Cabbies Protest.

HAMISH_MCTAVISH

Bantex wrote: »

They really do not like a bit of healthy competition.

A lot like construction workers then..... :whistle:

Bantex_2

HAMISH_MCTAVISH wrote: »

A lot like construction workers then..... :whistle:

Shipping in cheap labour from overseas where wages are much lower is unhealthy competition.

HAMISH_MCTAVISH

Bantex wrote: »

Shipping in cheap labour from overseas where wages are much lower is unhealthy competition.

So shipping in cheap labour from other professions or parts of the UK where wages are much lower is healthy competition?

Pretty staggering levels of hypocrisy that you support ending an artificial scarcity of cab drivers so you can get a cheaper trip home from the boozer, but don't support ending an artificial scarcity of bricklayers so people can get a cheaper house built......

purch

Black Cabs in London are highly regulated.

Competetion from highly unregulated PCO's is not healthy.

If all the black cab drivers decided to hand back their badges and take out a PCO licence it would be a terrible day for Londoners and visitors to the capital.

Bantex_2

HAMISH_MCTAVISH wrote: »

So shipping in cheap labour from other professions or parts of the UK where wages are much lower is healthy competition?

Pretty staggering levels of hypocrisy that you support ending an artificial scarcity of cab drivers so you can get a cheaper trip home from the boozer, but don't support ending an artificial scarcity of bricklayers so people can get a cheaper house built......

Competition from one part of the country to another is healthy. Uncontrolled competition across national borders between countries with totally unmatched economies in terms of such things as wage rates and benefits is unhealthy.

Anyway, the Uber argument is basically a business model/technology issue. People are still free to use black cabs if they chose.

Having said that, if I was a cabbie I would be doing all I could to protect my income just like the tube driver do.

PasturesNew

If I want to go from A to B, do I want to:

- stand outside, waiting and hoping one might eventually come past and it might stop if I'm super lucky .... while looking like a fool as I try to wave/flag/whatever and get ignored and everybody else in the street sniggers, or,
- while inside, press some buttons to say where I am, then step outside knowing there's a car coming.

Hard choice.....

System

This protest seems like an awful lot of free publicity for Uber (who I had previously never heard of)

Bantex_2

Joeskeppi wrote: »

This protest seems like an awful lot of free publicity for Uber (who I had previously never heard of)

That is a very good point, I would guess a few million Londoners who had never heard of them will now download the app.

Generali

purch wrote: »

Black Cabs in London are highly regulated.

Competetion from highly unregulated PCO's is not healthy.

If all the black cab drivers decided to hand back their badges and take out a PCO licence it would be a terrible day for Londoners and visitors to the capital.

Is it worth the vast premium though?

There seem to be a lot of companies that are effectively making money from some sort of regulatory arbitrage or avoidance. Airbnb is a classic of the kind. I don't necessarily want my next door neighbour to run an unlicensed hotel. If I stay in a hotel then it's nice to know that fire rules and hygiene laws have been complied with.

I am increasingly uneasy about some of these things. Licensing can be a result of rent seeking and incumbents looking to keep out competitors. It can also be used to keep customers safe and the environment in all its definitions good.

Yolina

I use both black cabs and minicabs (there's a great small minicabs company in my area or the Addison Lee ones) depending on where I am and where I am going. Never tried Uber though.

What I find slightly amusing about the cabbies protest is that they want to "gridlock London". Well holding the thing in the Trafalgar Square area isn't the most clever way to do it really, it's not going to be much different from what the West End is usually like :rotfl: And surely they are aware that London is more than just the West End?