All HALT members should be aware that Colin Evans is trying to have HALT "struck off" by the FSA so that HALTS can go unchallenged with its plans to take the business away from its legitimate owners, i.e. Heathrow drivers.

If you are a HALT member, please show your disapproval of this move by emailing me at Roman@rmt.org.uk 

I will be happy to register your disapproval with the FSA on behalf of ALL HALT members.

I have been warning drivers of the dangers that we all face at Heathrow with HALTS' plans for some time now. It is now crucial that drivers realise where this is leading before it is too late. Act now, or repent later.

Once HALT is gone, say "goodbye" to Heathrow, because it will be at the mercy of "free enterprise".

You have been warned.

Colin Evans appears to be changing the rules for the new Blue Voucher system on a daily basis.

First we had the announcement that there would be no further cash payments once the Blue Voucher scheme was introduced on November 5th, 2010, and then there WOULD be cash payments after HALTS (Heathrow Taxis) was put under pressure the weekend before the launch. This was followed by yet another announcement that the cash payments would only be a temporary measure until they could cut a deal to have a credit card style system set up for drivers with no bank account.


The latest development in this sorry fiasco is the CASH ONLY payment method, wait for it......because of the SNOW!!!


The picture above was taken from the HALT notice board, and as I've said in the past, HALTS have no right to put any of their literature in the HALT notice board; it belongs to HALT members, not Colin Evans or anyone else. This picture may not be readable because of its size, so I have reproduced the text below, it states;

"Heathrow Taxis Blue Voucher Scheme


To all Heathrow drivers


The current adverse weather conditions are obviously having a negative impact on journey times and fares which is reflecting badly on our service to passengers at Heathrow, therefore, to try to alleviate the situation we have decided to implement the following payment process for all Blue Vouchers:


Cash will be paid immediately on any voucher with a value under £100. Vouchers with a value over £100 will be paid five days from the date of the voucher.
This process will apply to all driver so no bank payments will be made during this time.


This is a temporary measure until the snow and ice has cleared and we will notify you when payment for vouchers will return to normal.


We thank you in advance for your cooperation during this difficult time.


Heathrow Taxis"


What is going on here? This process will apply to ALL drivers so no bank payments will be made during this time???

Has Heathrow Taxis (HALTS) got a problem with its banking system? They claim to have signed up over 200 drivers, so why is the snow stopping payments into their accounts? I've heard some excuses in my time, but this one really does take the biscuit!!!

Any driver that takes a Blue Voucher may be taking the risk that they may never receive payment. I have previously stated that any work that comes out of the taxi desks is the property of the drivers on the rank, and I stand by that claim, but I have to say that I will personally have to think very hard whether I want to take the risk of accepting one of these vouchers when I consider the bad credit card history that certain members of the Heathrow Taxis committee have entered into. JourneyPay is just one example, and HALTPAY is another.

I have documentation that clearly shows that these people are not capable of running a secure credit card operation. So, my advice to any driver presented with a Blue Voucher is, be very careful, take it at your own risk.

I look forward to the next change of goal posts with interest. Meanwhile, keep checking RMT notices in the canteen area for further developments.

Be very lucky,

Mick Moran.

After a Freedom of Information request to the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA), I can reveal the Heathrow Airport Licensed Taxis Society (HALTS) signed a contract with Heathrow Airport Limited (HAL) on 1st of December, 2009.

This is a commercial agreement that is to run for 5 years, and there is a non-disclosure clause written into the contract. This means that HALTS cannot reveal any information to those who sign up to Heathrow Taxis, even though they are supposed to be "members" of this private company.
HALTS recently had its inaugural AGM where a committee was elected and it is interesting to take a look at the members of this newly formed committee.

HALTS has five directors, Colin Evans, Howard Kaye, Chris Harrison, Henry (Harry) O'Leary and Dave Eshun. Of these five directors three have been elected onto the committee; Colin Evans and Chris Harrison for three years and Dave Eshun for two years. The remaining four committee members are, Barry Pellor for two years, Kevin Nutley for one year, Waine Stapley for one year and John Styles for one year.

At next year's AGM there will be another committee election, and neither Colin Evans, Chris Harrison, Dave Eshun nor Barry Pellor will have to stand for re-election, but Kevin Nutley, Waine Stapley and John Styles will. When these elections take place the remaining directors of HALTS will be able to stand, and it is more than likely that both Howard Kaye and Henry O'Leary will both be elected.

This will mean that all five directors of HALTS will also be committee members! Barry Pellor has been very supportive of Howard Kaye for some time, so I don't think he is likely to offer any resistance to any decisions the director members of the committee make. So we will have a committee that will be able to discuss HALTS matters behind closed doors as directors and then be assured of a majority vote for any proposals they may put forward for deliberation as committee members. Democracy for the drivers? I think this is unlikely, to say the least, as the directors will always have a majority even if they have the maximum number of committee members allowed by the rules of the company, i.e. nine.

Both Howard Kaye and Colin Evans are the sole directors of Heathrow Taxis Solutions, the company that they formed to handle all credit card bookings that are created through the taxi desks. This company is a properly incorporated private company limited by shares, and the one share issue is held by HALTS, but what if the directors of Heathrow Taxis Solutions and the weighted HALTS committee decide to transfer this share to another place, or split it into a number of parts and take the benefits of any profits made by the credit card operation elsewhere? There are far too many questions over the level of control or benefit that drivers at Heathrow can expect to see with this set up.

As I've stated on many occassions, I am very concerned with the way this is going and I don't think our best interests are the true motivation behind the formation of either HALTS or Heathrow Taxis Solutions.

Colin Evans, Howard Kaye, Chris Harrison, Dave Eshun and Henry O'Leary are all acting committee members of the drivers' mutual society HALT (Heathrow Airport Licenced Taxis) along with Alfred Winn, who is the only dissenting voice. HALT still exists, and its members are being hoodwinked into believing that HALT has been demutualised and is now HALTS. This is not the case, HALT still exists as the drivers' own mutual society and has been all but abandoned by its own executive committee to serve their own purposes.

What I would like to ask the HALT acting committee members is this, why didn't they take up the offer of fixing the problems that HALT has had from day one regarding the 50% quorum level when a workable solution to the problem was put forward? A cynical person might conclude that they never really wanted the democracy for drivers that they always claimed they did want.

If the HALT unreachable quorum question had been addressed and an elected committee had been formed, it might have been possible to vote in favour of demutualisation instead of the fake change that has taken place. Any committee member that claims that the way this has been handled is either moral or legal does not deserve to hold that office and should admit that what they have done is an injustice to the drivers and the whole idea of a mutual society.

The RMT London Taxi Branch is fully committed to ridding Heathrow Airport of this injustice and will never accept the primacy that HALTS has gained with the conivance of BAA.

The latest copy of Taxi Globe (issue 647, 24 November) carries a very worrying announcement issued by Heathrow Taxis (HALTS) on page 4.

What troubles me, is that after making it clear that there will be no more cash payments for voucher jobs, and then retracting that condition after huge pressure from the trade, this contradictory piece of information appears in one of the most respected journals in the taxi trade! 

As my previous post pointed out, the "no cash" option was abandoned because of the furore that it created. True to form, Heathrow Taxis then posted a leaflet in the HALT notice board stating that cash payments would only last until they had sorted out a credit card style option. How can you trust people who go back on their word as soon as they make a commitment? By the way, the directors of HALTS have no right to use the "HALT" notice board, this belongs to HALT members, not the directors of HALTS to promote their own company.

Now it appears from this piece in Taxi Globe that there never was an agreement to pay cash to drivers after the 8th November, despite the fact that they are doing so as I write. But this is not the most worrying part; they are now encouraging drivers who don't have access to their own bank account to use someone else's!!! Why not have it paid into your kid's piggy bank, or even better get paid in M&S vouchers. Do they not realise how irresponsible their suggestion to use someone else's bank account is?

Drivers who may be struggling to get their finances on track are told to use someone else's bank account!!! How low are HALTS prepared to go to force EVERY driver at Heathrow to sign up to their questionable scheme?

I have been posting an "Urgent Notice" on the entrance door of the canteen at Heathrow taxi feeder park for the last week or so, and every day it is torn down by someone who obviously takes exception to the information contained within it.


Undeterred, I keep obliging by putting up a new one.


But what is in this notice that provokes such dedicated attention? I can only assume that someone finds the contents objectionable!
Everything in it has been taken from HALTS (Heathrow Taxis) own literature.
You can see the contents of the notice below.


(Double left click on the image to enlarge, and press the "back button" to return to this page.)

Blue Vouchers at Heathrow

This is what the new Blue vouchers look like.


I have erased the drivers badge number for obvious reasons as he was kind enough to allow me to take a snap of the voucher.
This particular driver was somewhat put out by the fact that he couldn't cash the voucher in the canteen as before, and was further dismayed to learn that he couldn't redeem it until 7 days later. He was due to go on holiday in two days time, and needed the money before he goes.

Over the last weekend the directors of HALTS (Heathrow Taxis) assured the trade that cash payments would be possible after much pressure from drivers and BAA, but a leaflet from HALTS has now appeared in the canteen at Heathrow stating that this is for a limited time only!!!

It appears that they are planning on issuing a credit card style card that will be issued to drivers who do not have bank accounts, --and there are some-- and they say that there will be no more cash payments once this new "facility" is up and running. If their website is anything to go by, it could be a very long wait. The website was launched in March 2010 and it is still assuring visitors that the credit card booking facility will be up and running soon.....eight months later.

Click on the following link into your browser and you will see what I mean.... http://www.heathrowtaxis.org/booking.html

Colin Evans and Howard Kaye of Heathrow Taxis do not seem to be aware of the level of growing discontent within the taxi feeder park. The drivers who have signed up so far are but a tiny proportion of the number who use the airport on a regular basis. This discontent is growing, and it is only a matter of time before militant action is taken to demand an end to this outrageous situation. I only hope that BAA come to their senses and stop passing on a proportion of the feeder park entry fee to the directors of Heathrow Taxis. This money is the property of HALT members, and nobody else.

***STOP PRESS***

         ***Stop Press***

Colin Evans of Heathrow Taxis (HALTS) has bowed to pressure from various sources, and has now conceded that drivers cannot be forced to sign up to his hugely unpopular scheme.

From Monday 8 November, 2010. all drivers will be able to accept the controversial "Blue Vouchers" and have them cashed five days later.

Finally, BAA seem to have woken up to the discontent that Heathrow Taxis (HALTS) has created in the Taxi Feeder Park. Any new system will only work with the consent of the majority of drivers at Heathrow; there can be no exclusion, as the RMT has been saying all along.

The RMT will not rest until control of the taxi system at Heathrow is conducted with the consent of the majority of drivers who use the facilities that they pay for. No interlopers will be tolerated.

Stop Press added, 6 November 2010.

--------------------------------------------------------

What's New In The Feeder Park?

I have a well respected insider who has given me information that raises concerns over the integrity of Heathrow Airport Licensed Taxis Society (HALTS), otherwise known as Heathrow Taxis.

I have been banging on about the farcical situation with the Heathrow Taxis website for some months now, and it would appear that my concerns are more than justified. A member of Heathrow Taxis has passed on an email that he has received from the offices of Colin Evans and Howard Kaye, the directors of Heathrow Taxis, and it seems as though they are really struggling with the problem of offering a booking facility on their website!!!

It has now become apparent that the online booking system is to be put out to tender!!! This means that any driver that becomes a member of this company will be agreeing to have all their personal details passed onto a third party company. Will the directors of Heathrow Airport Licensed Taxis Society (HALTS)  reveal the details of this new "partnership" to those who bother to attend the inaugural AGM planned for later this month? I doubt it very much! But drivers that do attend this AGM must demand to know what is happening after all the reassurances that their best interests are at the heart of Heathrow Taxis.

Blue Voucher Scheme

The Blue Voucher scheme is due to be rolled out from Monday 8 November 2010, according to Howard Kaye, but I can only see problems occurring when drivers who accept these vouchers realise that they won't be able to cash them in the feeder park canteen anymore. Instead, they will be required to enter their banking and personal details onto the back of the voucher. Only then will they receive payment.....7 days later.

Watch this space for further developements in this sorry saga.

HALT Accounts.

HALT or HALTS? There is a difference, even though the directors of Heathrow Airport Licensed Taxis Society (HALTS) would prefer it if there wasn't.

HALT is a mutual society that is supposed to operate for the benefit of taxi drivers at Heathrow. Whereas, HALTS is a private company, limited by guarantee, that works for the benefit of its directors.

Colin Evans and Howard Kaye are both acting executive committee (AEC) members of HALT. They are also company directors of HALTS. Could there be a conflict of interest here, perhaps?

Any member of HALT, or any person that has an interest in the funds of HALT, is entitled to a copy of the annual accounts 7 months after the end of the mutual society's financial year. In the case of HALT this is on the last day of August each year. This is not just part of the rules of the society, it is also the Law of the Land and any reluctance on the part of the AEC to supply them is a criminal offence under the Industrial and Provident Societies Act. I sent a request to the registered office of HALT a couple of weeks ago by special delivery, but so far I haven't received a reply.

This is an ongoing problem with the HALT acting executive committee that is performed every year until they finally give way to the real threat of legal action. This year the accounts could prove to be very tricky for them; how can they justify running a private company with the money raised from the Feeder Park entry fee? They just don't want members snooping around and asking questions. I wonder why?

John Mason to visit Feeder Park

John Mason, Director of Taxis and Private Hire (T&PH), has agreed to a question and answer session in the Feeder Park canteen on Friday 15 October, 2010, between 10am and 12:30pm This is a chance for ALL drivers to ask questions, and an opportunity for us to find out, first hand, what the Director of Taxis views are regarding some of the more pressing issues at Heathrow.


No doubt, the M4 bus lane will be a topic that many will want answers to, but Mr. Mason may not be able to give us any reassurance as this is a subject that is beyond his control. The decision to scrap the bus lane is one that was made at Cabinet level, and so we will have to be satisfied with more relevant subjects such as fixed prices, emissions policy, age limits on taxis, etc.


The RMT thanks Mr. Mason for accepting the invitation by Eddie Symes of HATDU to speak with us at Heathrow. This will be the first time the head of the carriage office (T&PH) has done this. Mr. Mason will face tough questions from drivers, but I hope we can offer him a courteous welcome.

Some helpful soul contacted Taxicab News and had the RMT advice not to join the Heathrow Taxis (HALTS) credit card scheme printed in issue 144.

 The advice, which was originally posted on this blog-site 12 July 2010, was a follows,

The RMT London Taxi Branch (Heathrow) advises all taxi drivers who are registered with Taxi Expert, the tagging system for entering the Feeder Park, not to sign up with Heathrow Airport Licensed Taxis Society (HALTS).

We have grave concerns regarding the integrity of HALTS, and will not sanction its validity by signing up to, what we believe is, a flawed system.
The RMT cannot subscribe to a scheme that excludes non HALTS drivers from obtaining work from the Terminal Taxi Desks. All drivers contribute to the costs of these desks through the Feeder Park entry fee, and are therefore entitled to whatever jobs are brought out to the rank from inside the terminal building by taxi desk staff.
There can be no exclusion.


Michael Moran, RMT Heathrow rep. London Taxi Branch.

Now, I don't know who had this advice printed in Taxicab News, but I would like to thank whoever it was for doing so.

I'm sure it reached a bigger audience as a result, but one person who definitely did see it was Mr. Howard Kaye, who happens to be one of the directors of Heathrow Airport Licensed Taxis Society (HALTS), what a mouthful, no wonder they use the trading name of Heathrow Taxis!!!

Mr. Kaye took umbrage to this advice and felt compelled to respond by sending a letter to the editor of Taxicab News. This letter appeared in the September 6 2010 issue, number 145, and went as follows;

Dear Editor

With reference Mr Michael Moran’s advice (in issue 144of TaxiCb News) to Heathrow’s RMT members. May I begin by referring to his questionable statement about HALTS integrity.


Indeed perhaps Mr Moran should look at his own integrity as he has made statements that are scurrilous and completely untrue. We at HALTS are pleased to state that any driver holding a Heathrow tag is welcome to use the facilities offered including the use of a credit card machine and the ability to accept any voucher work that will come to the point of the rank. We insist on the “first cab first job” principle. Indeed we have many RMT members that quite happily use our facilities and may I suggest that Mr Moran must firstly base his opinion on fact and not mistruths and secondly not to put into print as Heathrow Branch Rep an untrue article that could be deemed to be RMT opinion.


On 26th and 27th July Heathrow Taxis had an open day some 150 yards from the taxi feeder park and Mr Moran would have been very welcome to gather the facts before writing his article. Unfortunately he chose not to attend. Doing ones homework first means better results later.


Thanks for the right to reply.

Thanks, Howard, you've given me the opportunity to talk about the very company that we at the RMT have grave mis-givings about.

I have contacted Taxicab News with my response to Howard's response to the advice.....well I hope you know what I mean! It's a bit long winded, but it is worth the read.
Anyway, it's printed below:

I don’t know who sent Taxicab News the RMT statement advising taxi drivers not to subscribe to the new private company which trades under the name of Heathrow Taxis, but Howard Kaye’s “reply” to it has given me the opportunity to explain why we gave the advice in the first place. I would also like to thank the person that got it published in Taxicab News.


Firstly, I want to address one or two of the comments made by Howard Kaye. Howard has accused me of printing mistruths (lies) about the conditions relating to membership of Heathrow Taxis (HALTS). The RMT advice to its members was posted in the Heathrow canteen on 15 July 2010, almost 2 weeks before the so called Heathrow Taxis trade show held at Capital Place, Harlington and the facts, as stated were correct at the time. Changing your modus operandi and then accusing me of lying won’t wash with me, Mr. Kaye.

This is relevant, because at that time we were being told that drivers who sign up to the Heathrow Taxis credit card business would be given a sticker with the letter “V” to put in the windscreen of their cabs so that they could be identified by taxi desk personnel when they brought a credit card job out to the rank. The information, at that time, was that only drivers who had signed up would be eligible to accept these jobs. This can be confirmed, and our advice had the full support of Eddie Symes, the chairman of Heathrow Airport Taxi Drivers United (HATDU). It is also interesting to note that the LTDA has distanced itself from officially supporting the scheme.

Howard Kaye has been forced to back peddle on more than one occasion in the face of criticism from fellow drivers. A classic example goes back to the middle of 2009 when it emerged that the newly formed HALTS - or Heathrow Taxis, as they prefer to be known - had in its Memorandum and Articles of Association the following paragraph:

“3. The objects for which the Company is established are:-

(k) To give or award pensions, annuities, gratuities, and superannuation or other allowances or benefits or charitable aid and generally to provide advantages, facilities and services for any persons who are or have been Directors of, or who are to have been employed by, or who are serving or have served the Company, and to the wives, widows, children and other relatives and dependants of such persons; to make payments towards insurance; and to set up, establish, support and maintain superannuation and other funds or schemes (whether contributory or non-contributory) for the benefit of any such persons and of their wives, widows, children and other relatives and dependents.”


This revelation quite rightly caused uproar at Heathrow and led to Howard Kaye protesting to angry drivers that he had no idea that these provisions had been made, despite the fact that he is one of the directors of HALTS. Is it conceivable that the contents of a company’s Memorandum and Articles of Association are a mystery to its directors?


In February 2010 the four directors and company secretary held a meeting at the Holiday Inn Ariel hotel, Bath Road, Harlington to amend the Memorandum and Articles of Association, thus removing the offending paragraph, but only after being forced to by the furor that it caused. Would it have been changed if it hadn't been spotted by a vigilant driver? 


Another area of concern relates to the Heathrow Taxis website, which went live sometime in the middle of March 2010. I have made numerous visits to this site via the BAA Heathrow website, and I have discovered a very worrying fault with it! Any potential passengers who want to book a taxi from this site are met with a message stating,


“Please check back soon………….we will notify you when our booking facility is up and running.”


So you can’t actually book a taxi on this site!!! But now we have another option, because on the same BAA web page Addison Lee DO take bookings and they are accessed by the same “taxi” link button that leads to the Heathrow Taxis website!!! Are the  directors of HALTS, not aware that they are effectively putting taxi passengers in the back of private hire vehicles?


I’ve looked into the background of the Heathrow Taxis website, and it transpires that the registrant of this site once worked for Radio Taxis as Head of Marketing!!!


As I understand it, this same person is now working full time for Heathrow Taxis at their new offices in Capital Place, just across the road from the Feeder Park. Now it may not be a crime to move from one company to another within the same industry, but surely concerns must be raised after the attempt by Radio Taxis and Addison Lee to gain a foothold in terminals 3 and 5 in 2009. Has Radio Taxis found a way in through the back door, I wonder? Addison Lee are already BAA's preferred supplier of private hire vehicles at Heathrow.

I could list a whole catalogue of concerns that I have about Heathrow Taxis, but I think the above is enough to justify the RMT advice to stay away. I would not raise these concerns if I didn’t have documented evidence to back it up, so Mr. Kaye, please be careful before you accuse me of lying in print.



Michael Moran.

Airport strike risk hits travellers

The travel plans of thousands of people are in jeopardy because of threatened strike action at some of Britain's biggest airports. 

Those booked on flights in the next few weeks face uncertainty after staff at BAA's six airports, including Heathrow, voted to take industrial action in a row over pay.
But travellers were offered a glimmer of hope after conciliation service Acas said it was arranging a meeting between BAA and the workers' union Unite.

Unite said no decision over the form or date of any strike will be taken before Monday which would leave the weekend open for talks.
The earliest a strike could be called would be Monday August 23 - just ahead of the busy bank holiday weekend.

With the Unite members including firefighters and security staff, any walkout would have a devastating effect on UK air travel which was already hit by a separate dispute involving British Airways' cabin crew, also represented by Unite.

Despite only half of the 6,185 Unite staff voting in the ballot, its leadership said BAA faced "a total shutdown" of its six airports - Heathrow, Stansted, Southampton, Glasgow, Edinburgh and Aberdeen. Of those who did vote, almost three quarters (74.1%) came out in favour of strike action.
BAA said it did not believe the result provided "a clear mandate for strike action".

Prime Minister David Cameron said a strike would "do nothing but harm" and would damage business, jobs and tourism. Transport Secretary Philip Hammond urged both sides to seek an "amicable solution".

Unite national officer Brendan Gold and the union's national officer for civil aviation, Brian Boyd said the union would meet its shop stewards on Monday to decide what form of industrial action members would take.

Editor's note;

BAA need to start talking to the RMT, because even those they do "recognise" don't seem too impressed with the treatment their members suffer at the hands of BAA.

If a picket line is created as part of this impending industrial action, will Unite taxi branch members be prepared to cross it?

Heathrow Taxis, A New Beginning?

Heathrow Taxis is the trading name for Heathrow Airport Licensed Taxis Society (HALTS) and they are holding a "Trade Show" on Tuesday 27th and Wednesday 28th of July.

As the poster shows, there will be a number of trade exhibitors at this event. But I wonder how many of these exhibitors are aware of the progeny of this company? It will be interesting to know their views once they are informed.

Heathrow Taxis, which is a private company limited by guarantee, is funded from the entry fee that all taxi drivers pay when they enter the Taxi Feeder Park at Heathrow airport. Traditionally, the fee (£6.30) charged to taxi drivers each time they enter the TFP was made up of two parts; the main part of the charge went to BAA to administer the running of the Feeder Park through their contractors, and the smaller part of the charge (76pence) went to the taxi drivers' mutual society Heathrow Airport Licensed Taxis (HALT). This was an arrangement that was recommended by the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) and the Competition Commission.

Heathrow Airport Licensed Taxis Society (HALTS), now trading under the name of Heathrow Taxis,  was incorporated with Companies House as a private company limited by guarantee in January 2009, and sometime between then and 1st June 2010, the smaller part of the entry fee has been passed onto Heathrow Taxis and not HALT. This new arrangement was because of the result of a so called survey that BAA conducted with the directors of Heathrow Taxis (HALTS) which claimed that there was overwhelming support from HALT members for such a change. What BAA and Heathrow Taxis (HALTS) failed to explain to drivers is that this "survey" has no legal standing whatsoever, and the transfer of funds from the drivers' mutual society, Heathrow Airport Licensed Taxis (HALT), to the private company Heathrow Taxis (HALTS) is questionable.

It is my opinion that Heathrow Taxis is heading for some tricky times to come if there is a legal challenge to their claim that they have done this with full legal and democratic integrity. I shall be keeping an eye on any further developments when drivers begin to realise the full implications of the changes that have taken place in the Taxi Feeder Park.

I note that no taxi trade organisations are mentioned in the list of exhibitors! There are three "recognised" trade organisations in the taxi trade, and there have been rumours that they are beginning to have reservations about Heathrow Taxis because of the above reasons. This is despite the fact that Unite the union (taxi branch) has had very strong links with some of the directors of Heathrow Taxis in the past.

I will be happy to discuss any of the issues in this article with any other taxi trade representative, if they wish to do so.

Michael Moran RMT Heathrow rep (London taxi branch).

Please email me at   Roman@rmtmail.org.uk

Heathrow Taxi Rank Agents

The parking and enforcement giant, NSL, took over the running and administration of the taxi system at Heathrow Airport from Meteor Parking at the beginning of 2010.

There are a number of concerns that have emerged regarding the levels of professionalism shown by NSL staff since this company won this lucrative contract. One of these concerns has been highlighted below, and the RMT London Taxi Branch (Heathrow) is taking steps to ensure that this issue is resolved as a matter of urgency.

Taxi Rank Agents: The Limits of Their Responsibility.

Reference Jenny Croft, NSL.

There appears to be a trend emerging on the terminal taxi ranks where agents are overstepping their authority. There have been a number of instances where taxi rank agents have held back passengers who are either travelling in a group of 6, or are in a smaller group with a lot of luggage. Some agents have been telling passengers that they should wait for a Vito taxi, as these are able to accommodate their needs.


Most passengers fully expect to have to use more than one taxi in these situations, but are under the impression that the rank agent has the authority to hold them back. There is evidence to suggest that some passengers have been held up for up to 30 minutes in this way.

There are a number of issues here:

Firstly, the taxi rank agents’ job is to ensure the smooth running of the ranks, to request the passengers’ destinations, to make sure that the first cab on the rank takes the first available job, if the driver is legally obliged to do so, and to feed drivers’ details into the local journey system if and when appropriate.


Secondly, rank agents must not discuss prices, advise passengers on the suitability of taxi type, nor put themselves up as arbiters to decide how much luggage a taxi can carry, regardless of the number of passengers that might be travelling in a group. Taxi drivers have a duty of care towards their passengers, and as such, it is for the individual driver to decide what constitutes an unsafe load.


Finally, some of the taxi rank agents appear to be either poorly trained, or seem to think that they have the authority to interpret the rules to suit themselves. This has caused consternation on a number of occasions, and has led to unnecessary arguments and complaints as a result.


Whilst the taxi trade at Heathrow accepts the need to have a regulating presence on the ranks, it cannot accept any undermining of its duties or responsibilities, nor any misinterpretation of the law. No driver that has lawfully driven onto a rank can be forced to leave by any rank agent without a job if a taxi rank agent suspects there has been a contravention of either Hackney Carriage law, or any Heathrow byelaws: Neither primary legislation nor Heathrow byelaws make provision for this.


If a driver has breached any relevant legislation there are established procedures in place to deal with them. It must be noted that when Metropolitan Police Traffic Wardens administered the ranks, there was far less strife and misunderstanding of the rules because of their superior level of training.


We suggest that these issues form part of any training program that taxi rank agents attend before they are deemed qualified to regulate any taxi rank at Heathrow Airport.




Michael Moran, RMT Heathrow rep. London Taxi Branch.

The RMT London Taxi Branch (Heathrow) advises all taxi drivers who are registered with Taxi Expert, the tagging system for entering the Feeder Park, not to sign up with Heathrow Airport Licensed Taxis Society (HALTS).

We have grave concerns regarding the integrity of HALTS, and will not sanction its validity by signing up to, what we believe is, a flawed system.

 The RMT cannot subscribe to a scheme that excludes non HALTS drivers from obtaining work from the Terminal Taxi Desks. All drivers contribute to the costs of these desks through the Feeder Park entry fee, and are therefore entitled to whatever jobs are brought out to the rank from inside the terminal building by taxi desk staff.


There can be no exclusion.


Michael Moran, RMT Heathrow rep. London Taxi Branch.

England World Cup Dates.

The World Cup is upon us!

No doubt there will be times when taxis will be in short supply, especially when England is playing. Here are the dates when "Our Boys" will have all eyes glued to the box for the 1st round.




Saturday 12 June England v USA, kick-off 19:30  Result..........England 1    -    USA 1

Friday 18 June England v Algeria, kick-off 19:30  Result..........England 0   -    Algeria 0

Wednesday 23 June England v Slovenia, kick-off 15:00............England 1    -   Slovenia 0

USA ended up first in the group stages with England second.....now the second round knock out stage begins.....

Sunday 27 June England v Germany, kick-off 15:00.................England 1   -   Germany 4

I will post all other confirmed dates and times as they become known.

Come on England!!!!!!

Showdown at the Feeder Park

BAA has consistently refused to acknowledge the growing number of taxi drivers at Heathrow who have decided to join the RMT.

We now have a large number of RMT members who have let it be known that they want the Heathrow RMT Sub-Branch to represent their interests as Tag holders.


Until recently, BAA have only sat down with trade reps from Unite the union, Licensed Taxi Drivers Association (LTDA), London Cab Drivers Club (LCDC) and Heathrow Airport Taxi Drivers United (HATDU). But even this now seems to have changed since news of the last Feeder Park entry fee increase.

It turns out that there were no discussions with any of the above before the recent rise in the entry fee, so it looks as though BAA doesn't want ANY taxi drivers' organisations to have a say at Heathrow. It seems as though BAA has finally thrown down the gauntlet, and is prepared to risk industrial action from the taxi trade. We will not accept this situation, and we are having discussions to seek a way forward to address this problem.


Please keep an eye on this site for updates on the situation.

Taxi Feeder Park Entrance Fee Increase

Many drivers at Heathrow feel bewildered by the recent "hike" in the entrance fee to the Taxi Feeder Park, and I'm not in the least bit surprised. After all, there seemed to be little or no consultation whatsoever with any of the trade reps! What happened?

From June 1st 2010, the entry fee to the TFP was increased by a massive 80p, representing an increase of almost 15%, from £5.50 to £6.30. But who agreed to this? Well as far as I can see, almost no-one!

It has emerged that no "official" trade organisation was consulted on the gate increase, except for the "acting chairman of HALT (Heathrow Airport Licensed Taxis), Mr. Colin Evans.
HALT was set up in 1994 as a mutual society to represent the interests of regular drivers that work the airport. The unfortunate thing is, though, that HALT has never been able to conduct itself in a democratic fashion because of an unrealistically high quorum level. .

The acting committee took it upon themselves to by-pass the normal formalities of converting from a mutual society to a private company by registering a new company with Companies House under the name of "Heathrow Airport Licensed Taxis Society" (HALTS)! The word "Society" would lead anyone to believe that HALTS is another mutual society, but it is in fact a private company limited by guarantee.

There is a very strict procedure, under the Industrial and Provident Societies Act, to convert from a mutual society to a limited company. The "acting" committee informed members of HALT that it would give them more control of their interests at the airport if HALT was "converted". But there was no conversion!
Mr. Evans simply registered a private company at Companies House under the name of Heathrow Airport Licensed Taxis Society (HALTS), and a survey was held at the Feeder Park in September 2009 asking drivers if they were happy for this "conversion" to take place.

This is in contravention of the Industrial and Provident Societies Act. If a mutual society, such a HALT, is to "convert" the original mutual society is dissolved. The thing is though, that HALT has not converted, it still exists as a mutual society, but Mr. Evans has tried to convince drivers that it has converted!!!

What we are left with is a mutual society that is no longer acting in the best interests of its members, and a private company that IS acting in the best interests of its directors. Add to this the preference of BAA to conduct business with a few self interested drivers, rather than representatives of the various trade organisations, and you are left with a situation where taxi drivers at Heathrow feel as though they have no say in the running of their legitimate operation at the airport.

This brings us back to the recent gate money increase. Why was BAA allowed to increase the TFP charge without proper consultation with the trade? A very murky story starts to emerge from evidence put forward by the trade reps who were supposed to have been consulted on the issue.

BAA has recently called for a number of meetings with the trade reps, but at least four of these meetings were "cancelled" at the last minute, much to the annoyance of those who were supposed to attend. At the last meeting that did go ahead, it was announced by BAA that emails were sent out to all those concerned for a meeting to discuss the TFP entry fee, but only Mr. Evans had turned up! So, the 80p increase was agreed by default. What happened?

According to BAA, proof is available that emails were indeed sent out to all the reps, but only Colin Evans seemed to be aware of this....funny, that!!! I know most of the trade reps personally, and I believe them when they say that they never received any emails that called for a meeting to discuss the TFP entry fee.

I carried out an interesting exercise to see how this type of thing might happen. I sent an email to both myself and two other people, but I changed one letter in the email addresses of the other two people. I received the email, but the other two did not.....and I can prove that I sent the emails. How strange!!!

Perhaps BAA should take a look at the way communications are sent to taxi trade reps in the future, after all, it is so easy to make a mistake!
One final point. In what capacity did Mr. Evans act when he "represented" drivers at the entry fee meeting with BAA? Was he there as the acting chairman of HALT, or the director of HALTS? Surely he couldn't have been wearing two hats!!!
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Issues to discuss...

RMT London taxi branch Heathrow sub committee will be meeting on Wednesday the 2nd of June to discuss a number of issues affecting the London taxi drivers who work Heathrow Airport.

These issues range from;

1. Halt/Halts...
2. Mini-cabs at Heathrow...
3. M4 Bus lane...
4. Price increase at the feeder park...
5. Pickets/Demonstrations...

We look forward to you joining and becoming part of the RMT and its London taxi branch...

Heathrow Airport...

Members of the RMT Heathrow airport sub committee will be meeting on Friday the 14th of May 2010 to discuss many issues including the continued abuse/law breaking of the M4 bus lane by a certain private hire company.

Many issues affect the London taxi-cab driver but the recent closure of UK airspace displayed how fragile the economy is at this present moment in time. With over 1000 extra taxi-cab drivers heading into London to seek work the ranks soon over spilled and the trade went straight back into a micro recession.

The London taxi trade needs the rank and work provided by the worlds busiest airport.

http://www.rmt.org.uk/

Welcome to RMT Heathrow Taxis...

Hello from the RMT London Taxi Branch and all our members at Heathrow Airport we at the RMT are the most democratic union you'll find here in the United Kingdom.

We believe in giving you a Voice and Vote and my god doesn't this trade need a dose of democracy. Now back on the main blog the last post dealt with an issue regarding the misuse of the word TAXI and we are pleased to hear via the Director of Taxis and Private Hire that this will be changing and BAA will be altering their websites.

We shall wait and see now all we need is for a certain private hire company to understand they are not TAXIS and obey the signage on the M4 Bus lane. Please note members of the RMT London Taxi Branch will be attending a meeting with senior civil servants regarding this matter/issue.

Heathrow Airport is a unique place and if taxi-cab drivers didn't understand the importance of the feeder park/ranks well the recent volcanic activity showed how fragile the London taxi trade is at this moment. Fact is we need each other and we need to work alongside each other if we are to solve the many issues/problems we all face whether we work in town or Heathrow.

Join the only union/organisation that will give you a Voice and Vote, join the RMT at http://www.rmt.org.uk/ or email a request with your details to Londontaxi@rmt.org.uk .