Oddy,The Little Dictator …..By Jason Byrne.

Collusion?

The “London Cab Drivers Club” had to wait well over two decades to be invited on to the joint trade ranks and highways committee, hosted by Unite and chaired by the LTDA.

The London Taxi Branch of the RMT has no intention of waiting another 20 years.

So in January 2010, a delegation from the RMT met with John Mason and was told that he could see no reason why regular and meaningful talks could not be held on a bimonthly basis.

When the little dictator from Woodfield road heard the news, he went straight round to see his pal and colleague on the Board of TfL at Palestra building in Blackfriars.

Peter Hendy then issued a statement about the conditions for consultation with the new LTPH. Conditions that no trade union could accept, which are unlawful under the data protection act and are against member’s human rights, as laid down by European Parliamentary Law.

Lies

There has been a lot of talk about propaganda and lies spread within the trade media and the finger has been pointed at the RMT by all trade publications affiliated with the UTG. But the Lies have been a one way street. Bob Oddy has accused the RMT of spreading lies, well I hereby challenge the little dictator, to produce any official RMT article that they can be positively identify as a lie…

Whereas the Taxi paper, for the past eight months has contained many mistruths, blatant lies and provocative photo-shop images of the RMT and its members, in mostly unsigned articles. But these articles and images (unsigned) are considered in law, to be the sole responsibility of the editor and paper owners.

Unity

There has also been a demand by ordinary working drivers, for the trade to unite, well the RMT has applied to the hosting Union, Unite, to have meaningful talks with the UTG and as of yet, they have not received any reply. This from a fellow member of the TUC is unacceptable behaviour. Every driver, no matter which representative body he/she subscribes to is entitled to full representation in talks with the licensing authority.

After many prosperous years, the iconic London taxi trade, the best taxi trade in the world, has had to come to terms with the fact, that within the next few years we could possibly be merged into a one tier service with private hire. PHV waiting areas at stations, hotels and night clubs are high on the agenda at TfL surface transport meetings and harmonisation, integration and consolidation are the new buzz words floating around the corridors of power inside the Palestra building. This award winning state of the art building has itself replaced many TfL buildings and will has also incorporated the old Penton Street carriage office.

Westminster council

Westminster council have, in the past, commissioned a survey that has shown late night revilers will jump in to the first vehicle they see, regardless of whether it is a licensed taxi or a licensed PHV. They (WCC) have also contravened hackney carriage laws and placed private hire waiting areas on the streets of the West End. This, in conjunction with the victimisation of taxi drivers in respect of unfair and in some cases illegal PCNs, puts Westminster City Council high on the must watch closer list.

Adding to our troubles, is the fact that the majority of the London Taxi trade have, in the past turned a blind eye to the open touting, as this practise only seemed to affect the late night weekend trade.

But now as the recession bites hard the unscrupulous hoards of privateers have upped their game and escalated their attack on what they see as an apathetic taxi trade.

But the game is changing fast, as they are now encroaching into the dayman’s pocket. We have now started to see the setting up of satellite offices inside hotels and underground stations all over the capital.

We he also been informed by a whistleblower, that Griffins Addison Lee, are now targeting the more upmarket hotels. He has applied for satellite office licenses and has informed his top drivers that when the consultation with the taxi trade comes round in September, he has been assured by top brass at TfL, his applications will go through.

While licensed taxi drivers spend hours on hotel ranks for local work, airports and roaders are siphoned off by greedy hotel staff and placed into private cars, for nice little backhanders.

This has been going on for many years but Griffin means to take every job and place vans outside the entrance to the hotels he has licenses for.

A great big fat lie Bob

So who is watching the backs of the Taxi trade in London?

Certainly not the general secretary of the trade’s biggest organisation.

Our man on the board of TfL has been present at virtually all surface transport meetings, where much of the plans that have bought about our present troubles, has been hatched.

And he said nothing, not even to us, the drivers, hence the nickname Silent Bob.

The minutes of all meeting are on line and can be found on TfL’s own website.

The worst thing this little dictator has done is lied about the killer on the knowledge.

At the first Aldwych Demo, I stood beside a committee member from the LCDC and we spoke to the whistleblower who first gained the information about the wife killer. He said that the first person he went to with the info was Bob Oddy, being a member of the LTDA.

Bob told him he already knew and to keep quiet. He was afraid that if he bought this story to light it could affect his position on the board of TfL as the problem had already been spoken about, at a meeting in city hall which he had attended.

So the Whistleblower then approached a member of the RMT who gave the story straight away to Andrew Gilligan. As the paper hit the stands, the RMT organised a demo at Penton Street.

Bob tried to jump on the band wagon by organising a second demo, trying desperately to upstage the RMT.

Finally what you can do.

If you want to make a difference, if you want to save your job, your trade, the time has come for you to get off the fence and join your colleagues who are fighting to take back the work. Join the RMT today, and if your online, join the LTDF (London Taxi Drivers Forum) you know it makes perfect sense.

LTPH, Investigate Howard Hotel .... By Jason Byrne.

Yesterday, an undercover team from the Cab enforcement section of LTPH was despatched to Temple place to observe goings on at the Howard Hotel, after complaints were received from licensed taxi drivers, who regularly use the rank by the temple shelter.

It had been reported that all the cream jobs from the Howard were going in Addison Lee vans and that it was a regular sight to see Addison Lee drivers hanging around the front entrance waiting for the nod from the hotel porters.
One of the hotel staff who sometimes uses the shelter told drivers who complained, the head concierge had given instructions that all airports, Heathrow, Gatwick or city, plus any longer journeys must go in Addison Lee who pay commission. Only short trips were to be aimed at the taxi rank.

He also said that the hotel had asked Addison Lee to have a driver wait outside and be available for immediate hire.

After spending the morning observing the situation, the two undercover officers approach the hotel manager with their findings. They advised him the present arrangement with Addison Lee should cease immediately.
PHV drivers seen to be hanging it up outside of the hotel were also interviewed and warned that their actions were a contravention of the terms and conditions of their PHV licenses and that in future they could face prosecution.

Day-men are complaining that this situation is now the norm at most of the larger hotels in the capital.
If you have complaints of this nature, you must supply time, place, make and registration number of the offending vehicle and send to;

Taxi.Complaints@pco.org.uk
And
ltph.enforcement@tfl.gov.uk

Advisory Notice System for Annual Taxi Licensing Inspections

One of the key objectives for London Taxi and Private Hire is to ensure that we apply a consistent, common sense and reasonable approach to all our licensing activities and ensure drivers and operators comply with the relevant rules and regulations that govern the licensing of vehicles as London taxis. To this end and following extensive discussions with various members of the taxi trade, TfL is pleased to announce the implementation of an advisory notice system for taxi vehicle licensing inspections.

This new vehicle advisory system will commence on 24 August, providing a formal and consistent approach for LTPH when making decisions on the roadworthiness and condition of taxis.

Vehicle inspectors, working for our vehicle licensing service provider (SGS), will now be able to use the electronic inspection system to identify whether certain failure items should be classified as a “pass advisory” or a “failure”. The selection of the “advisory” option for certain (non-safety related) failure items during a licensing inspection will result in the issuing of licence plates accompanied by an advisory notice. The notice will inform the vehicle owner/driver of the defect which may require attention and rectification within a reasonable amount of time.

Every effort has been made to ensure we provide this additional flexibility through the annual licensing inspection without reducing and/or compromising the standards, quality and safety of the vehicles used by the travelling public.

A similar system for on-street compliance inspections is being developed and will be implemented in September.

As part of the ongoing development of the annual licensing inspection process we have also aligned a number of the existing LTPH inspection standards with the more accepted current VOSA MOT standards.

An updated and amended version of the taxi inspection manual which incorporates the new system can be found on http://www.tfl.gov.uk/tph

The components and system areas that have been amended to allow the use of the advisory notice option are:

Auxiliary front lamp
Ashtray
Engine oil leak
Interior fixtures/fittings
Coolant system
Cushion / upholstery
Boot lid
Chassis under body
Coach lines
Reservoir levels
Boot floor
Exhaust assembly
Window markings
Gearbox oil leaks
Driver mirror
Spare wheel
Badges / motifs



We will keep this new system under review and will amend or adjust if necessary. We hope that drivers and operators will welcome this new approach to annual inspections and are happy to receive and comments or suggestions regarding it via tph.enquiries@tfl.gov.uk

Bus Hit and Run at Piccadilly Circus...By Thomas the Taxi.

A woman has been injured by masonry which was dislodged when a double-decker bus crashed into metal railings outside a Central London Tube station.

A Transport for London (TfL) spokesman said the woman, in her 50s, was by an exit to Piccadilly Circus station when the masonry hit her at about 1420 BST.

She received injuries to her arm and legs and is in a south London hospital, Metropolitan Police said.

An investigation will be carried out into what happened, TfL said.

The TfL spokesman said: "A route nine double-decker bus, operated by London United, hit the railings at exit two of Piccadilly Circus station as it turned into Piccadilly Circus."

The spokesman denied eyewitness reports that the railings fell downstairs into the station.

A lamp post fell into the entrance of the busy station, but did not seriously injure anyone going underground.

TfL is investigating why the driver did not stop until the bus reached nearby Haymarket.

A Met spokesman said officers were called to reports of a bus "colliding with" a female pedestrian and railings outside the station.

Think this story needs a bit more investigation.Either the bus hit the women or she was hit by falling masonry. Why did the driver not stop? Will he be prosecuted for failing to stop after an accident?

Peter Hendy hit the news a couple of years ago when a young man was run over and killed by a Hendy bendy bus. It was reported at the time that he asked his press officers, Vernon Everitt and Dan Hodges, if they could say the man was drunk. Don't believe the TfL Commissioner would do such a thing...Click Here

Funny how these things you say have a habit of coming back and biting your arse Peter.

Westminster, at it again....by Thomas the Taxi.

One thing about the traffic and transport division of Westminster Council, you can always depend on them for a bit of scandal.

We have seen over the past few years how this council has victimised London's Taxi drivers going about their daily work while bending over backwards not to penalise Private Hire vehicles. We have seen the way two Councillors have been given priority and allowed to jump the housing queue at the expense of council tax paying residents and the homeless on lengthy waiting lists. See full story here
We have seen Westminster go to, and stay at the top of the Parking ticket and moving traffic offences league. (one Traffic camera in Maida vale clocks up over a million pounds a year with a yellow box junction that in completely inappropriate, giving clearance for a dead end street!)
CCTV cameras mounted on illegally parked smart cars (sometimes blocking the pavement) rack up amazing amounts (while turning a blind eye to PHV's committing the same contraventions as Black cabs).
Most of Westminster council vehicles are guilty of constantly breaking the law, traffic wise, from dustcart's to the Mayors Roller, click here for a suprise.

When asked why the Mayors car was not given a ticket when it was parked, the wrong way round, in a one way street on double yellow lines, Martin Low made up a complete lie and said the road had been closed to all traffic. This has since been proven not to be the case. Naughty naughty Martin.

Ever day another bobby trap seems to appear to trap the already over taxed London motorist.
Westminster's latest cash cow, is one that is not only unfair but immoral and could lead to injury or even fatality.
Green Street W1 has finally been made a one way exiting onto Park Lane. But the new signage that Westminster has put up, is misleading, irresponsible and needs urgent attention before some one is badly hurt or even killed. The "no motor vehicles" sign, which is normally used to signify a pedestrian area, is not the right sign for a one way steert. The correct sign obviously is the no entry sign.

Having said that, the congestion charge sign just behind, on quick glance, would appear to signal to the oncoming motorist that this street is in fact two ways. Another quick glance down Green Street, you will notice a no left turn sign, also giving the impression that this was in fact two way.

Now Westminster of course, will argue that the congestion sign is not their responsibility, but that of TfL. But under their PiP scheme they haver a duty of care to inform partners of changes in Road Traffic Orders (RTO's) to avoid this type of confusion.

Martin Low, its up to you to get this sorted out as quickly as possible, the buck stops with you in this instance.

What ever happened to the T&G...

Hello, is there anybody left out there?

Seeing as the LTDA's TAXI paper is always asking the question;

"how many members does the RMT union have?"

We have decided to ask the same question to the trades other Union, Unite.
Bob Oddy has now persuaded his pal and colleague at TfL, Peter Hendy to adopt the requirement that any new Union or association, must have at least 5% of the overall number of Licensed Taxi Drivers to enable them to be recognised by his officers at LTPH. Exactly how many members does 'Unite the union' have amongst cab drivers in London?

This question was asked and answered, on the LTDF forum last week. So far two people have made comments in reply.

First reply came from a unite member who said;
"One hundred and twenty three London cabbies are Unite members, including fifty -seven marshals and reps at Heathrow Airport. Apparently, 'natural wastage' (proof this is not a young man's union) is hitting Unite very hard and they are finding it difficult to replace the original T&G militants who made cabbing in London what it is today.

Could this be because they have thrown in with the Maida Vale Mafia?

The second reply gave a more in-death answer about who and what these members do, day in and day out.

Are the Marshals at LAP real Cab Drivers?

When was the last time they 'plied for hire'?

When was the last time they acted in the interests of everyone in the trade?

So in reality 123 - 57 = 66 less the 'wedding specialist' makes 65 Working Cab Drivers.

65 working Taxi Drivers, 10% of what the LCDC claim to have and a long way short of the 5% needed to be recognised by Peter Hendy and John Mason.

If their members are militant, trade union minded people perhaps the RMT could persuade them to join a proper democratic, specialist transport union.

Well now we all have to wait with baited breath to see what new caption will be photo-shopped onto JK's placard this week and if the lies update will be included, after the warning given to Mr Pessok the editor!

Who Gave The Order Not To Enforce The CXR Taxi Rank....By Jason Byrne.

Over the last three days, disgruntled drivers, fed up with constantly seeing Licensed Private Hire Vehicles, illegally parked on the Charing Cross Road Licensed Taxi Rank, have taken matters into their own hands.

As part of the action, drivers were briefed to phone Westminster Parking Services and ask for enforcement officers to be dispatched to this location and either move on or ticket the offending PHV's.

To everyone's surprise, the first few calls to the WPS call centre were greeted by the statement , "Westminster Parking Services, no longer enforce Taxi ranks in Westminster" (all calls are recorded for future investigation). It also appeared that Westminster's Civil Enforcement Officers (traffic wardens) have been given this instruction by their supervisors.

No parking on Taxi rank! Touts stickers over sign

A call was then made to Les Wilson who was the duty supervisor on Thursday night. It was pointed out that in the WPS CEO's hand book, the contravention of parking on a Licensed Taxi Rank is code 45 and as such WPS has a duty of care to enforce this traffic offence. Mr Wilson said he would contact an enforcement team immediately and inform them of the illegally parked vehicles. Unfortunately no CEO's turned up, so it was left to the Licensed taxi drivers to confront the touts and ask them to move.

This situation can not go on. Its just a matter of time before we see all out Taxi wars breaking out on our streets.

There is however something fishy going on here with WPS.
If CEO's and front line call centre staff have been given advice that they should no longer enforce Taxi Ranks, then at some point, someone higher up the chain of command has given them this instruction.
"How high up the chain of command?" is the question on every Taxi Drivers lips.

Ex councillor Kevin Goad is the man in charge of the parking services in Westminster, he answers directly to Martin Low, who in turn takes instruction from Council leader Colin Barrow.

Hendy Goad Low

As we are about to see the implementation of the so called Golden Rank for Licensed Black Cabs, has this area of the West End been covertly handed over to private hire in consolation.
The Main question on every cab drivers lips is "What is TfL commissioner Peter Hendy involvement in the set up of this minicab rank?"

Rank retaken Tout shop not happy!

After talking to a few of the touts, it transpires that they have been told directly by John Mason that this Taxi Rank is no longer in use and that they can use it quite legally!....Is that Right Mr Mason?

Proof that they have been parking on this rank for well over 18 months

More evidence of corruption from Westminster Parking Services...By Jason Byrne.

After a year of complaining to the authorities, about the illegal ranking of private hire vehicles in Charing Cross Road (with no result whatsoever), London's Licensed Taxi Drivers decided to take action of their own. A group of drivers known as the Twitter Action Group (TaG) joined forces with the LTDF Hit squad and last night, at precisely 10:45pm advanced on the Licensed Taxi Rank opposite Capital Radio. Every night this rank is full with illegally parked minicabs working from a collection of satellite offices operating from a 24 hour convenience store, Tobacconist kiosk and even the odd alleyway.

FP51UMV...License no 0806288501

Westminster Parking wardens walk by night after night as do the police and also (believe it or not) the Cab Enforcement section of the TfL. Many nights have seen TfL/PCO stops adjacent to this rank. I have personally on a number of occasions asked these officers why they are not enforcing the law appertaining to this rank, but they just shrug their shoulders and say they are operating on a brief from their commanding officer and that they will have a look when they finished the road stop. They never do though, they just pack up and head off.

It is now assumed by most of the Taxi trade that these offices are acting on orders from the TfL commissioner Peter Hendy, who went on record at a GLA transport committee meeting as saying the trades troubles are imagined and that they should get out more often.

Last night was a complete success. Drivers double parked blocking in the touts on our rank, which had been covered with blank stickers to disguise the fact it is a working rank. Although the Police always say they don't have the manpower to enforce Hackney Carriage offences, it didn't take them long to turn up in numbers.

While the touts were blocked in, a female Licensed Taxi Driver phone Westminster parking services and asked them to send enforcement officers to ticket the touts. She was tout that WPS no longer enforce Taxi ranks. This is of course rubbish. The enforcement officers hand book has Taxi rank contraventions as code 45 and WPS have a duty of care to uphold enforcement. All calls are recorded and the call was placed at approx 11:15 pm.

This again is more evidence of the corrupt and bias attitude of persecution shown towards the Licensed Taxi Trade by Westminster. Every day Hundreds of tickets are issued to Taxi drivers just going about their job.
We have video evidence of the CCTV smart car picking out a Licensed Black Cab unfortunately doing an illegal right turn while ignoring dozens of PHV's making the same illegal manoeuvre.

Well done to every driver who made the effort to bring this to the attention of the authority.
Drivers from every trade representative group, working together as one, truly united. Pity the people who get paid to lead the trade, can't work this way.

Jewellery raid at Royal Exchange, get-a-way car hides in amongst touts outside Abacus.

The smash-and-grab raid on De Beers and Omega, which took place at the Royal Exchange shopping centre on Saturday night, may have been an inside job according to a former Scotland Yard commander.

The smash-and-grab raid took place at the central London shopping centre on Saturday night. The value of the goods taken has not yet been divulged.

Speaking on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme, former Flying Squad officer John O’Connor said: “These villains didn’t drive up there in a BMW on the off-chance that they would be able to get through security gates.

“There’s always the suspicion on these types of robberies, the big robberies, that you need somebody to open doors for you, you have somebody on the inside.”

It has been reported that robbers escaped in a car parked in amongst a group of touts outside the night club Bar/Restaurant Abacus. Perhaps this should be taken up with the City Corporation, if they were doing their job properly and keeping these touts away from forming unlawful, unauthorised minicab ranks, this type of crime would be less likely to happen.

Has LCDC Grant, Split from UTG Policy?....By Jason Byrne.

After first siding with the LTDA and Unite in a bid to license "Rickshaw Bikes" through Westminster City Councils voluntary registration scheme, Grant Davis, chairman of the LCDC live on the James whale show, suddenly switched policy to a petition in favour of an outright Ban.

Grant's recent behaviour has fuelled speculation of a widening split in the United Trade Group (UTG).

Unite have also been at odds with Grants position on window stickers that distinguish between Yellow and Green badge drivers. Unite the union, have recently been recruiting heavily in the suburbs because of dwindling membership numbers in Central London.

At a recent document signing, staged for the benefit of the Taxi Trade media, it was noted that no one from the LCDC signed or made it into the Photo session. It has been alleged in a comment on an earlier posting that an incident took place where Mr Davis was removed from the room, but as of yet this has not been confirmed.

Now listen to Grants words on James Whales LBC Show, Friday night 13th August.

Also note what James has to say at the end of the podcast.

This item has been re edited by Editorial staff. 17/08/10.

London Taxi Service with Chauffeur Driven cars?....By Thomas the taxi.

Some time ago, a complaint was lodged with the Public Carriage Office, about a website trading under the name of London Taxis Service. Although the site had no connections with the Licensed Taxi trade whatsoever, it uses phrases such as "We Keep Our Traditions Of Service Alive... London Taxi Service"

This plainly gives prospective customers the idea that the vehicle they will be getting in, is a Licensed London TAXI. If fact, at the bottom of their home page it states quite clearly "We are Licensed by the Public carriage office"

So far the PCO/LTPH/TfL have said that as this advert is on the internet, they have no jurisdiction.

Well, we beg to differ Mr Mason.

1. As this Company is registered as London Taxi Service it is giving a false perception that it is indeed a Licensed Taxi Company.

2. This company states quite clearly and proudly that it has a PCO license, so therefore must act according to the Private hire act 1998 which is within your jurisdiction.

3. If on the other hand if this company is not registered with the PCO and does not have a PCO license, then it falls within the bailiwick of the cab enforcement section of the PCO as it is illegally portraying itself as a PCO licensed Company.

At the very least TfL should be taking this matter up with the advertising standers agency on behalf of the Licensed Taxi and Private hire industry.
This company has been trading unhindered from any action by the licensing authorities for over 4 years.

Don't tell me, let me guess, you don't have the budget!


Also see Peter Rose's Post on The Anderson Leaks Blog

London considers city-wide average speed cameras .... by Tom Webster

Transport for London is considering a pilot scheme which could eventually see the capital's speed limits enforced by the average-speed cameras similar to those found on motorways.

TfL is looking for a commercial partner to trial an average-speed camera programme over four boroughs, including Southwark.

The cameras would be used as a trial to "enforce average speed limits in urban areas" according to a notice published in the Official Journal of the European Union on 10 August.

However, the plans are still in their infancy at the moment, with a spokeswoman for TfL confirming that it had merely issued an "expression of interest" to see which private companies come forward as prospective partners.

It looks likely that such schemes will be launched in the Capital though, as the spokeswoman said that TfL is definitely committed to speed cameras. London will introduce a set of average speed cameras on the A13 in East London by next year.

The plans will have one positive spin off; TfL's spokeswoman claimed they would mean a reduction in suspension battering speed bumps in the city.

Ken Shock for the Taxi Trade.....By Thomas the Taxi.

On Wednesday I received an email asking if I could make time to meet Oona King, one of the two candidates currently running for the Labour Party nomination for the Mayoral Election to be held in May 2012. I was asked to meet her along with a select group of London Taxi drivers at a pre-arraigned tea stop in the City of London. My brief was to give her a quick run down on the troubles currently facing the London Taxi trade;

1. Non enforcement of existing laws appertaining to Private Hire touting.

2. Unlawful ranking of PHV’s (causing congestion).

3. Massive growth in satellite office licensing.

4. The worrying increase in the number of serious sexual assaults including rapes in Licensed PHV’s, illegally picking up outside London’s night venues (140 rapes reported in 2009*).

On my way to the meeting, I listened in to LBC where Oona was locked in debate with the other candidate Ken Livingston. Just before the end of the show, hosted by Iain Dale, Ken Livingston was asked the question, if he were to be re-elected, would he end the monopoly that the Black Taxis have with regards to Bus Lanes.

Ken said, in the past, minicabs were indistinguishable from ordinary road users as they only had a very small sticker in the window. If they were allowed to use Bus Lanes in this current state, they may encourage ordinary drivers to stray into the lanes. But if they agreed to have a large roof sign so that they were recognisable as minicabs, then he would have no objection to letting them use all London’s bus lanes.

Now considering Ken’s love of Buses and cyclists, with his unswerving defense of Bus Lanes and their importance in the smooth running of the transport system, I was completely shocked at his apparent change of heart.

With an extra 70,000+, Private hire vehicles in London’s bus lane network, surely the advantage of having them at all would be lost.

London’s Black Taxi’s are allowed to use most Bus Lanes solely because we are a metered service and it’s judged unfair to paying passengers to be charged, when stuck in congestion that can so easily be avoided. Private Hire vehicles operate solely on a fixed charge format, with the passenger paying the same fare no matter how long the journey takes.

So what has brought about Ken’s sudden change of heart?

Could it be a large donation to his campaign fund from a rather large minicab proprietor?

Let’s not forget a large donation to Boris’s Campaign, with a following relaxation of Private Hire regulations and enforcement.

Surely Ken wouldn’t sell out his beloved London Buses and cyclists?

These people have always been amongst his most loyal supports in the past. Perhaps they should take a long hard look at his policies before giving him their support this time round.

*figure sourced; The havens crisis centre.

RMT's News Letter for August 2010....By Thomas the Taxi.

See the new format news letter on line . Click here.

Lies Update.... By Jason Byrne.

The other day, a driver was asked why he was saying the LTDA had lied about the RMT, but the RMT had lied about the LTDA.

While it is widely acknowledged by most drivers that the LTDA habitually prints lies about the RMT, I asked him to explain in more detail the rest of his statement.

He said that some time ago, a recruitment drive at one of the mainline stations had given him a leaflet saying that the LTDA’s membership had dropped to an all-time low and this was a lie as the LTDA had stated they had more members now than ever before.

As most of the staff who work at Woodfield Road have strong connections to the Taxi trade, its not hard to find someone who is willing to converse about things that happen at Taxi House. I recently spoke to a Mrs X who thought it quite amusing that Bob had suddenly become prone to ranting and raving.

She went on to say;

When the RMT first started to recruit members, Bob and his cronies ignored the general feeling within the membership, that felt they had lost the initiative after the "Demo in Trafalgar Square" and just sat back on their haunches. Members were leaving by the shed load and Bob was not a happy bunny.

The Anderson Shelter although independent had previously received news of Bobs worrying position and started to advertise the fact that they were losing members.

She went on;

My God he want spare when you run the stories about them losing members, I thought he was going to have a heart attack.

Oddy was worried that drivers would think that the members who were leaving were doing so just because of the success the RMT was having in recruiting.

The true fact was the RMT had signed drivers from across the board. Disgruntled drivers from the Club, Unite, LTDA, plus some drivers who had never been affiliated with any trade group had signed up to this fresh new union. But Bob could not risk his subscribers putting 2 and 2 together and coming up with 5. So he set about a disgraceful propaganda program to discredit the RMT, followed by a brand new recruitment drive.

She said;

His first target was the knowledge schools. Bob needed a quick victory,

knowledge students were given free membership with bumper sized goody bags and the promise of shiny things to come. This seemed to shore up the haemorrhage in their leaking membership numbers.

It soon became apparent that many of these new members were driving minicabs while doing the Knowledge, some even working for Addison Lee. So just in case the proverbial hit the fan, the recruitment team were sent off to the suburbs.

Being a yellow badge is seen to many as a way of financing doing “the knowledge”. Many of the suburban drivers have no memory of the disrespect Bob and his fellow committee members have/had for “Yellow Badge” drivers. But there are still a few who remember being screwed over by the LTDA.

Roy from Harrow has been a YB for 35 years and is well known. He recalls;

A once flourishing radio circuit in Sudbury, Harrow Radio Taxis, the life blood of many Harrow and Wembley drivers had been bought out by Com Cab (when it was owned by the LTDA) who had an eye on their large account customer data base. The existing YB drivers had then to compete with thousands of Green badge drivers for work they were previously doing but found it financially unviable so left the new circuit to the green badge drivers. The old Harrow Taxis premises were sold to (believe it or not) a mini cab operation. Word at the time suggested that certain members of the boards of Com Cab and the LTDA had financially connections to this minicab outfit.

Anyway back to the future, the LTDA’s recruitment team were let lose in the suburbs where they signed up thousands of new members with the promise of a restriction of numbers to increase the work load of existing Yellow badge drivers.

Can you believe it? With Private hire licenses increasing at a rate of 14,000 annually (Approx 66,000 to date)and Hendy saying on LBC that there is never enough cabs in the late evening to cover the work, Oddy wants to restrict Licensed Taxi driver numbers. Starting with Yellow Badges he has offered Mason a £50,000 incentive payment. You couldn’t make it up….

Now let’s do the sums. Before the RMT started to recruit drivers the LTDA boosted a membership of 8,500 members.

Now they are saying they have just reached 9,000 members for the first time ever.

So with approximately 2500 new acquisitions from the knowledge students and Yellow badges I would say that at some point, the LTDA’s membership did fall to an all time low, for some time.

So there you have it!

Also Travis B said...

I can find no record of the RMT ever saying anything negative about the LTDA except correcting misinformation.

Look at the latest TAXI, complete nonsense about the RMT, GMB and Minicab shields.

Facts:

1. The RMT London Taxi Branch has NEVER entered into any discussions with the GMB (who seek to recruit minicab drivers in London and compete with UNITE elsewhere).

2. The issue of 'shields' for PHV's has NEVER been discussed at an RMT branch meeting and no motion concerning this matter has ever been debated.

3. The same applies to Tacho's etc.

So that's the RMT, Lets focus now on the LTDA and the actions at the top of the friendly society.

1. They state they want a ban yet support Westminster's registration scheme for Pedicabs???? Some peopel think this may be linked to the Golden Fares Rank staffed initially by the LTDA.

2. They have proven links with Flightlink via Delgro, Cityfleet and ComCab that takes work away from the licensed trade.

Mr Oddy is a director of ComCaB.

3. They said they knew nothing about the £50.00 retest fee, yet continually trumpet they are at the top table at TfL and are consulted on everything.

4. They have their general secretary who sits on the board of TfL and has only spoken to congratulate the PCO on how they handled the TX4 Fires Issue (sic)!!!

No one can find any trace of Mr Oddy saying anything about Clipboard Johnnie's, Touts, PHV Touts, The M4 Bus lane and many more key issues on the public record.

It staggers many that some of the other trade orgs. (UNITE and the LCDC Committee) want to be part of the 'United Trade Group' that just seems to follow the LTDA line.