TfL have declared war on the Licensed Taxi Trade and announced the first minicab bay/rank, at the Shard.
When I held the position of ranks and highways officer at the RMT, I explained to a packed branch meeting, that minutes to a surface transport meeting document had been found which laid out plans for future ranks for private hire. Shortly after the meeting the document was removed from the Internet.
Unfortunately only a online link to the document was kept. We didn't have the foresight to make a hard copy as the proposer (Jerome Weimar) had by then, gone from TfL. We thought that would be the end of the matter. But as we now know to our cost, nothing ever gets completely scrapped by TfL. Proposals get shelved and re-emerge at later dates.
We now see it's TfL's intention to restart the implementation of this damaging idea.
And the Shard is just the tip of this iceberg,
So now the United Trade Group are crying "Foul" and calling for united trade action.
But just how sincere are these people and can we trust them?
Surely now the engagement policy has been scrapped, there is no reason whatsoever for the LTDA, LCDC and Unite, to exclude the RMT and the UCG from the joint ranks, or any other united trade committee.
Stephen Hammond, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Transport, in the Westminster debate on deregulation said:
I hope that in the few minutes available to me I have been able to demonstrate that the Government have considered the measures carefully. They are pragmatic amendments to the Deregulation Bill. They will allow substantial scrutiny in Committee and will reduce the burdens on the taxi and private hire trade. They are effective and safe steps along the longer deregulatory journey.
He couldn't have made it any clearer.
The Government want to deregulate the whole Taxi trade nationally, including London. They want to work closer with Private Hire. If we don't act soon, our days will be numbered.
Boris had said in his election promise:
"London is different"
He also promised not to close the tube ticket offices.
The RMT made this statement after the Westminster Debate.
The RMT, GMB AND UNITE have agreed a tri-union coalition and informed all their relative parliamentary groups briefing MPs on that deregulation bill debate.
Only trade unions with serious clout can do this. If the trade is to survive, drivers must get behind the call for total trade unity.
This begs the question, if the unions can work together on a national basis then why is there such reluctance in London?
Bob Oddy, Grant Davis, why won't you engage with the RMT and UCG?
We want to know why certain Taci drivers can't sit down with other Taxi drivers and work together.
Our future is in the balance.
This must not be about personal agendas.
