at the toilets on Horseferry Road, so drivers can use without cost to their wallet or their health. Also some coin operated parking meters near other toilets, so drivers can park without risk or their card details being scanned or even having to use a mobile phones.

Medical sources claim that an adult should use the toilet between 6-8 times a day. The cost to do this in Westminster 5 days a week, 3 times a day, could be as much as £717.00 pa. based on a 48 week working year.
£1.00 per trip+ 20p for the toilet + cost of text/credit card charge.

The LTCPR will be giving this demonstration its full support.
Lets hope all the other associations support it as well.

Lets take the work back...by Thomas The Taxi.

1976 and 1998 legislation, the facts...by Thomas The Taxi

It has been bought to the attention of the Anderson shelter that a reply to driver’s complaints from spokesperson Luke Howard includes a number of incorrect statements.

Mr Howard says;

“It is perhaps worthwhile letting you know something about the current legislation covering 'immediate hirings'. There were a number of court case rulings before 1976 that stated that minicabs should not be available 'for immediate hire'. This changed however, when legislation was passed in that year (for areas outside London) and in 1998 when legislation introduced private hire licensing in London for the first time.

The act of 1976 as Mr Howard quite rightly points out does not apply to London and therefore is irrelevant full stop.

The 1976 and 1998 legislation does not have this 'not for immediate hire' restriction.

Even though the 1998 act makes no reference to ranking or parking of mini-cabs, doesn't make it legal for them to do so. Just going back to the year 2002, a judge made a decision on the definition of “plying for hire” and found two mini-cabs cabs guilty of such an offence based upon case law...

The PCO/TfL have never sort to overturn a judgement laid down by the court and we believe, in this instance, they may be acting outside their remit and role by interpreting what they believe the “right to ply for hire” actually is, even though they and their lawyers know of recent court decisions like the judgement in Eastbourne......!

The requirement now is that the booking must be recorded before the journey commences, so it is legitimate for the vehicles to be waiting as you describe.

In the complaints made to TfL/PCO the private hire vehicles in question were describe as being parked on red routs, double yellow lines, zig zag lines and 24 hour bus lanes. Legitimate?

This is a very misleading statement from Mr Howard and we would ask why it was made?

Just because the new legislation of 1998 did not include the phrase "minicabs should not be available for immediate hire" does not mean that it is now legal for them to do so. This part of the original act has never been repealed, replace or challenged and still stands in common law.
This is again more proof of the lenient attitude shown towards private hire’s illegal activities and proof also of TfL/PCO reluctance to enforce current legislation.

Bob Crow: ‘If a trade union ain’t gonna fight, there is no point in joining’

Our correspondent queues for a beer at Millwall with the head of the RMT and finds out what it means to lead an important union in 2009

An article taken from the Times On Line........by Christine Buckley

The sun is shining over South London and a blue-shirted crowd is heading for what remains one of the country’s great Saturday afternoon rituals. The world may be in the grip of recession, but little, it seems, can lift the working man’s weekly gloom better than going to football.

There is a frisson in the air, too. Today pitches Millwall against Leyton Orient, from the other side of the Thames, in a local derby and there is a heavy police presence, keeping a watchful eye on any high spirits and banter outside The New Den.

Yet if this is South and East London at play, there is also something slightly sombre about the scene: I meet Bob Crow, general secretary of the National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers (RMT), as he stages a demonstration for Ian Tomlinson, the newspaper seller and Millwall supporter, who died last month during the G20 protests in the City of London.

On the face of it, perhaps, this should be an easy enough afternoon for Millwall, chasing a place in the promotion play-offs and confronting a team safe in mid-table and with nothing so tangible to play for. But derbies are not like that, there are bragging rights to settle, and Orient are in no mood to roll over easily.

Indeed, they and I have history here. When Orient met my team, Doncaster, in one of the final games of last season, they, again, had nothing to play for but their persistence that day denied Rovers automatic promotion. Mr Crow and I agree that Leyton Orient score high on the nuisance factor. Then again, some critics of Mr Crow, famous for calling strikes on the London Underground (LU) and on the railways, say pretty much the same thing of him. Moreover, they may be saying it again in the near future: the Underground could face one of its biggest strikes this summer as the RMT prepares to reballot over industrial action after rejecting a five-year pay offer. It has already won a vote in favour, but was challenged on procedural issues by LU.

Mr Crow denies that the RMT’s actions are down to him. “What people misunderstand in all that is that the members get a vote. They are not fools and they won’t be used. They’ve got mortgages and they don’t want to lose money. This is my 32nd year on the railways. You get to know when to turn the gas on and when to turn it off.”

Transport strikes have more impact than most. Along with action by public sector unions, such as postal workers, firefighters and civil servants, when rail unions strike, people notice and the employers are under more pressure to settle. It is industrial muscle that is becoming rarer in the unions. Private sector strikes are increasingly less frequent and less supported.

Mr Crow would like to have even more muscle and merge with fellow transport unions, such as Aslef, the train drivers’ union, and TSSA, the Transport Salaried Staff Association, but that may be unlikely. It is not like the old days with Aslef any more, when Mick Rix, Mr Crow’s friend, was general secretary and coordinated strike action was commonplace. Things are more fractious with Keith Norman, the present general secretary, as the RMT recruits train drivers.

Train drivers, taxi drivers and other workers have helped the RMT to become one of the few unions to have increased membership in recent years. Since Mr Crow was elected seven years ago, membership has increased 27 per cent to slightly more than 80,000. The rise is big compared with the generally static and, in many cases, declining union membership and as the profile of unions wanes.

Some have tried to revive membership with online initiatives, television channels, offers of education, even personal finance products. Mr Crow’s view is more traditional and combative: “Trade unions have lost influence because they have lost density in the workplace,” he says. “It’s all right having a recognition agreement, but it doesn’t mean anything unless there is density and you have power.

“If a trade union ain’t gonna fight, there is no point in joining. I think we should get behind anyone taking industrial action . . . membership of all the trade unions should come in, whether it is collecting money or whatever.”

Meanwhile, Leyton Orient are still battling and so, apparently, are some people behind us. A dozen or so police officers move in and take someone out. “Murderers!” the supporters taunt. At half-time we go for a beer but the queues are so long that we are still drinking by the time that Orient score. It is not looking good today for Millwall.

Another team that is not having a good day – and that is concerning the unions greatly – is Labour. Mr Crow watches this one from the side-lines, as the RMT was expelled from the party several years ago for allowing its branches to support socialist candidates. He is a socialist, having been a member of Arthur Scargill’s Socialist Labour Party, but he shares the same view as many union leaders of Labour’s prospects at the next election.

“I can see Labour in a general election being absolutely obliterated,” Mr Crow says, “and then there will be a battle for political direction of the party. The trouble is they have scorched-earth democracy in the party. Even if you want to put up a resolution, you can’t.”

When Labour expelled the RMT five years ago, the move sent shock-waves through the union movement. It was a hugely symbolic act to sever links with one of the founding organisations of the party. Since then the Fire Brigades Union (FBU) has quit the party, the Communications Workers Union is threatening to do so if the Government sells part of Royal Mail, and other unions have reduced their affiliation levels.

Mr Crow says that his union has not looked back since the split. “Since we’ve been disaffiliated, there’s not been one resolution from any branch to reaffiliate. Not one. In fact, there would be uproar if someone mentioned reaffiliation.”

Some unions fear that they would lose influence outside Labour and, whether they like new Labour or not, they believe that it is the best on offer for their cause. Mr Crow does not see it that way. The RMT has formed a parliamentary group with other nonaffiliated unions that has forged alliances with Labour MPs. “We have doubled the MPs through the new representation group with the NUJ and FBU,” Mr Crow says. “We have more representation than we did before. I’m not saying we get listened to more – we don’t. Nor does any other union.” He says that RMT money given to Labour when the union was affiliated had been a waste: “Our members hate paying money for people to put the boot in. We were being mugged by Labour.”

Amid the problems facing Labour, the Conservatives have been trying to strike up a dialogue with their traditional foes through a trade union “envoy”, Richard Balfe, the former Labour MEP. The RMT, the National Union of Mineworkers and Unite are the only ones that have refused to meet him. “We’re proud of that and all.” Mr Crow says with a laugh. “It would be like a bull walking into a steakhouse and asking the owner to prepare the menu for the night and not having steak on the menu.”

Mr Crow has not met Boris Johnson, either. The Conservative Mayor of London spoke of no-strike deals on the Underground when he took office and that did not endear him to Mr Crow. “He said he’s been having discussions with unions on a no-strike deal. Well, he’s certainly never met me or our top officials.”

Soon Mr Crow will stand for election in London as a candidate for No2EU, a new coalition party, in the European elections on June 4. It opposes the European political and legal structure, particularly court rulings that have gone against the interests of trade unions. It is also a move against the BNP, which Mr Crow fears will pick up more disaffected Labour voters.

Millwall, in the meantime, do rather better than Donny did in the same fixture last year and beat Orient by scoring twice in the second half. As we leave, someone shouts out: “Hey, Bob, when’s the next strike? Us cab drivers are starving.”

“In about three weeks,” he replies.

On track

Born: Wapping, London, June 13, 1961
Education: Kingswood High, Hainault
Career: 1978 Joins London Underground as a track worker; 1979 Joins National Union of Railwaymen (NUR); 1980 NUR scholarship to Labour Party Summer School; 1984 NUR Youth Award winner; 1993-2002 Secretary, London Underground branch; 1992 elected assistant general secretary of RMT; 2002 elected general secretary of RMT

Exclusive! Cab trade set for the biggest shock so far...by Thomas the Taxi

On the 25th of November 2008 the Anderson Shelter broke the story that sent the London licensed taxi trade into a state of shock. For the first time in the trades history we saw a private hire rank, protected by the metropolitan police, appear overnight in Whitcomb street. A private hire company West One Cars had managed to lease from TfL, the bus stand in front of Mc Donald's which was supplied by customers from a Taxi booth set up in the Half price ticket booth in the middle of Leicester Square.

Our exclusive started an unprecedented fight back from a united trade, ranging from E-mail campaigns, a drive in at Trafalgar square and most effectively, the present action taken by drivers to rank up and take back the work from the touts outside clubs and bars. The Taxi trade, has been lulled into a false sense of victory with the news that three private hire operators may or may not, subject to appeal, lose their PCO licenses for touting passenger outside on the pavement.

We now to brace ourselves for a battle, the like which has never been seen before in the London Taxi trade.

The Anderson shelter has received information from an employee of London Borough of Lambeth, that the council has approached TfL/PCO and the met police for all the relevant information pertaining to Private Hire kiosks with ranks for 20-30 PHV's, with an eye to installing them at three locations in the borough.

That's as much as we have been told at the moment. The three locations are supposed to be secret but it doesn't take a genius to guess, where they would be most affective. The kiosks will be licensed in the spirit of the satellite offices currently causing so much trouble in the clubs and bars all over London. Time is short and the clock is ticking. While the LTDA rest on their laurels after their achievement on the DVD front and Unite call for a drive in over toilet facilities, the kettle in boiling and it us, the ordinary driver, who are going to get scolded again.

If you belong to a trade association or union, the Anderson Shelter would urge you to contact and ask them to deal with this matter on your behalf.

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Westfield Shopping Center, good news for Taxi drivers.

On a lighter happier note, our film correspondent Jason, has been given some good news from the owners of the Westfield shopping center. Apparently they are going to make it a lot easier for shoppers to catch a licensed taxi cab. New signage inside the center is planned, pointing customers towards the taxi lounge. But by far the best news is that planning permission has been granted for a new rank at he drop off/pick up zone on Wood Lane outside the exit of Debenhams.

There is to be light refreshment facilities installed by the Cab rank in the taxi lounge for the exclusive use of the drivers which it is promised will be serviced to a high standard by the center. This should make working these ranks a more pleasant experience.

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You are an ignorant uneducated working class C**T
say's Namoo, 28 year old mini cab driver on our Youtube video, "there nicking our ranks".
Although he has listed two of our videos as his favorites and has watched them many times, he seems to have taken it upon himself to be the lone voice in a fight back aimed at the Licensed taxi trade over recent events. It must be hard out there for him at the moment, he seems to have too much time on his hands and has used it watching 4,539 videos on youtube, quite a sad case of "no friends" it would seem.
If you would like to talk to Namoo about his use of the English language or matters pertaining to the present action being taken against the scabs Click here and send him a message.

Taxi Wars, episode v.

Well its been another week of direct action in the trade. We have seen the taxi drivers on dial-a-cab, with the help of dispatch staff, using enthusiasm and great initiative to beat the opposition at their own end game.

The ordinary, everyday, run of the mill driver on this circuit had decided that like the rest of the trade, "Enough was enough".
After a few nights of unilateral action we now see Radio Taxis, Com Cab, and non radio drivers banding together and joining in the action.

This course of action is having a two pronged affect on the passenger trade.
1. The drivers are claiming back work currently stolen by the touts.
2. Passengers are being pleasantly surprised at the cost of their trips, some times 50% less.

Currently the radio circuits, all work hand in hand with private hire. Covering work the mini cabs can't or wont cover and in some cases, they share booking facilities though online terminals. In my opinion this is not the path to follow. There has been a greying of the line that separates the two trades for too long now and if this carries on to its ultimate conclusion it can only help lead the way to HARMONISATION, a one tier radio taxi service with no voice.

Amazingly we have heard nothing again from our man on the board of TFL, Bob Oddy, or silent bob as he is now known amongst the trade. Surprisingly, the only TfL board member to have made a statement is Steve Wright, private hires man on the board, in an article published today in the Financial Times (read here).

Seems there could well be revolution in the air at the independent republic of Woodfield road, as one of their number Steve Mac Namara has come out and put himself forward in the spotlight as spokesman for the current action led by the Dial a Cab drivers. Suddenly, this spokesperson is in the national press speaking for the trade, while his chairman remains silent.
The LTDA, who have a 20% stake in a privately owned radio taxi company Com Cab, are finally realising they are hemorrhaging members to the newly formed RMT union.

As the taxi trade rebellion escalates, it has taken the imagination of most drivers and is proving to be a great success.
Perhaps our next Bob on the board of TfL, Bob Crow (an inevitability in my opinion) will have more to say than his predecessor Silent Bob.

Question. Why didn't the LTDA tender for the Late night marshaled Taxi rank scheme?

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A bank holiday Message from Barrie Segal

It is very easy to fall into the trap of getting a parking ticket on this May Bank Holiday on Monday 4th May 2009. So here is my advice on ensuring that you don't ruin your holiday by getting a parking ticket or bus lane ticket.

BANK HOLIDAY MONDAY- PLEASE DO NOT GET CAUGHT OUT.

Do remember that local authorities will not necessarily allow free parking on Monday's Bank Holiday on Monday 4th May 2009.

Most councils SHOULD (but may not) allow free parking on SINGLE YELLOW LINES BUT NOT DOUBLE YELLOW LINES. Contact your local authority or look at its website to see how they are enforce single yellow lines on those days. If in doubt park elsewhere.

Some parking bays will be free but not all! So before you park, check the notice on the parking meter or pay and display meter to see when the restrictions apply and when they don't.

NEVER EVER PARK AT AN OUT OF ORDER METER!

RESIDENTS' BAYS. TO BE SAFE ASSUME THAT ALL RESIDENTS' BAYS WILL BE ENFORCED!

PARKING ON SUNDAY 3rd MAY 2009

DON'T GET CAUGHT - Councils will treat today as no different from any other Sunday so if there are normally parking restrictions on Sunday these will apply on the 3rd May 2009.

BUS LANES OPERATE LIKE ANY OTHER DAY - Bus lanes operate with the time shown and days shown on the blue sign at the start of the bus lane. If the bus lane applies, say, Monday to Friday it will include the Monday bank holiday.

THE GHOST TICKET SCAM

I first uncovered the Ghost Ticket more than 6 years ago. It's a very simple scam perpetrated by unscrupulous Civil Enforcement Officers. In it's basic form the CEO claims to have put the penalty charge notice ("PCN") on your car or claims to have given it to the driver.

In fact although the penalty charge notice is prointed out it is NOT put on your car or given to you but the handheld computer that the CEOs use and their notebook shows that it was.

The first you hear of the oparking ticket is when you get a Notice to Owner or worse a Charge Certificate.

At that stage it's your word against the CEO.

If you have ever been the victim of this scam please e-mail me details at ghostticket@appealnow.com.

Have a parking ticket free bank holiday Monday.

Barrie Segal