Flaming taxi drivers holding the city to ransom Ggrrrrr...

hmmm

DunLigger wrote: »

So while it's very annoying and frustrating that the Gardai sit back and do nothing, I can see why they made that judgement call.

Can you think of any other capital city in the world where a group of 100 or so people would be allowed to occupy the main thoroughfare for a full day and cause traffic chaos? I think the Garda inaction today was inexcusable - if they're not going to uphold the law then what are we paying them for. Their role is not to facilitate illegal demonstrations.

john-joe

hmmm wrote: »

Can you think of any other capital city in the world where a group of 100 or so people would be allowed to occupy the main thoroughfare for a full day and cause traffic chaos? I think the Garda inaction today was inexcusable - if they're not going to uphold the law then who is.

I agree with you on the above comment. I think the garda should have took a stand and either made arrests or issued fines for illegal parking (surely parking your cars on the street is a health and safety issue) or something to that effect. Do the taximen not understand that having the garda and public on there side would be helpful? The garda would have been embarrased by todays events and you can be sure that any taxis in the city parked in loading bays etc.. will allow the garda to get there own back!

JJ

ghouldaddy07

DunLigger wrote: »

I was walking past O'Connell Bridge this evening - about 60 taxi drivers protesting who as a group formed an intimidating cohort, sending signals that they weren't backing down easily.

It seemed wrong that such a small group, in carrying out an unapproved protest, could inflict such long delays on so many getting home. While the right to protest is vitally important to our democracy, the protest should be arranged such that it is public and by its sheer size, garners the necessary attention - just like teachers, pensioners protest. It shouldn't be abused by continual protests designed to inflict maximise disruption to the lives of Dublin's citizens.

Furthermore the fact that taxi drivers drive cars shouldn't give them a right to block the roads. Do teachers park their cars at the airport roundabout or on O'Connell bridge. If taxi drivers wish to protest they should (a) withdraw their service and/or (b) organise a large March on an agreed date (and not every week/month). Anything other than that will serve to be counter-productive to their efforts to garner public sympathy.

I would have loved to see the Garda trucks tow away the taxi and to see the protesters be coraled onto the footpath out of the way, however I can see why the Gardai made a judgement call not to do so. As things stand the taxi drivers look like the main muppets in the episode. Most ire is directed towards them. The lack of Garda intervention is irksome but they will not be cast as the villains. If they had taken action there would have been plenty photos of Taxi Drivers being dragged out of their cars or being hauled onto footpaths with Gardai brandishing batons. Their were plenty of media photographers about waiting for such a photo-op. The next day taxi drivers would have said that the Gardai were heavy handed...that they were just trying to protect their jobs, feed their children and put shoes on their feet...and this is what they get, a baton in the face. There were enough taxi drivers who didn't exactly look like the quiet retiring types. It would have taken over 100 guards to sort it out, so their would have been plenty of photo opportunities which these taxi drivers would have relished. So while it's very annoying and frustrating that the Gardai sit back and do nothing, I can see why they made that judgement call.

The underlying issue, as has already been mentioned, is that it is an relatively unskilled job. Other unskilled jobs throughout the economy have seen increased unemployment and lower wage rates - labourers in the construction industry know all about this.

Where the taxi industry is different is that it is regulated - and has to be. For example fares have to be fixed, and there needs to be a registration process - both for the protection of customers. However where price is fixed then the supply and demand for taxis does not fall into its natural equilibrium at a market rate. So where taxi fares are over-priced then there will be an over-supply of taxis - where essentially the only benefit we get for extra price we pay is an abundance of taxis.

Before the celtic tiger became the kitten it is we had a situation where prices were too high and their was a surplus of taxis. Now with deflation this has been exacerbated.

Where before deregulation taxi income was propped by barriers to entry (€80,000 taxi plates) - the writing was on the wall once deregulation came in. The essential skill involved is the ability to drive and read. Pretty much anyone over 18 can do it. Rules of the road and learning routes are not onerous and shouldn't take too long to learn. With low barrier to entry the income levels were bound to drop. However the fact that it coincided with the tiger years masked what was going on, as demand increased due to increasing disposable income among citizens. Now that the economy has tanked the real market value of the unskilled job has been exposed.

I think that an economist (I'm not one!) would probably recommend that, where fares are above market as they patently are, the taxi fares be reduced - not that it would increase individual incomes by much (although it should increase them marginally) but rather that it would create more business for the taxi drivers that are there. So if taxi drivers really had their colleagues interests at heart they would look for a reduction in fares - a ballsy move that they will never make.

I do have sympathy for taxi drivers, as I do for others who have lost their jobs or are struggling - but the sympathy starts to dissipate when as a group they hijack the city in the way they did this evening.

Nail on head, The fact is alot of people cant afford the rates anymore and those that can are being more prudent with their spending.

Of course why lower the rates when you can sit on a rank with their mates for hours cursing the new taxi men for the decline in their incomes.

starbelgrade

ghouldaddy07 wrote: »

Of course why lower the rates when you can sit on a rank with their mates for hours cursing the new taxi men for the decline in their incomes.

Taximen complaining? Surely not.

arybvtcw0eolkf

Lads, I'm inclined towards locking this thread but I'll let it run - but!..

There are something like 20k taxi driver's in Dublin alone, not all are "scumbags", "Wasters", "tossers" etc (words used to describe them in this thread).

As some posters in this thread are taxi drivers I'll take the view that using any kind of abusive language towards the industry as a whole as personal abuse and will act accordingly.


One more mention of a baton charge and I'll god damn well 'ban-button' charge!.

To the couple of taxi drivers in this discussion - you'd be well advised to let Spook do the talking for you, he's well practiced in this and puts your points across very well - to you guys 'Tis better to be thought of as a fool, than open your mouth and confirm the fact' comes to mind.

Work away guys - and be civil, EVERYONE!.

Finally guys, its late and as the saying goes "a picture paints a thousend words", so I'll leave you to ponder this one!..



Don't be guilty of it. Its a mugs game.
.

john-joe

Bristol Bewildered Dessert wrote: »

Lads, I'm inclined towards locking this thread but I'll let it run - but!..

There are something like 20k taxi driver's in Dublin alone, not all are "scumbags", "Wasters", "tossers" etc (words used to describe them in this thread).

As some posters in this thread are taxi drivers I'll take the view that using any kind of abusive language towards the industry as a whole as personal abuse and will act accordingly.


One more mention of a baton charge and I'll god damn well 'ban-button' charge!.

To the couple of taxi drivers in this discussion - you'd be well advised to let Spook do the talking for you, he's well practiced in this and puts your points across very well - to you guys 'Tis better to be thought of as a fool, than open your mouth and confirm the fact' comes to mind.

Work away guys - and be civil, EVERYONE!.

Finally guys, its late and as the saying goes "a picture paints a thousend words", so I'll leave you to ponder this one!..



Don't be guilty of it. Its a mugs game.
.

agree:)

JJ

ODS

From RTE:


O'Connell St re-opens after taxi protest
Thursday, 1 October 2009 22:25

O'Connell Street in Dublin has reopened to traffic after widespread disruption earlier today due to a protest by taxi drivers.

More than one hundred drivers are still parked along O'Connell Street in protest at worsening working conditions.

They say they will continue overnight, or until the Transport Minister Noel Dempsey addresses their concerns, if necessary.


Buses and cars are now passing through the street, but taxi drivers not participating in the action are being prevented from accessing the street.

From lunchtime to 7pm, O'Connell was closed both ways to all vehicles due to the protest.

The taxi drivers are protesting against what they say are worsening conditions in the industry.

The Irish Taxi Council says taxi drivers have travelled from Waterford, Galway and other areas to take part in today's demonstration.

A spokesperson for the Department of Transport said the Taxi Regulator is compiling a report with recommendations on the next steps for the industry. The move follows a recent public consultation.

Socialist Party MEP Joe Higgins joined the protest and called on Minister for Transport Noel Dempsey to meet the drivers' representative.

He said the Minister should, 'accede to the simple and straightforward request of the Irish Taxi Council's president Frank Byrne to meet and discuss the plight faced by drivers trying to earn a basic income'.

Earlier in the day, the Commission for Taxi Regulation has released a statement saying the taxi market is now liberalised and therefore there are no quantitative controls on the number of operators.

It added that the Commission was committed to reform, including raising the overall standards required to get a taxi licence.

Further disruption is expected tomorrow morning and Gardaí said that a separate protest about a different issue in Dublin Port was planned for tomorrow and that traffic will be disrupted from around 3.30pm to 6.30pm in and around the port area.


This is simply disgraceful. As reported on RTE radio at 10pm, gardai have advised commuters to expect disruption at O'Connell Street from 7am - and I see meanwhile according to the above report, law-abiding "taxi drivers not participating in the action are being prevented from accessing the street"!!

What on earth do we pay gardai for, and who is the officer in charge that has directed the law not be applied to the small unrepresentative body of taxi drivers involved?

The illegal protesters are a disgrace - but far worse are the gardai responsible for letting them carry this on. It is totally unacceptable.

P_1

IMO there are 2 groups of people being impacted by this illegal action. 1st there is the general public, I think the impact on them has already been done to death on this thread. The 2nd group to have been affected are the taxi drivers who have nothing to do with this protest.

The fact that these striking thugs are not letting the working drivers pass their 'picket' sickens me. Drivers trying to make a living should not have to face intimidation from these thugs and that is what they are. I would be willing to bet a large sum of money that the taxi drivers who are blocking O'Connell Street are the exact type of taxi driver that everybody complains about and generally give the industry a bad name.

The drivers who are working now are unfortunatley going to be painted with the same brush as those thugs who generally fúcked up everybody's day today, something which quite frankly, they don't deserve.

I noticed somebody mentioning taxi drivers putting stickers to the effect of "I was protesting at Pheonix Park" on their cars. I would reccomend that the drivers who are not part of this illegal action to print stickers saying "I didn't ruin your day on October the 1st 2009" and put them on their cars. I know which taxi I would be much more willing to get into.

blahblah06

Rubadub,

at the end of the day we may not be able to stop people having two jobs but how would u feel getting into a cab drivers taxi after they did 40 hours in there normal job. Would you feel safer doing this or safer if all cab drivers worked 40 hours and maybe even a tachograph finished. Someone will die from this long shift. Yesterday morning I was driving behind a cab on merrion road. Cab just verd left and straight into a tree. Was talking to the guard who said driver told him he nodded off.

The worse thing that can happen a window cleaner is fall of a ladder but it would be very easy fit a taxi driver to kill someone in a split second

starbelgrade

pithater1 wrote: »

The fact that these striking thugs are not letting the working drivers pass their 'picket' sickens me. Drivers trying to make a living should not have to face intimidation from these thugs and that is what they are. I would be willing to bet a large sum of money that the taxi drivers who are blocking O'Connell Street are the exact type of taxi driver that everybody complains about and generally give the industry a bad name.

The drivers who are working now are unfortunatley going to be painted with the same brush as those thugs who generally fúcked up everybody's day today, something which quite frankly, they don't deserve.

That's a very fair point. T

A few rotten eggs spoil the basket.

I still believe that they are over-priced though.

Spook_ie

projectmayhem wrote: »

I didn't realise this was going on until this evening when I wanted to get a bus into town for college (from northside to Kevin St.). When buses weren't coming in their usual formation I had to consult twitter for the reasons.

...then I had to get a lift as far in as possible and walk from constitution hill up. However, on the way, the radio said the protest was on since 8AM... if so, why the hell was this allowed? Everyone has a right to protest, but if a crowd of any other group held the cities main streets to randsome for an entire working day, the Gards would be fairly swift in clearing it out.

Who do these scumbags think they are? Walking up I really wished one of these anarchist types would have gone smashing up taxi cab windows. Never again will I use their "service".

€4 to get into a taxi with some smelly moron who doesn't really know where he's driving, and that's before he moves an inch? It cost me $10 to go from one end of Manhattan to the other in a taxi in June...

I would seriously urge the public to stop using taxi's where possible. Get a bus, use a bike, etc. I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw some people sitting in the traffic taxi drivers had caused, in taxi's.

Apparently they'll be at it again tomorrow at the east link. So far everyone I've spoken to are livid about these tossers. With a bit of luck the public backlash will be so severe that they can't go on this kind of rampage again.

For someone at college you need to read more, it's the dockers screwing you up tomorrow at the Eastlink, the taxi drivers are doing O'Connell St.

blahblah06

Oh and the price is not 4 euro to not move an inch it's 4.10 for 1st km or 170 seconds'.

Zulu

blahblah06 wrote: »

at the end of the day we may not be able to stop people having two jobs but how would u feel getting into a cab drivers taxi after they did 40 hours...

So the solution to people overworking is an illegal protest?
Look, the simple fact of the matter is, even if you got everything you asked for, it wouldn't prevent a driver working for 40 hours, now would it? So, that is in fact a red herring. That is unless you wish to cap the amount of hours you are allowed to work? Do you?

I certainly hope the recommendations made to the government are something like:
"any taxi person involved in an illegal protest, or using his/her vehicle to intentionally obstruct traffic, will have their licence revoked for a period of 2 years &/or have no less than 8 penalty points added to their driving licence."

I know that would be my recommendation.

Hard Larry

blahblah06 wrote: »

Oh and the price is not 4 euro to not move an inch it's 4.10 for 1st km or 170 seconds'.

My God that is scandalous. Thats a euro for 250m. :eek:

John Mason

blahblah06 wrote: »

We had both lanes blocked and reduced that to one lane to allow people on the buses to get past so were not heartless.

i have tried trawling through the whole thread but cant be bothered.

the quote above is absolute bull, at 6pm last night there was a car parked at an angle blocking the second lane at the Gresham and the same on the opposite side of the road.

i work for a government agency, we have lost a 1/3 of our staff this year, with another 1/3 being let go later on this year but with the same work load.

we have also taken a paycut and overtime cut but we still have to meet the same targets.

we are working in a very stressful enviroment at the moment, so you are telling me, if i decided to park my car on O'Connell Street and block all the traffic, the Gardai would just leave me there until the my lead Department listened and went "oh yeah, Irishbird we are sorry you are under such pressure, here take a pay rise and we will give you all your staff back "

Get real, our country is falling apart at the moment and i happy to have a job and i am fed up with with you taxi men trying to make it as hard as possible for me getting to and from work.

it you just stopped protesting and actually done some work for a change you wouldnt be in this position.

its not as though you are even value for money. €20 from O'Connell Street to Finglas, 5.5 miles and you charge €20

i havent used taxi for years unless i am really stuck


Get over yourself and have a look around you - we are all in the same boat :mad::mad:

blahblah06

Zulu wrote: »

So the solution to people overworking is an illegal protest?
Look, the simple fact of the matter is, even if you got everything you asked for, it wouldn't prevent a driver working for 40 hours, now would it? So, that is in fact a red herring. That is unless you wish to cap the amount of hours you are allowed to work? Do you?

I certainly hope the recommendations made to the government are something like:
"any taxi person involved in an illegal protest, or using his/her vehicle to intentionally obstruct traffic, will have their licence revoked for a period of 2 years &/or have no less than 8 penalty points added to their driving licence."

I know that would be my recommendation.

I would love to only work 40 hours and would gladly install a tacho. Gives me and every other cab driver 20-30 hours a week to spend with the family just like everyone else does.
I wonder would part timers quit there normal job to work full time with a tacho graph in a cab. Doubt it

blahblah06

Hard Larry wrote: »

My God that is scandalous. Thats a euro for 250m. :eek:

And then goes to 1.03 per km after that or 36 cent per minute

blahblah06

I bet ya the 1/3rd if staff that was let go are driving cabs or are in the process next time your in the car park check how many yellow stickers are in the window or check behind the l plates

Maybe that's the problem. Most Irish people stand by and let the gov screw us over. At least some of us have the balls to stand up for our familys

Dyr

Would have a certain amount of sympathy given that the taxi industry has been raped recently, it's tempered by the fact that taxi drivers didn't seem to have any problem back when joe public was being screwed over by their industry.


However those dopes on O'Connell Street this morning need to be lifted by the coppers, f**k that.

bugler

I support workers' right to strike, but not to cause massive collateral damage to a huge number of working people's time off. We work hard, we like to go home in the evening.

If you want the Daíl's attention, piss off down to the Daíl area and protest there. Or are you afraid you would be arrested there? If you have no issue with regular people stay out of our way.

I'm going to make an extra special effort to avoid taxis for the foreseeable future, I'll stick to PT. It will be good for my wallet and for my conscience. Learn to work towards your goals and address some of your no-doubt legitimate grievances without taking it out on your innocent customers. The people you put out yesterday and today are the people who pay your wages. If you act like morons you'll be treated accordingly.

bugler

Maybe that's the problem. Most Irish people stand by and let the gov screw us over. At least some of us have the balls to stand up for our familys

If you had balls you'd be down around the Daíl, risking arrest, not standing up on O'Connell St where you think you're safe. Such machismo, inconveniencing the old, poor and working people who use Public Transport. Ireland is lucky to have heroes like you.

Jumpy

blahblah06 wrote: »

I bet ya the 1/3rd if staff that was let go are driving cabs or are in the process next time your in the car park check how many yellow stickers are in the window or check behind the l plates

What has that got to do with you? If you cant hack the industry then leave it. It will balance itself out on its own.
If you think anyone cares that you end up on the street because of it after pulling this sh1t, then you are fooling yourself.

Nothing will be done. As a matter of fact if anything does get done, I will join any campaign against it.

The majority want more taxis. The minority (that is you) need to live with it or bugger off.

Kingp35

Anyone know what the story is with Dublin buses that usually go up O' Connel Street? I need to get a bus to DCU. I am going to try get it from Westmorland street so does anyone know if they are re-routed or whatever?

blahblah06

Jumpy wrote: »

What has that got to do with you? If you cant hack the industry then leave it. It will balance itself out on its own.
If you think anyone cares that you end up on the street because of it after pulling this sh1t, then you are fooling yourself.

Nothing will be done. As a matter of fact if anything does get done, I will join any campaign against it.

The majority want more taxis. The minority (that is you) need to live with it or bugger off.

Oh so u admit there's a lot of part timers in ur work place? I never said I couldn't cope with the job we are simply trying to protect our future

blahblah06

bugler wrote: »

If you had balls you'd be down around the Daíl, risking arrest, not standing up on O'Connell St where you think you're safe. Such machismo, inconveniencing the old, poor and working people who use Public Transport. Ireland is lucky to have heroes like you.

We were around the fail numerous of times so start for new strategy. You sit back and get screwed if u like u will be effected sooner or later

bugler

Kingp35 wrote: »

Anyone know what the story is with Dublin buses that usually go up O' Connel Street? I need to get a bus to DCU. I am going to try get it from Westmorland street so does anyone know if they are re-routed or whatever?

Buses are currently going up O'Connell St, just slower than usual. You should be ok, just allow more time for the journey.

bugler

blahblah06 wrote: »

We were around the fail numerous of times so start for new strategy

Block it off. That is an attention grabber.

Why is the new strategy "take it out on the common man"? I think you need a rethink. In case you haven't noticed, public opinion isn't exactly on your side.

blahblah06

Public were never on our side since the beginning of taxis.
We unblocked one lane. It's the govs attention we want

Jumpy

blahblah06 wrote: »

Public were never on our side since the beginning of taxis.

They were not on your side, but they didnt stand against you. Now they do.

Jumpy

blahblah06 wrote: »

Oh so u admit there's a lot of part timers in ur work place? I never said I couldn't cope with the job we are simply trying to protect our future

No, because my job takes at least some level of skill. Its not something just anyone can do.