White collar slave trade alive and well and living in Euston...
Order a minicab anywhere in the country and the odds are, the driver who picks you up will be "self-employed".
But how self-employed are they really?
A genuinely self-employed plumber comes to your house, decides if they want the job and then quotes you a price.
If you accept, your plumber tells you when it can be done, buys their own materials and might even send someone else to do the work.
That's what self-employment should be, the freedom to make a profit - or risk a loss - on your own terms.
Europe's biggest minicab firm is Addison Lee with 2,400 self-employed drivers in London.
But these drivers can't use their own vehicles and must hire them through the company for £260 a week, plus another £38 for insurance and £12.50 for car washes. After paying for fuel, drivers start the week around £350 down.
There's only one way to turn a profit and that's by putting in the hours
Also in an Addison Lee hand book found on a skip in north London it states that each driver is responsible for an insurance excess that is taken in advance, of £500. The drivers has a deduction of £10 a week for the first 10 weeks which goes up to £20 a week thereafter till the debt is paid.
The Hand book also states that if a driver is sick and wants to hand back the vehicle, he has to give seven days notice and thereafter; once a car has been returned, they have to wait for a minimum of six weeks before hiring another vehicle and continue working. This is a sort of incentive to keep the vehicle when unwell...
It is the drivers own responsibility to provide there own breakdown cover and should they get a puncture, they have to pay £7.00 for a repair. God forbid they damage a tyre as they are charged £3.82 per millimetre of tread left on the tyre.
And he's got a waiting list of drivers?
Where are these drivers coming from?
Is he shipping them in from abroad with a promise of a work visa?
The article claims,he has donated £155,000,to the Tories,But his empire was built up under a labour goverment,Thats why as i commented on here before in a different article,The Police are turning a blind eye to touting,up and down the country,not because they want to,but because the order comes direct from the Goverment,Its just a way of keeping the unemployment figures down,Because as soon as you start any job,you wont be able to sign on for 6 months,So now you find yourself in a situation where your working,even though you cant afford to live on the wage,So your family is suffering,and the only way to feed them is by breaking the law and touting,Even though you know its wrong,LTPH,will say we enforce the one strike and your out rule,But how many PHV lisences have they actually taken away,I would bet you are approahed by more touts in Upper St alone on a saturday night,than they have taken away,As in everything someone has to take a fall,And the GOV can swallow 2 extra signing on a week,But if everyone that touts got nicked,it would be an extra 3,000,a week,and thats just in London alone,And that would not look so good,But back to ADDI/LEE,although i expect all minicab companys work the same,Mr CAMERON,Since you gained power you have gone on about how you will get people off benefits and back to work,Well here is a perfect example of why they stay on the dole,You need look no further than your personal friend MR JOHN GRIFFIN,...GARYS
ReplyDeleteWas it not the british that Abolished slave labour first,or was william rd not in the uk at the time.
ReplyDeletecolinthecabby
His empire was built up because the Radio Taxi Circuiits sat on their backsides.
ReplyDeleteThe Radio Circuits seemed to have a policy of charging the customers ever more. No wonder somoeone came in behind!
Goverrnments (all of them) are more than happy for people to disappear from the jobless totals, Thatcher encouraged GP's to sign peoel on to incapacity benefit to shrink the dole queues etc.
For now the strategy must be to expose those who expolit peoel and encourage the PH drivers to organise agaonst it AND get TfL to ENFORCE THE LAW!
I and I am sure like everyone else is less than convinced that big business, TfL and everyone else likes things just the way they are.
I am not a taxi driver but i am an occasional taxi service 'end user', I also regularly follow this blog and the whinges on this site.
ReplyDeleteIt is universally accepted that taxi drivers have an opinion on the latest topics and everything in general, and now it seems, think that they think they have the exclusive Biblical/God given right to take people across London from A to B without let or hinderance from those 'other shabby mini cabbing sorts'.
Wake up mate . . . mini cabs have been here for 50 years and they ain't going away - the traditional taxi trade is straining to cope with the mini cab competition which is the reason I suspect this site was set up in the first place, as 'a whinging forum'
If - 50 years ago 'London's Finest Taxi Service' did what the Act of Parliament intended them to do and took people where they wanted to go like Lewisham, Sydenhan and Sidcup rather than telling them to fick orf; then the mini cabs would never have got a foothold in the door.
Unfortunately your forefathers choose to cherry pick the work and did tell said punters to 'fick orf' and so now the end users requiring a service in the 21st Century have several more options open to them.
Firms like Addison Lee provide a very nicely dressed driver who does not want to bore me in talking about topcal dross/garbage, he/she has a very nice new car to take me home in and I know when I get in, just how much I'll pay when I get out; more importantly he/she will happily take me to south London without winging about it - even in the dark . . . .
Someone told me a sure sign that times are hard is when you see a TAXI in south London with/without their light on - next time you drive down Clapham way take a look - he was right . . ..
Intesrested Party - Kent
Your correspondent GARYS sounds like he is alone in his struggle to carry the burden of London on his shoulders all on his own.
ReplyDeleteHe seems to have the answer to all of London's problems is he up for the job of Mayor or London 2012 - or is he full of sh**, perhaps he just needs to get out more . . . .
Mayor for london,it never crossed my mind,but now you mention it,So tell me what is wrong with wanting a London where the law is upheld,People put in positions,where they actually know something about the job they are so well paid for,Or perhaps your happy to let things stay as they are,Maybe thats the problem I do get out,and see these things happening first hand,and dont like it,thats why i always put a name to my posts.
ReplyDeleteTo intrested party,....unless i read it wrong the article about ADDI/LEE,was not done by a whingeing "TAXI"driver but by a national newspaper,whose sole aim was to expose,how the mini cab driver is exploited so as you can get your nice new car home,And lets be fair the old south london thing is getting a bit boring now,Like everything else things have moved on,But here is my promise f i do become Mayor i will go on telly and apologise for this modern day slave trade,I may even throw in a few tears,GARYS
To intrested party,for someone that openly admits to not being a taxi driver,you seem to have a unhealthy intrest in a trade,you know nothing about first hand,i believe in a previous posting on here about minicabs in buslanes,you stated you know all about the driving tests,etc,well how,unless you are a failed knowledge student,and now drive a minicab,
ReplyDeleteI dont mind competition
ReplyDeletein fact I'm in competition with 24,000 other taxis on a level playing field
However the playing field with private hire is far from level
It seems to me that Addison Lee drivers are employed and should be treated so
Maybe this situation should be pointed out to H.M. revenue and customs!
Mick the Brit, wake up and smell the roses, your industry is so close to losing the lot, please please modernise dump ur old cars and your bias thoughts, at the end of the day PH and Taxi's take people from A to B that is a simple fact, PH will never want to pick up from the street, and the scabs could not if there were more Taxi's available after midnight, If as you say AL drivers are employed they would have set hours and a set wage, which as far as I know they do not, so please tell us how you think (seems to me) they are employed ??
ReplyDeleteSet hours,Cant drive own vehicles,Dress code,Have to do exactly what Griffin says or be sacked,But think about it,you guys should want to be employed,think of the benefits,Paid holidays,sick pay,no insurance excess,The fact is he has you where he wants you,So much so he instructs you to break the law and you do it,be interesting to see exactly how many M4 buslanr fines he has paid,Also how many of you guys will have the baliffs turning up very soon,because they aint going to let it go,Mainly because they are not using thier money to pursue you
ReplyDeleteI worked for this shower of shit.
ReplyDeleteThe only place in the world where you can do a full time shift and MAKE A LOSS.
I work for this negative spiteful company where the so called insurance is non existant because you have to pay the 1st £500. I am sure the insrance is illegal because if you pay nearly £2000 a year for it then any insurance company would be working for YOU, not so , the conflict of interest means the software clicking twats in the insurance department make sure Add Lee is put first to the detriment of the driver , many claims are not followed up and the driver is just stiffed with the bill .A useless shower of s**t . Luckily i am on 21 days on the knowledge and can soon kick them into touch .
ReplyDelete