TAXI DRIVER LICENCE CHAOS

RMT helpline 0800 376 3706 :: march 2015 :: RMTnews 7 R MT has written to the government to demand an end to the chaotic mismanagement of driver licencing which is putting members’ livelihoods at risk at a time when the trade is coming under unprecedented pressure and attacks. A licence to operate a taxi is issued by the driver’s local authority. As part of being licenced, taxi drivers are required to have their good character verified via an enhanced criminal records check. In the capital, Transport for London (TfL) previously had responsibility for administering all aspects of the licensing process. However, the criminal record check for London taxi drivers recently was transferred and is being carried out by the Home Office’s Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS). This is a service for which taxi drivers pay a substantial fee (around £60). However DBS has been unable to process checks promptly and a substantial backlog of around 36,000 applications has arisen. Since the criminal records check was transferred to DBS, TfL is no longer willing to show any flexibility, leaving members unable to earn a living, with many more facing the same situation. RMT is demanding that Transport for London has the power to issue temporary licences or otherwise extend existing licences pending the completion of background checks . The DBS must also hire more staff and responsibility for administering taxi drivers’ criminal records checks must revert back to TfL. RMT general secretary Mick Cash said that chaotic mismanagement was threatening the ability of members to make a living. “This intolerable situation cannot be allowed to continue and requires urgent action as set out in RMT’s letter to the Home Office,” he said. R MT members on Hull Trains have voted by more than nine to one for industrial action in a dispute over the redundancy of a staff member who the union believes is being forced out of the company. The dispute hinges on entirely bogus company claims that they have recently had to have a ‘necessary minor reorganisation’ which identified an individual as being at risk of redundancy. At the members appeal hearing the company stated that she did not fall under the collective bargaining agreements and therefore existing agreements did not apply. However, as part of the 2014 pay award the company identified that same member as an employee who was covered by collective bargaining and on acceptance of the pay award she was granted the pay uplift along with all the other employees who are covered by collective bargaining and who all benefit from the job protection agreements. RMT general secretary Mick Cash said that Hull Trains’ failure to abide by the collective bargaining procedures as unacceptable. “This union will not tolerate any member being removed from employment by underhand means,” he said. R MT is pursuing individual and collective claims on behalf of staff dumped during the collapse of City Link over the Christmas and New Year holidays. Individual members’ claims for redundancy pay, notice pay, holiday pay, outstanding wages and unfair dismissal are being prepared by RMT lawyers. In addition, collective claims for the failure by City Link to inform and consult over the dismissals are being prepared and are being taken into the ACAS procedures by the union. The failure to consult should mean that a protective award of up to 90 days is payable to the staff affected. RMT is aware that these claims will be treated as “unsecured creditors” as Jon Moulton and his outfit Better Capital were careful to convert their stake into secured loans before the collapse leaving them at the front of the queue for the distribution of assets. The union is also aware that the value left in the wreckage of the company is rapidly being drained away as administrators Ernst and Young have paid themselves nearly £2 million in fees. RMT General Secretary Mick Cash said that the fight for justice for the City Link workers goes on. “Now is the time for justice and to salvage what we can for the staff who paid a heavy personal price for this brutal exercise in bandit capitalism,” he said. TAXI DRIVER LICENCE CHAOS HULL TRAINS STRIKE VOTE FIGHTING FOR CITY LINK WORKERS