You Can't Do It On Your Own

On March 4 2011 the RMT won a Court of Appeal victory which has effectively stopped employers from taking away the right of workers to take industrial action.

This has been a victory for millions of union workers, and it has also highlighted some of the “bullying” tactics that many employers use to keep their employees in line. The case was RMT v Serco.

Employers within the construction industry have for years been using blacklists for denying employment to workers who belong to certain unions; members belonging to the RMT and Unite amongst others have appeared on these lists. A company called The Consulting Company (TCA) has been selling these lists to construction companies for many thousands of pounds, and workers who appear on them are effectively barred from finding a job within the industry. This blacklist was discovered when the offices of TCA were raided in 2009. It is now illegal to keep, disseminate or share blacklists.

So what has this got to do with self employed taxi drivers at Heathrow? The fact that we are self employed does not mean that we cannot benefit from union membership; in fact it is essential that self employed people have proper union representation as they have far fewer rights in law than employed workers. The attitude amongst most drivers is that they don’t need any representation at all, and those that do often decide to join one of the trade’s own mutual societies. All of these mutuals have been set up by taxi drivers who have very little industrial relations experience and seem to think that knowledge of the taxi trade is enough to see them through the myriad of problems that can befall not only the individual, but also the taxi trade itself.

I cannot stress the importance of belonging to a proper union strongly enough. Yes, the executive committee may not have a sound understanding of how the London taxi trade works, but that in itself is not important. The important thing is that any taxi branch of a major union is made up of taxi drivers who do know the issues of their trade, and they can draw on the wealth of experience that the executive committee has in dealing with industrial issues, no matter what trade their members belong to.

Bob Crow is not a builder, but I bet there are many thousands in the building industry who now feel that without the power of the RMT they would truly be dumped on the scrap-heap created by blacklisting.

Join the RMT to effectively fight for your trade.

Plan for “meet and greet” agents

Heathrow Taxis (HALTS) and Heathrow Airport Limited (HAL) recently posted a notice in the airport canteen lobby and Cab In seeking drivers who would be willing to volunteer to act as meet and greet agents for the taxi desks.
This has caused uproar as these drivers would be expected to work a “shift” as unpaid staff for Heathrow Taxis, and then be allowed to by-pass the Taxi Feeder Park in lieu of payment.

Emergency meetings have been held with various trade orgs which included Unite, LTDA, LCDC and HATDU. It appears that they will not stand for this, and neither should they. I have been approached by one of the leaders of one of these trade orgs for support in the event that there is a Feeder Park stoppage.
I have stated that the RMT would be willing to take part if certain conditions are met. This would include a commitment from all trade orgs that they are united in a call for a stoppage, and that the RMT is recognised as an equal participant in any stoppage.
The London Taxi Branch has agreed to any action that may take place so long as all other conditions are agreed to.


Chief Superintendent Bert Moore
   

I would like to welcome Chief Superintendent Bert Moore in his new post as head of SO18, airport security at Heathrow Airport, and I hope that the taxi trade can have a good working relationship with Heathrow Police on any issues that may affect all of us.

In last month’s RMT Newsletter I featured the issue of airport security and the waste of both police and taxi drivers' time when drivers were pulled over for having their For Hire lights on.

I have been in contact with Jenny Croft of NSL and Chief Superintendent Bert Moore of Heathrow police, and it appears that there is no record of any such events taking place, or who authorised the digital display message that advised drivers to turn their For Hire signs off when making their way to the terminals.

Of course, we all saw the message on the digital display board in the canteen, and in the Feeder Park. We also know that there were a number of drivers who were pulled over by police. So I think it is fair to say that something needs to be done about this. I have been offered a meeting with the man in charge of traffic at Heathrow by Chief Superintendent Moore, and I have also advised Jenny Croft that any messages that are posted on the display boards must be approved by the trade if they concern either Hackney Carriage or Heathrow byelaws.