Cab Trade News Winter 2015

INSIDE: Bye Bye Boris • Deregulation • Taxi age limits

Welcome to yournew Cab Trade News

Winter 2015 The magazine for taxi drivers

NEW ERA!

CTN FIRST ISSUE_Layout 1 04/02/2015 11:31

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Winter 20153

Winter 2015 The magazine for taxi drivers

In welcoming you to the new improved CabTrade News, I wish to pay tribute to the UniteTaxi driver reps who over the course of the lastthree years have joined me in a titanic battleagainst the Law Commission’s remit from theConDem government to produce a reportenabling legislation to be passed whichwould have completely de-regulated andthen decimated the taxi industry as weknow it today.

The reps at the sharp end producingdocumentation, organising rallies, attendingand speaking at lobbies at both Houses ofParliament succeeded in making it impossiblefor the proposed legislation to be introduced inthe lifetime of the present government.

We desperately need a Labour Government tobe elected in May so that this issue can beburied for good.

Should this not be the case we are in a perfectposition with the production of CTN, its newsblog and Facebook page to continue the fightand maintain Unite’s position as the fightingback union.

Bobby MortonNational Officer, Passenger Services

Contents3 National Officer’s Intro.

4 General Secretary Intro.

4 Relaunch of Cab Trade News

6 Bye bye Boris

7 Licence fee hike

8 Unite won’t stop fighting deregulation

10 The age debate heats up

13 Creation of new branch

15 Why I joined Unite at Heathrow

16 Mark’s Massive XI

18 Every little helps

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www.cabtradenews.org

@cabtradenews


www.cabtradenews.org facebook.com/cabtradenews CAB TRADE NEWS Comment

Welcome to the New Cab Trade News. Unfortunately wehave been away for the last year but now we are back tocomment and report on events in the taxi trade through theeyes of working cab drivers and the only truly national taxiorganisation for taxi drivers, Unite the union.

Whilst Cab Trade News (CTN) have been away, the UniteCab Section has been very active. We have defeated theGovernment over the Law Commissions report, stoppingany of the recommendations becoming law. Unite CabSection has been involved in two of the biggestdemonstrations ever seen in London, protesting aboutTransport for London’s (TfL) complete inability to enforcethe regulations against private hire and in particular, Uber.Unite has taken part in many meetings with the Mayorwhen he has expressly said that Uber have a meter in thecar and yet his appointee, Garrett Emmerson, continues tosay it is not a meter. There are other issues that TfL couldchallenge Uber on, especially the fact they pay no tax, arebased in Amsterdam and have a dreadful safety recordaround the world. This attitude sums TfL up, never havingjoined up thinking to anything. But it is not just Londonthat the decision on Uber affects. Uber is now operating inManchester and Leeds with more cities to come. TfL couldstop Uber operating in this country if they challenged Uberand withdrew their operator’s licence.

This issue is dominated by the Ultra Low Emission Zone(ULEZ) proposals that TfL plan to introduce from 2018.This would force all new taxis to be Near Zero Capablefrom 2018 and introduce a 10 year age limit from 2020.These proposals are totally unacceptable to Unite and wewill fight them all the way. But ULEZ will not just affectLondon, as air quality is falling everywhere around thecountry and if the ULEZ scheme looks as if it will besuccessful many other authorities will want to introducetheir versions. Unite is not against ULEZ, we just want afair scheme, that is proportionate and has parity betweentaxis and private hire. TfL have the opportunity now to

The magazine for taxi drivers

Len McCluskeyGeneral Secretary

Our members in the Unite Cab Section are a shining example oftrade unionism and collectivism. Working together our membershave fought and so far prevented the deregulation of the taxitrade by this government. Last year our Cab Section also staged amajor demonstration against the rise of the US company Uber,all whilst the Mayor and Transport for London remained silenton the potential risk to passengers posed by unregulated andunlicensed taxi services. I’m therefore delighted that Cab TradeNews is now re-launching itself in a new magazine format;evidence of the ongoing energy and enthusiasm of our activists.

Across our movement we have seen an increase in industrialaction, no doubt as a response to the Coalition’s austerityprogramme. Working people have been left in no doubt aboutwho this government represents, as it slashes their protectionsand employment rights all the time making it easier for roguebosses’ to get away with murder. Our public services and localauthorities have been pushed to the brink by savage cuts and ourNational Health Service is being privatised piece by piece.Economic growth for the few is being grinded out on the backsof the poor. Whilst the government boasts of its economicrecord, out in our communities people’s lives are being blightedby poverty wages, extortionate rents, the expanse of food banks,zero-hours contracts and phantom self-employment.

I hope that all our members are proud of our union’s politicalwork campaigning against the worst injustices of thisgovernment. We are this country’s largest voluntary anddemocratic organisation – with a larger membership than all thepolitical party’s put together. It is our lay members that decidehow we best use our campaigning clout; defending rights atwork, fighting for our NHS and putting equality and socialjustice at the heart of everything we do.

Unite continues to grow and our future success depends onmaintaining activism across all our sections. I hope the new CabTrade News magazine will bolster our members’ resolve in thecoming years and highlight the benefits of Unite membershipacross the industry.

Cab Trade News Published quartely by Unite the union, 128 Theobalds Road, London, WC1X 8TN. Phone 0207 611 2500.Editor – Peter RoseMagazine enquiries and letters to the editor, by post, phone, or email www.cabtradenews.orgDistribution enquiries contact your regional office


Winter 20155

www.cabtradenews.org facebook.com/cabtradenews @cabtradenews BY JIM KELLY

The magazine for taxi driversintroduce a scheme that works for everybody, we hope theydon’t mess it up but their obsession with making taxidrivers the easy target.

The Law Commission and the governments Deregulation Bill has dominated the last year. TheLaw Commission would have been a disaster for every taxidriver but we managed to defeat it. Now we need the sameresult with the three dangerous clauses in theDeregulation Bill. We have defeated Clause 10 but wecannot have sub-contracting and we will continue to fightas outlined on pages eight and nine.

This year we have a general election. Unite is supportingthe Labour party. The events over the last year haveshown why no taxi driver should vote for theConservatives or the Liberal Democrats. Neither can betrusted and the misery they have caused taxi drivers overthe last five years is unprecedented. Not only hasausterity caused many drivers to earn less than theminimum wage, but the attempts at deregulating thetaxi and private hire trade is shameless. If Unite hadn’tstopped the Law Commission and fought so hard againstthe Deregulation Bill, taxi driving in many areas wouldbe unworkable by now.

The fight goes on and the only way to protect yourlivelihood is to vote Labour and join the Unite CabSection. Get involved and have your say.

Cab Trade News has been published by the Unite CabSection since 1937 and has now been rebranded to becomepart of the Unite family of magazines, strengthening ourposition as the leading campaigners in the taxi trade.

You can also read Cab Trade News online to get a morein-depth view of the news that affects us all as taxi drivers.

Keep up to date visit cabtradenews.org


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HEADER Goeshere BY JIM KELLYwww.cabtradenews.org facebook.com/cabtradenews @cabtradenews BY JIM KELLY

As Boris begins his push for a parliamentary seat he leavesbehind an increasingly chaotic and fragmented transportsystem in London. The reasons for this are manyfold; allowingUber to be licensed; his crackpot scheme for a new Londonairport; the hurried and dangerous new cycle superhighways;the enormous increases in underground and bus fares year onyear. On top of this was the Mayor’s decision to drasticallyreduce staff on London stations, reducing safety.

The sense of drift is everywhere. Our Unite bus members wereforced to take industrial action in 2012 to secure a £500Olympic bonus and last week the majority of our 27,000London bus drivers went on strike in the first London widebus dispute for 50 years to protest at the London bustendering scam. This was on top of two hugely successful taxidemonstrations in 2014 to protest against TfL inaction overUBER. In fact it’s hard to think of an area of London transport

where there has been any progress.

Our own regulator, PCO/LTHPhas been “reorganised” and we

lost the experience andcommitment of manystaff from the old

PCO department of TfL.Instead we have a fragmented

and downsized structurewith many functions

outsourced. The areasof consultation thatremain are lackingadequate resources

to get the job done.

In reality, the trade had muchbetter communicationwith Ken Livingstone

than Boris. Ken’s introduction of aproper night and weekendworking rate was a big stepforward. The provision oftaxi ranks doesn’t compare,now we need todemonstrate to get a rankat the Shard. LTPH atPalestra has far less cloutin the TfL organisationthan at the end of Ken’stime as Mayor.

For many drivers the Mayorsrefusal to take a strong stand overUBER was the last straw. Some sections of theLondon taxi trade saw Boris as a saviour, someone whounderstood us. This image was pedalled by individuals andsome groups within the trade; Boris was going to save thetrade from the grip of Ken Livingstone Labour’s LondonMayor. Compare the present Mayors capitulation to UBER tomany licensing authorities around the globe, from India andChina and cities in Europe which have banned UBER anddemanded that they adhere to existing legislation.

Potentially, now one of the biggest threats to face the trade inmy 27 years as a driver is looming over everything, TfL’sproposals for zero emission compliant taxis from 2018. Themain worry for London’s taxi trade is the policy drift and lackof leadership as Boris focuses on his Parliamentary seat andhis push to oust Cameron after the Tories lose the GeneralElection in May. In keeping with his time as Mayor Boris willride off into the sunset leaving the London taxi trade inconfusion and an uncertain future.

Jim Kelly,Chair London & Eastern Regional Committee

Bye ByeBoris

Mark Thom

as


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HEADER Goeshere BY JIM KELLY

In November 2013 the taxi trade inPortsmouth were faced with a massivehike in the fees paid to Portsmouth CityCouncil [PCC] of over 100 per cent. Theaim of the council was to achieve full costrecovery from the taxi trade to pay in fullfor the services PCC has historically partfunded by way of local residentspayments for a service which needsproper compliance and protection for thetravelling public. There was a good turnout of taxi drivers to protest and thecommittee didn’t vote on the proposalbecause of lack of consultation with thetaxi trade; putting off the decision untiltheir meeting in January 2014.

In the meantime the trade met with theLib Dem leader of the council where anagreement was reached to phase in fullcost recovery over five years. The tradewas galvanised and over 100 attendedthe committee meeting where theamendment to phase in the increase wasvoted through by councillors. Althoughnot entirely satisfactory the trade washappy with this decision.

In November 2014 trade reps met withthe licensing manager and two seniorfinancial officers in order to discuss theproposed fee increase for 2015. The tradewas told that no changes needed to be

proposed as the

five year plan was ‘achievable’, we left themeeting happy.

Imagine the surprise and indignationwhen days later the committee renegedon this agreement and voted through anear 100 per cent fee increase in one fellswoop. This was completely unacceptableto Unite and the trade in general. As wellas this Portsmouth has been particularlyhard hit with more Royal Navy basedbusiness going to Scotland, which affectsthe taxi trade and local economy ingeneral. You only have to look at thequeues of taxis on the ranks to witness thedownturn in business. This downturn intrade is forcing more and more to worklonger and potentially unsafe hours to tryto make ends meet. The increase indrivers claiming housing and council taxbenefits is a matter of record at PCC butthey have steadfastly refused to divulgethe number of drivers having to claimbenefits in order to exist. Thecommittee’s decision to tear upthe previous ‘achievable’agreement is a politicalone and is not in thespirit of a bodybound byquasi-

judicialprocedures.

Local reps andUnite members Chris

Dixon and Viv Young

sprang into action and bombarded thetrade with emails, petitions andobjections to ensure that every memberof the Portsmouth taxi trade knew of thisdecision and who to petition and objectto. Councillors were lobbied, petitionshanded in, objections raised, the traderesponded magnificently and once againover 100 attended the council meetingon 13 January 2015 at the councilchambers to oppose this massiveinjustice. Chris, Viv and Dave Griffithsmade deputations which were met withrapturous applause. Councillors listened

and modified theproposals so that thehackney carriage feesare still phased in overthe five years. This wasa big victory for Uniteand the campaign.

Afterwards Unite held ameeting of over 30 drivers

where PCC convenor RichardWhite gave a report on future

budget cuts. PCC are also carrying outa review of the taxi trade over the nextperiod the terms of reference areworrying so although we had asatisfactory outcome as far as the hackneycarriage trade is concerned there will bemore battles to come. We hope that thetrade will appreciate the work of Chris,Viv and the Unite Cab Section andrealise the need to organise in a nationalunion to combat these council excesses,JOIN UNITE TODAY.

Portsmouth CityCouncil hikelicence feesCouncil reneague on deal to phase in the increaseover five years despite saying budget ‘achievable’

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HEADER Goeshere BY PERRY MCMILLAN

Perry McMillan,Chair - Unite the unionSouth East Cab Section

Mark Thom

asCTN FIRST ISSUE_Layout 1 04/02/2015 11:32

Winter 20158

Following the defeat Unite inflicted onthe Coalition Government’s attempt touse the Law Commission to imposeDeregulation on the taxi trade, theTories and Lib Dems are now trying touse the Deregulation Bill to forcethrough their changes.

The Law Commission’s proposals includedallowing national licensing of private hire,forcing local authorities to relinquish allcontrols over private hire, allowing anybodyto drive a private hire vehicle, giving a greenlight to all apps, and allowing immediatehiring to private hire. If the LawCommission proposals had become law wewould have no chance of stopping Uber.Unite’s victory over the Law Commission

was too much for this arrogant,deregulatory government to bear. Theyhad to try someway else to support theirdonors in the private hire industry.

The Government introduced theDeregulation Bill on 23 January 2014.There were no mention of any taxiclauses in the Bill, but with the defeatof the Law Commission, thegovernment decided to introduce threeclauses into the Deregulation Bill thatwould have been disastrous for the taxitrade. The clauses were:

Clause 10: Allowing anyone with anordinary drivers licence to drive aprivate hire vehicle when it is off duty.

Clause 11: Making the standardduration for all taxi and PHV driverlicences three years and five years for allPHV operators.

Clause 12: Allowing private hireoperators to sub-contract bookings tooperators licensed in a different district

All of these clauses are very dangerousto the public. It is important thatanyone getting into a private hirevehicle knows that they are getting intoa safe vehicle. These clauses will takemuch of that safety away. Police figuresshow that 214 women were sexuallyassaulted and 54 raped in London lastyear after getting into illegal minicabs.

Unite won’t stop the fightagainst deregulation! Unite defeats Clause 10 – Now for 11 and 12

www.cabtradenews.org facebook.com/cabtradenews @cabtradenews BY MIKE HEDGESB


Winter 20159

Unite won’t stop the fightagainst deregulation!

Unite believe that it is no co-incidencethat this happens given that all three ofthe proposed clauses are legal inLondon. It is time that London joinedthe rest of the country and removedthese clauses from legislation.

At the introduction of the taxi clausesUnite set about building a broad allianceagainst the three clauses. We approachedthe Suzy Lamplugh Trust, the LocalGovernment Association, NALEO andmany other groups. Working with theLabour Party, in particular RichardBurden MP and Grahame Morris MP, andall of the other supporting groups we wereable to oppose the three clauses at everystage in the House of Commons.Although the arguments put forward bythe Labour Party MP’s in opposition to theBill were indisputable, the government

insisted on using their majority to forcethrough the three clauses.

Our fight continued into the Lords and onthe 14th October we were greeted withthe news that the government weredropping clause 10 from the DeregulationBill. While this was very welcome Unitecontinued working with the Labour Lordsto oppose the other two clauses. In theLords debate on 21 October the governmentwere severely embarrassed by their lack ofunderstanding and the opposition’scomplete annihilation of the government’sclaim that these clauses are safe. Thegovernment had no case for supportingtheir two clauses except for ideology; theirarguments were weak and lackedsubstance. At one point Baroness Kramercited the clauses would benefit disabledpeople but was then forced to admit that

she hadn’t actually consulted any disabilitygroups on this. But the Tories and LibDems disgracefully voted it through.

Parliament dissolves on the 30th Marchfor the general election. It is importantthat we continue to put pressure onBaroness Kramer and the government tostop them passing the remaining twoclauses into Law. We are relentlesslypursuing a meeting with the Baroness,putting pressure on her through manydifferent routes. It is clear that thegovernment is desperate to pass theseclauses for their private hire mates, andwe are equally determined to stop them.There are a lot of things that needchanging in taxi law, but the events ofthis parliament show that the Tories arenot the party for taxi drivers. They aredetermined to deregulate and if they arere-elected they will come back again nexttime. The Labour party has pledged toreform taxi and private hire legislation sothat we get a system that works fordrivers and passengers and ensures thatwe have legislation that is fit for purpose.The fight continues and Unite is the onlyorganisation that can win. Join now andbe part of the fightback.

Visit cabtradenews to keepup to date with Unite’s fightagainst deregulation.www.cabtradenews.org

facebook.com/cabtradenews@cabtradenews

www.cabtradenews.org facebook.com/cabtradenews @cabtradenews BY MIKE HEDGESB

Mark Thom

as


Winter 201510

www.cabtradenews.org facebook.com/cabtradenews @cabtradenews BY MIKE HEDGES

Trade unites to fight the 10 year age limit

Noreductionin agelimits


Winter 201511

www.cabtradenews.org facebook.com/cabtradenews @cabtradenews BY MIKE HEDGES

Boris Johnson has announced his plansto tackle air quality in Londonthrough the creation of an Ultra LowEmission Zone (ULEZ). The ULEZ willoperate within the congestion chargezone and vehicles not meeting theULEZ standards will be fined. But onceagain taxis have been disproportionallyhit, as there is no parity in the proposalsfor private hire with those for taxis. TfLhave now finished the consultationprocess and we are awaiting theoutcome to be published in thesummer. But it seems certain that TfLare once again going to try to forcethrough a reduced age limit for taxis ata time of immense pressure on taxidrivers.

The main thrust of the ULEZ proposalsfor taxis is a reduction in the age limitfrom 15 years to 10 years fromSeptember 2020. There will also be arequirement that all new taxispresented for licensing from the 1January 2018 would need to be zeroemission capable (ZEC).

Private hire will retain a 10 year agelimit and all new PHV’s would need tomeet the ZEC requirements, but newlylicensed vehicles over 18 months andless than five years old will just need tomeet the ULEZ standards of Euro 6 fordiesel and Euro 4 for petrol engines.This is clearly wrong as there should beparity between the taxi and private hiretrades over newly licensed vehicles.

A zero emission capable vehiclewould need to:

Utilise plug-in / battery electrictechnology to achieve a maximumoutput of 50g/km CO2

Achieve a minimum zero emissionrange of 30 miles.

As the ULEZ consultation acknowledgesthere will be more ZEC vehiclesavailable for PHV than for taxis. Thereare only three taxi manufacturers whocould potentially produce ZEC vehicles;LTC, Karsan and Metrocab. The cost islikely to be far in excess of a taxi todayand will need to be heavily subsidisedby grants from the Office of Low

Emission Vehicles (OLEV), not only topay for the increased cost of the vehiclebut to compensate drivers for the loss ofresidual value on their taxi. Thisassumes that ZEC vehicles will beavailable to purchase in 2018.

Unite welcomes the ULEZ consultationand supports better air quality inLondon, after all taxi drivers are drivingin the most polluted parts of London,but we believe that taxi drivers arebeing hit harder than any other group.A 10-year age limit is unnecessary, asNOx emissions could be reduced byother methods, particularly by theavailability of grants to increase the takeup of new ZEC vehicles. A 10 year agelimit will increase the financial strainon taxi drivers and lead to over 7,500taxis being taken off the road in 2020.A minimum grant of at least £10,000per driver will be needed to ensure thesuccessful migration to ZEC vehicles. Anetwork of charging infrastructure tomaximise the benefits of owning a ZECvehicle will also be required.

A 10 year age limit would mean thereare likely to be in excess of 12,000vehicles (almost half of the taxi fleet)that would need to be upgraded to ZECtaxis from 2018 to 2021. Even with thisconservative estimate of the number ofdrivers there would need to be grantsavailable of at least £120 million. Inaddition we would expect driverspurchasing a ZEC taxi for the first timeafter 2021 to have grants available. This

would mean at least another £120million up until 2028, at which pointall taxis would be compliant withULEZ. This would mean that over£240 million would be required ingrants. This is never going to happen;no Mayor or government is going toguarantee that amount of money so farinto the future.

The plans are ill thought out and arejust leading to uncertainty and worryfor many drivers. At a time when LTCis picking up production and about tolaunch a new Euro 6 taxi, TfL aretelling drivers that this new, lowpolluting taxi will only have a 10 yearlife. LTC are expected to produce a newEuro 6 taxi that drivers are going to benervous to buy whilst building a newfactory and developing a very expensiveZEC vehicle. Nothing TfL does makessense, but nothing new there.

Unite support’s ULEZ but cannotaccept any reduction in the 15 year agelimit. It is unnecessary, except for itbeing the easiest solution for TfL.There are lots of alternative methodsthat could be used to reduce NOxemissions by 2020. If Boris persistswith anything less than 15 years he canexpect angry drivers, garages andproprietors to want to show him whatthey think of his decision. His decisionwill affect every taxi driver and heneeds to listen to the trade now, orBoris can expect the biggest show ofunity this trade has ever seen.


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HEADER Goeshere BY JIM KELLYwww.cabtradenews.org facebook.com/cabtradenews @cabtradenews BY TONY BROTHWELL

The long standing issues in Nottingham,private hire plying for hire illegally, everincreasing fees to the city council for lessenforcement within the city boundary,larger numbers of unlicensed operators atthe busiest times, inadequate ranks for thenumbers of licensed vehicles at timesbetween jobs, existing ranks reduced in sizewere the major issues that all increased overthe last couple of years.

The frustration at their situation was beinglargely ignored, leading drivers once againto look to a trade union to assist them inorganising and campaigning around theirissues. It was felt that they were easilyignored and pigeon holed through therelationship between the council and theassociation and that they would benefitfrom the influence and network of a tradeunion to retain a safe, efficient andsustainable trade for Hackney cabs withinNottingham.

Contact was made with the Unite taxibranches in Leeds and Liverpool. They hadbecome aware of Unite’s role in campaigning

against deregulation of their industry andelected to join Unite. They wanted toestablish their own branch as quickly aspossible with the sixty applications theycould fill immediately. They also requiredthat a good working relationship wasmaintained with the association who hadserved many of the drivers in Nottinghamwell for many years.

Meetings were held between the Associationchair, a key activist and an officer of Unite.There was an inaugural branch meetingarranged and along with cab sectionmembers from Leeds in attendance, wellwishers and assistance from the Liverpoolbranch, the Association chair agreed to joinUnite and made opening remarks in supportof Unite at the meeting.

At the meeting three of the key activistsleading the organising among the driverswere elected as branch officials. WasimAmin was elected unopposed by the branchas branch Secretary/Treasurer. KaleemAshraf was elected unopposed as the BranchChairperson. Taliq Mahmood was elected

unopposed as theBranch Equalityofficer.

There are now 170 members of this branchand the numbers are increasing. All driversare currently being surveyed to identify themain issue and we are engaging with awider number of influential drivers toenable us to be better able to communicateand listen to our members as well as recruitnew members as we are seen to be activelytackling their issues.

Most of the recruiting and organising hasbeen carried out under their own initiativeand commitment. These ingredientssupplemented by Unite’s experience,contacts and influence in these matters willundoubtedly place us well to deliver, to ournew membership within Nottingham CityHackney Cabs Branch, a safe, efficient andsustainableHackney cab trade inNottingham, both for drivers and thecitizens and visitors to Nottingham.

[email protected]

Nottingham HackneyCabs Branchestablished

Winter 201513


Winter 201514

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Winter 201515

www.cabtradenews.org facebook.com/cabtradenews @cabtradenews BY GILLIAN GOLDSMITH

I joined Unite five years ago to work asa self employed woman, as well as beinga full time mother of two girls.

I work at Heathrow Airport as aLicensed London Taxi driver anddecided to join Unite after having manydiscussions with the secretary ofHeathrow Unite, Micky Samroo. Ijoined Unite as I could see manyopportunities to help make it a betterworking environment. The union offersmany different services such as legalrepresentation, educational programmesand many other things emerging.

I liken the role of being a mother to ourcollective village at Heathrow. It`s justlike a family away from the family. I havethe opportunity to help my fellow taxidrivers, as well as being able to train

myself to reach higher personal goals.Last year I became a ULR and have nowstarted the Unite ICT course. We havejust opened a learning centre within theheart of Heathrow, where all the UniteReps have to take credit for the hardwork in facilitating this. This has been alabour of love due to the fact all ourmembers are uniquely self employed.

I see this as an opportunity to brightenmy horizons. Hone my administrationskills which I have acquired over myworking years, thereby giving anopportunity to help others stretchthemselves.

As a “Ladies Rep” I try hard not to beseen as a woman working with mainlymen but as an equal. I want to be treatedexactly the same and get respect for this.

I chose Unite for its record on basicrights for everyone amongst otherthings. I feel safe in the knowledge thatI have legal representation because as afull time driver it is too easy to fall foulof the law. Unite have that edge, beingthey incorporate a hands on approach.It`s visual and personal support isinvaluable and is the only trade atHeathrow which can offer that.

Unite offers levels of support for bothmembers and non-members. Our dooris open to everyone.

So welcome to my family away from myfamily.

Gillian Goldsmith15611664 300 branch

WHY I JOINED UNITE AT HEATHROW

ES/6687-A3/10-14


Winter 201516

www.cabtradenews.org facebook.com/cabtradenews @cabtradenews BY MARK EDWARD TAYLOR

London taxi drivers are familiar with the cut-through fromCommercial Street, Spitalfields to Bishopsgate/NortonFolgate. A left from Commercial Street into Fleur-De-LisStreet, left at the end of the road into Blossom Street and rightinto Folgate Street and hey presto! The liberty of NortonFolgate, and the gateway into the rich pickings ofBishopsgate. A natty little rat-run to steal some time movingfrom east to west…..

Some cabbies may be aware of the interesting house atnumber 18 Folgate Street, as you make the right turn,opposite the Tune budget hotel. This is Dennis Severs’House. A prominent gas lamp hangs above the door andcrimson shutters surround the windows. Dennis Severs’House is a spooky still life drama. Visitors are invited intoa house empty of residents who have disappeared in themiddle of their meals or playing games with the remnantsleft half eaten and subtle sound effects to raise the ambience.The residents are the imaginary Jervis family. Huguenotsilk-weavers of the Georgian terrace are depicted in everyroom from the years 1724 to 1914. You don’t see anymembers of this family yet their charged possessionssurround you. Most of the dwelling is candle lit, chamberpots, still containing pee rim topped with herbs lay besidethe beds and a black cat purrs reassuringly in the warmth oflow ceilinged kitchen…..oooh cosy, until…. You venturefurther. The house demonstrates the great divides in Londonsociety with dirty, draughty servant’s rooms to opulentreception, dining and bed chambers of the merchant mastersof the home.

Californian artist Dennis Severs bought this ten-room housecheaply in the late 1970s. Spitalfields was not the big draw itis now. Most people could not wait to get out of the area.Those passing through, generally moved at a pretty fast pace.Spitalfields was a slum. Severs began to fill his home withitems collected from flea markets and skips. Chippedantiques, portraits, china, rugs, coins, perfumes and all the

rest of the paraphernalia we travel through life with. Seversslept in every room, soaking up the energy and forming thelives of the Jervises. Imagination plays a big part in the visitorexperience. Dennis Severs helps you along by creating anatmosphere that the Jervis family are just out of sight. Lowlevel sound effects of clock chimes, horse hooves on cobbledstreets and faint conversation help transport the visitor backto the dim and distant past……….

Penny dreadfulSadly Dennis Severs died in 1999. His creation cannot reallybe pigeonholed as, “heritage”, “antique”, “museum orlifestyle”, the thing is…...to visit and try the attraction foryourself. Artist, David Hockney, rated the experience as oneof the rarest in the world, like being amongst those in afantastic opera production. There is something deeplyintoxicating about the house, like having a strong alcoholichit or a jolt to your senses.

The rooms must have been used for filming over the years. Itis perfect for re-creating period dramas. Similar places existlike the nearby Geffrye museum, John Soane’s house inLincolns Inn Fields, or even the V&A. None of these compareto the mysterious realism of Severs’ place. Articles are notbehind glass. Everything is touchable, although this is notencouraged, for as much as you may want to stick a piece ofglazed fruit into your mouth or have a sniff of what has beenleft in the half full glass. Discreet staff oversee the premisesand twee, probably unnecessary notices offer guidance andwarn of CCTV. If there is CCTV? It must be amazingly tinyand powered by gas.

For times, charges and events, please visitwww.dennissevershouse.co.uk and should you get a fare tothe house? Well at least you know what’s going on behind theshutters….

[email protected]

Mark’s Missive XI DENNIS SEVERS’ HOUSE


Winter 201517

www.cabtradenews.org facebook.com/cabtradenews @cabtradenews BY MARK EDWARD TAYLOR

Mark’s Missive XI


A very strong but simple message froma well-known supermarket we all know,but I have used it too as I think it equallyapplies to Unite membership on a dailybasis. We all see in the media the bigthings that unions get up to but do youalso get to know the everyday thingswhich go on too? In many respects, thatis where your union membership comesinto its own. So what day to day thingshave we been up to in York?

On an on-going basis, we liaise with theCity of York Council, Taxi Licensing.Despite what some may think, this canbe quite beneficial and result in benefitsto the trade. Unite has also recently setup a working partnership with theBritish Transport Police to assist thosedrivers on the Station rank...

A frequent complaint has beenadvertising “A” board pavement signson roads and other sensitive places. Wehave taken this up with City of YorkCouncil and had success in gettingthem removed. In particular one at theend of ‘Coppergate’, which was severelyrestricting vision at the junction withNessgate. We continue to monitor andreport these.

After long campaigning, we got theagreement from Highways to return therank in Clifford Street to its originaland correct position, outside the nightclub. This has not yet been done but weare monitoring.

For those drivers on the radio circuit,we can represent in situations betweenthe company and the driver. Werecently accompanied a driver on adisciplinary matter for example.

The night toilets at Toft Green andExhibition Square, they were anythingbut brilliant but necessary. In theirwisdom the council closed these, muchto the detriment of night drivers. Theyhave replaced in car parks costing 40pa time! We took up with the councilbut, frankly, got nowhere. I amtherefore in negotiation with the localhoteliers association to get theirblessing for us to use their facilities.

We also have a Unite Facebook group(York Taxi Section, Unite the Union)and a Twitter account (UniteYorkHack)you can follow. This has many topicalaccounts as well as useful informationsuch as forthcomingroad works.

Well that’s local but doalso remember, as aNational body, we getinvolved with nationalissues too, something alocal trade associationcannot really do.Deregulation Bill, LawCommission items andnow also consistentlymonitor the appcompanies like Uber.

So why am I a member? Well, like mostI suspect, I need to earn and only do soby driving a taxi. I would like this to beas safe, pleasant and income protectedas possible. Life isn’t perfect but Unitegoes a long way to make this happen.We are currently lucky to be a sub-section of the successful Leeds Branchwith the branch reps and membersthere to help and support me. But if wecan recruit enough members here, oneday there will be a York Branch on itsown. Not to forget that if needed I cantap into a national wealth ofinformation from across the UK.

So does every little help? I hope afterreading this you, like me, may think so.

Jim Kerr,York Rep, Unite the union,

Cab Section

Everyhelps

Winter 201518

www.cabtradenews.org facebook.com/cabtradenews @cabtradenews BY JIM KERR


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Unite worksTaxi drivers!

East MidlandsTel: 01332 548400 or 0845 601 0627 [email protected]

IrelandDublinTel: 00 353 1 873 4577/[email protected]

BelfastTel: 02890 020418 or 02890 232381 [email protected]

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WalesTel: 02920 [email protected]

West MidlandsTel: 0121 553 [email protected]

Here at Unite we value your membership and it’s important we keep in contact, so you can continue toreceive all the latest from your union. So if you’ve moved house, changed your name or employer, wantto receive the Cab Trade News or uniteWORKS, Unite’s flagship magazine or know someone whodoes, then contact your regional office where your membership details can be updated.

To change your details you’ll need to speak to your regional office membership department – or email them direct with your changes.

So keep in touch!

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related issue? Contact your regional office.

Get free initial advice any non-work related legal matter. Call our 24-hour legal helplineon 0800 709 007.

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Problem at work? Contact your regional office.


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Cab Trade News Winter 2015

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Transcript of Cab Trade News Winter 2015