The STaN agenda gave London the concept of licence variation ‘Satellite office’. Along with this, came a cloak of respectability thrown over the clipboard Johnny and the illegal ranks of touting minicabs.
It didn’t take long before the rule book went out the window and open touting became the norm at most night venues.
Licenses were sold off like sweets to anyone with the necessary fist full of dollars.
Licensed by TfL, the general public believed the lines of cars outside clubs and bars were legitimate, after all, even the press were referring to them as Taxis…so they must be legal. The legitimate licensed Taxi trade started to see a massive decline in night work.
The Met officer in charge of the TOCU squad Joe Royal, took one look at the legislation and said this is completely unenforceable and promptly resigned.
Not long after Joe’s departure, the TOCU squad were disbanded.
Most night men carried on regardless, driving round with their head in the sand, hoping for the odd raised hand.
A couple of dozen militant drivers stepped forward shouting, “Enough’s Enough” and took on the touts at their own game, by ranking in front of, or beside the cars… and work was eventually clawed back.
It wasn’t hard at first as night passengers had become fed up with being ripped off by exorbitant prices, charge by the touts. The subject of touting became elevated in the trade media.
We just turned up and formed ranks….we were taking the work back, it was easy!
The invent of the smart phone, saw drivers using social media apps like Twitter and FaceBook which the group utilised as a better way to communicate. They even gave themselves the name, the Twitter Action Group (TaG). With the trade reenergised, the TaG hit squad encouraged night-men to start reusing ranks. And it was easy
Last January, the work dried up as a result of 700 new PH licenses being issued every week.
But, ever resourceful, drivers stepped up to the mark and the Mayfair Mobs was born. This new group had amazing success reclaiming ranks and getting new ones implemented.
The trade seemed to be struggling like never before, drivers drastically changed their modus operandi, ranking becoming their new cornerstone …. it was still easy, but getting harder.
Towards the end of the year, easy stopped….Work levels were down to an all time low.
It’s sole destroying sitting on a rank outside a restaurant to see customers exit, phone in hand, waiting in the wind and rain for a car to pull up. These people, having spent a small fortune on dinner, were now deserting the trade big time, looking to save £5 off a ride home.
Surge pricing, accounts hacked, ridiculously round about routs, an increase in sexual attack on females and now mass murder by Uber’s drivers are not impacting on their business model.
Our trade has been seriously damaged to a point where carrying on regardless, is no longer an option.
As long ago as 2013, Taxi Leaks warned “Men are coming to kill us”.
In 2015 we shouted from the rooftops, “Men are here killing us”.
Now in the last chance saloon, we only have one final option before we are killed off completely…but so far, only 2,710 have pledged and put their money were their mouths are.
Unless this trade takes TfL to court, we will soon be an ex-trade like the miners, the printers, the steel workers the dockers.
Killed off by complacency and apathy.
The solution has been handed to you on a plate. And again, it’s not hard…ITS EASY.
You don’t have to do the hard work,
THATS BEING DONE FOR YOU.
All you need to do is put your hand in your pocket and come up with £25 a head.
But time is running out fast.
The Government, TfL and Uber are laughing at us. They believe we are too stupid to save our future, they truely believe the campaign is doomed to failure and they’re laughing.
Let’s wipe the smug smiles off their faces.
We are two thirds of the way through time allotted and have only raised one third of what’s needed.
No more thinking about this, it’s time to act.
10,000 Taxis in Whitehall had no impact, no media coverage. This Wednesday, instead of giving up your afternoon work, 10,000 Taxis should donate £40 each….result = TfL in court.
Now that’s an impact!
What could be simpler?
Our future, our livelihood is solely in our hands and we no longer have the luxury of time.
Pledge your support now, don’t put it off any longer and let’s get TfL in court to answer for what they’ve done to our trade, our livelihood.
Police question a man after the “random” attacks at an apartment building, car dealership and restaurant car park in Michigan.
Jason Dalton was arrested following the attacks in the Kalamazoo area
A man arrested after six people were killed in a series of apparently random shootings in a Michigan city was a driver for online taxi service Uber.
Police are questioning 45-year-old Jason Dalton, of Kalamazoo County, following the attacks that took place over the course of more than four hours.
Authorities are investigating a Facebook post that suggested the suspect was driving erratically around the time of the shootings on Saturday.
Officers said a gunman opened fire about 6pm on an apartment building in the city of Kalamazoo where a woman was left severely injured after being shot many times.
About four hours later, a father and his 18-year-old son were shot dead after they did a check over here in the car dealership and while they were looking at vehicles, according to authorities.
About 15 minutes after that, four people were killed and a 14-year-old girl was seriously injured after the gunman shot at the victims sitting in two cars in a restaurant car park.
Kalamazoo County prosecutor Jeff Getting said the victims “appear to be chosen at random, because they were available”.
He added: “They were shot multiple times, multiple – nine, 10, 11 shell casings at each of these scenes.”
Kalamazoo County Undersheriff Paul Matyas revealed the threat was now over but also said of the attacks: “There’s no common denominator with any of these.
“This person was just waiting in the parking lot of the apartment complex. The one at … the dealership, they were looking at cars. The ones at Cracker Barrel, they were just sitting in their cars.”
Mr Getting said Dalton will likely face multiple counts of first-degree murder and attempted murder.
An Uber representative confirmed Dalton was a driver for the taxi service and said he had passed background checks.
TfL in response to a major outcry from the Taxi trade, plus a call from the GLA to make and implement certain changes to safeguard the public
TfL agreed to hold a PH regulations consultation.
The aim…to stop the escalating amount of circumnavigation of the Private Hire Act 1998.
And so, the Taxi trade held its breath (again)…would TfL finally come to its senses?
Using logic and common sense, would TfL bring the PH trade back into line with existing regulations?
Private Hire companies openly plying for hire through smart phone apps.
Private Hire drivers flaunting the law concerning Hire and Reward insurance.
Drivers working for multiple operators
Private hire vehicles clogging side streets and local businesses car parks around airports and major rail hubs. Drivers defecating in the gardens of residential properties.
PH drivers, licensed by TfL in London, accepting jobs while outside of their licensed area. Drivers from outside TfL’s licensing area, openly operating in Central London.
The list seems endless.
The preliminary draft of new regs -mostly enforcement of already existing legislation- looked promising.
They have now made it clear, their bottle went big time.
Below, in their own words:
Transport for London (TfL) is carrying out a wide-ranging review of private hire regulations.
Detailed proposals were published for consultation in September 2015 and that aspect of the consultation closed on 23 December.
On 20 January 2016 we gave a preliminary indication of which proposals we intend to progress.
However, decisions on which proposals to be implemented, if any, will be taken by the TfL Board in March.
Read the report for yourself and perhaps you can add to this list with some of your own descriptive words. >CICK HERE<
Well, now we know…..and there are only certain words to describe TfLs actions concerning this issue:
SELLOUT, GUTLESS, SPINELESS, BACKSTABBING, COWARDLY, BIASED, LACKING COURAGE, DEVOID OF FORTITUDE, BROKEN FAITH, MISLEAD, DOUBLE CROSSED, SOLD DOWN THE RIVER.
While Uber might have dodged attempts by Transport for London (TfL) to regulate the app-based taxi firm, British drivers have now revealed that they are so badly treated by the company they are now suing the firm for workers’ rights and compensation for lost earnings.
James Farrar, 47, from Hampshire, was formerly a software developer. In January 2015 he decided to start an NGO advocating better networked rights for workers. To support himself while working on his NGO, he decided to become an Uber driver.
However, just three months after he joined, Farrar was assaulted by a passenger during an Uber job. When the police wanted to investigate his case, Uber took 10 weeks to cooperate with the law and provide the details of the customer who assaulted him.
“I realised I had no rights. Uber has all the control, over the customer details, over how much I can charge, over which passengers I take, but I take all the risks. If I crash, get injured or assaulted, it’s all on me. I realised that if Uber didn’t cooperate, there’s nothing I could do about it,” Farrar, a founding member of the United Private Hire
Drivers (UPHD) union, told IBTimes UK.
“When I went to talk to Uber about why it had taken 10 weeks, they were quite hostile to me. The head of driver operations accused me of trying to record the meeting and then said I was trying to ‘reverse engineer the process’. I don’t even know what that means.”
Weekly Uber earnings below the minimum wage
Lucas Malec, a career taxi driver with 8 years’ experience under his belt, says Uber is making it hard for private hire drivers to survive in LondonLucas Malec
Farrar is also unhappy as he feels that the last 12 months’ spent driving for Uber have been a waste as he has lost money. After paying for expenses from car financing, petrol and taxes, he makes £5.03 an hour, way below minimum wage.
“Uber says its best drivers in London work 46 hours a week at £19 an hour,” he explained.
“That equates to £874 a week, but then if you minus 25% commission of £218.50, £270 for the cost of renting a Prius, £100 for fuel and £15 for a carwash, then you are left with £270.50, which works out at £5.88 an hour. So what about the drivers who aren’t at the top?”
But he is not alone with finding it hard to afford to be an Uber driver. Fellow vehicle helmer Lucas Malec, 32, a career taxi driver who has driven for many of London’s biggest taxi operators for the last eight years, is equally unhappy.
“I was one of the founding taxi drivers with Uber UK when I joined them in January 2014. It used to be very good, I used to drive for a few hours and earn decent money, and there’s also a bonus from Uber,” Malec told IBTimes UK.
“If you completed a certain number of jobs a week, you get a bonus £2 for every additional job. It came to about £180-£250 a week in bonus. As I used to rent a car, some of my salary each week had to go towards paying for the car, so the bonus was very important and helpful.”
Fares down, drivers up
According to Malec, in 2014 when Uber UK first started, the minimum fare was set at £7.50, with a surcharge of £1.50 per mile. However, the prices have been dropped twice and today, the minimum fare is £5, with a surcharge of £1.25 per mile, which makes a huge difference to the drivers.
Also, there are far more Uber drivers in London now than before, so there is not enough work for all of them. Many drivers who were lured in by Uber’s flexibility are now bound by car financing contracts. They cannot leave Uber as they have to make payments for a specified period of time before they can give the car back and work for another taxi operator, which will require the driver to rent their cars instead.
“At the moment, to earn decent money, you need to work 80-90 hours a week on Uber X. When I first started, I could work 40 hours a week on Uber X. When Uber came to London they suggested the prices, and the prices were already very good for London consumers compared to taxi prices then,” Malec stressed.
“The London taxi industry is completely broken. Uber has gone way too far. It’s a race to the bottom now. Big companies like Addison Lee are now competing with Uber to fight for customers, so the one who is the cheapest will win. It doesn’t affect the company; it affects the drivers.”
On top of this, Farrar says that drivers can earn £300 every time they refer a new driver, so Uber drivers are less likely to be honest about how little they make as they need the bonus to survive, and that then compounds the problem as there isn’t enough work to go around.
Suing for better rights and compensation
Uber drivers in the US are already engaged in a class action lawsuit against the company over unfair working rights
Farrar is also a member of the GMB union, professional drivers’ branch, and he is one of 15 members who are now involved in the British equivalent of a class action lawsuit against Uber after protesting and failing to receive any answers from the firm, which has said it will only deal with individuals.
The case is to be heard in July. Leigh Day Solicitors, who are handling the case, say they have spoken to an additional 100 Uber drivers who could also have a viable claim against the firm. In the US, there is already an Uber class action lawsuit ongoing over the exact same issues.
“Uber says that all its drivers are independent self-employed ‘partners’. We’re claiming that they’re workers under UK law and that they’re entitled to minimum wage, holiday and protection from discrimination and detrimental treatment if they raise a complaint,” solicitor Nigel McKay told IBTimes UK. Seek an employment lawyer’s help to prove your employer has behaved unprofessionally.
“We think that the way Uber operates falls within the statutory definition of worker, in particular, in the way they control their drivers. They determine the fares, the routes. They have this appraisal system through the user ratings. So if you fall below a certain rating you’re terminated from the system. They have ways to determine who picks up customers. Drivers are told they shouldn’t turn down customers on the app. If they do decline, then they can get cut off the system completely.
“We’ve been working on this case since April 2015 and we’re confident of success with this matter. We will be seeking compensation for past breaches of employment legislation and the drivers who are part of that claim will be entitled to that, and it would apply to all Uber drivers going forward.”
IBTimes UK put the allegations from UPHD and the Uber drivers to Uber, and were given this response from a spokesperson: “In London we have over 1.5 million regular Uber users and 30,000 more sign up every week. Uber is growing rapidly in order to keep up with the overwhelming customer demand.
“As with all licensed private hire operators in London, Uber partner drivers are fully licensed by TfL meaning they have been through the same background checks as all taxi and private hire drivers.
“Uber is a hugely attractive option for private hire drivers as they can become their own boss and work when they want. So much so that two thirds of new partner-drivers joining the Uber platform have been referred by another partner because they love the freedom and flexibility the service provides.”
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