RMT Taxi branch news - Issue No.1 January 2010

Welcome to the very first issue of RMT Taxi branch news this will be a monthly newsletter aimed at you the self employed London taxi-cab driver. No adverts just plain simple facts and certainly not the fiction some of you may have been reading of late.

Read the text below; click '1 attachment' / file name to download the newsletter.

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Two big issues in need of urgent remedy for the sake of the whole trade involve;

Mayor’s emission strategy.

Let’s be totally honest here the last strategy was a near complete failure, many of you upgraded your exhaust systems only to find you now happen to own a taxi-cab that appears to pollute after the new exhaust system was fitted. The rest of you upgraded to newer cleaner/greener taxi-cabs only to find yourselves hit with higher road fund licences. This trade requires stability and this is certainly something we haven’t received since we came under the control of Transport for London and whoever the Mayor maybe at anyone particular time. We don’t just need to be consulted on major change we need the authorities to seek consensus and then agreement with ALL trade bodies, organisations and democratic trade unions. We at the RMT have already been meeting with influential members of the London Assembly and hope to steer a much clearer path through this financial minefield that is the Mayor’s emission strategy, we shall be publishing our own paper soon in the hope that the mistakes of the past are not repeated. Remember we drive the taxi-cabs that the licensing authority chooses, so any blame attached to London’s air quality if proven beyond a reasonable doubt must rest with those in authority.

Satellite mini-cab offices.

Well our aim is simple here at the RMT specialist transport union and that is to campaign for an outright ban of these offices which have only increased the number of illegal hiring’s and led to the formation of illegal hackney carriage ranks all over Greater London. Brain Whitehead RMT Regional Organiser along with David Vidgen Branch Secretary, Eddie Lambert Chairman, John Kennedy vice chair, Stan Murat Complaints & Compliance and James Thomas Ranks & Highways met with John Mason Director of taxis and private hire on the 5th of January 2010, many issues were discussed and it appears John Mason certainly isn’t happy with the present state of affairs regarding the operation of these satellite offices. We can confirm that all private hire operators that are in procession of a satellite mini-cab office have been written to and warned of a new one strike and you’re out policy. We look forward to meeting John Mason again in February and look forward to him visiting the only really active taxi branch in Greater London; we’ve more members attending branch meetings than the rest put together.

Rest assured all our members will be keeping an eye out for unscrupulous operators who break the law and tout for business on the pavement or rank cars illegally on the public highway. We must also persuade Transport for London and all London Borough Councils to provide us with the necessary rank/stand space so we can provide a service in times of boom and bust. Let us service all venues and ranks so that the requirement or even request for a mini-cab is only ever needed in exceptional circumstances.

So welcome once again to a straight talking, no nonsense approach to London taxi trade politics. We have many challenges that lay ahead but we are confident here at the RMT specialist transport union we can not only repair the damage of the past but prepare the London taxi trade for a better brighter future.
The time has come for you to join a trade union and have a say about your future, others stay silent so join the RMT and get a louder voice that’s not just heard on the cab rank but also within City Hall and the corridors of power in Parliament.

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Email; Londontaxi@rmt.org.uk
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