Taxi drivers protesting again today; are they the moaniest profession in Ireland?

IvaBigWun

Traffic chaos again today from a group of people who have chosen this job and, as sole traders, still think they can band together and hold the public to ransom when they have something new to have a grievance about.

Enough!


http://www.irishtimes.com/news/social-affairs/taxi-drivers-protest-outside-d%C3%A1il-over-proposed-changes-1.1656092

Taxi drivers are protesting outside the Dáil this afternoon over changes to the sector being considered by the Government.

Around 100 taxis from the capital will gather around Kildare Street from 1.30pm to highlight the association’s concerns regarding a number of proposals being considered by the Government.

“Dublin City Council has already removed 58 taxi rank spots in the city,” explained Jim Waldron, spokesperson for the National Private Hire & Taxi Association, which organised the protest.

“Taxi drivers are expected to keep driving around without stopping.”

Mr Waldron is also unhappy with proposals to lower standards of wheelchair access. “This will result in too many cars on the streets of Dublin,” he added.

Participants in the rally also hope to underline issues surrounding charges to drivers using credit card machines in their vehicles and the introduction of local hackney licences in rural areas.

Are they the moaniest profession in Ireland? If not, who are?

Nabber

No worse than Farmers, nurses and teachers.

Stavros Murphy

I thought it was a requirement for getting a licence? They do a "good old moan" test and have to get 60% or more.

IvaBigWun

Nabber wrote: »

No worse than Farmers, nurses and teachers.

Thats nonsense regarding nurses. They're the most under-paid profession I can think of

Moaniest profession has to be mothers.

Always whinging and moaning about things they believe will corrupt the kids

And what about FARMERS with their miserable EU-subsidised lives :mad:

longhalloween

It's not their fault. They listen to Joe Duffy every day and that sh*t's infectious.

IvaBigWun

Agreed, farmers would be a close second in the moaning stakes

mcko

I would say farmers, always moaning.

bridster007

Liebherr workers in Kerry

.. but they may well be buying taxi plates soon themselves

major bill

It's very hard to have sympathy for Taxi men who moan about how it's hard to make a living when they pick and choose who to stop for. Hardly the attitude of somone ''struggling to make ends meet''.

keeponhurling

Why is the government removing taxi ranks ?

fro9etb8j5qsl2

Joe Dufft whingers the lot of them :rolleyes:

Joe prim

Prozzies, always faking those organisms ( so I've been told:D)

ImDave

In a way I do feel bad for some of them who paid ridiculous sums of money to buy a taxi plate years ago, in comparison to people buying them now on Done Deal for 2k. That said, it doesn't mean they should moan about it to every fare paying passenger they take.

Bepolite

keeponhurling wrote: »

Why is the government removing taxi ranks ?

They're removing ones where they're not needed/can't be accommodated. Dawson street and the area around the LUAS link up is probably they're major concern.

Eggonyerface

Apparently where you sit when you hop into a taxi says a lot about your personality. For example if that's the drivers seat you're more than likely a moany bollox

Stavros Murphy

keeponhurling wrote: »

Why is the government removing taxi ranks ?

They've sold them to the Germans - they're all being put up on the outskirts of Frankfurt. It was a mistake really - Enda phoned revenue and said "Run our taxes past those frankfurters in Berlin and see if they rank them as sufficent". The line was a bit crap.

Lando Griffin

A "taxi drivers are concerned for the general public" thread.
Locally, if I ever order a taxi and the guy driving the 99 Toyota Corolla comes to pick me up; I will refuse to get in.

endacl

IvaBigWun wrote: »

Thats nonsense regarding nurses. They're the most under-paid profession I can think of

And the teachers. I teach. Haven't moaned since I was a teenager. I do work with teenagers though. They take moaning to a whole new level...

Cookie_Monster

'profession' is stretching it, you need to act and appear professional if thats the case, its a trade a best.

the standards need to be upped drastically to remove the dregs

Sh1tbag OToole

IvaBigWun wrote: »

Thats nonsense regarding nurses. They're the most under-paid profession I can think of

Nurse has to look after people puking and sh1tting all over the place, horrible job couldnt imagine ever doing that job not for all the tae in China.

Consultant sits in a nice comfortable office, tells you you're going to die in 5 weeks and there is feck all he can do about it, gets paid 10-20x as much.

GoldFour4

I was in Poland last week. A taxi meter starts at something like 1.50 zloty. Thats about 35cent. Here the lowest charge is about €4.50. We get ripped off here, plain and simple.

Hilly Bill

Why are they moaning about removing some ranks when they park anywhere they want anyway rank or not?

Peregrine

Hilly Bill wrote: »

Why are they moaning about removing some ranks when they park anywhere they want anyway rank or not?

You think they're going to let that get in the way of some good aul moaning?

IvaBigWun

Hilly Bill wrote: »

Why are they moaning about removing some ranks when they park anywhere they want anyway rank or not?

Agreed. Camden Street being a good example, on both sides!

BillyMitchel

Yes ill also agree that they are. It's not an insult really because we are a nation of moaners anyway, it's just they do it more than most.

Taxi service in Ireland is a ripoff but if it was any lower I doubt they'd make a living from it these days.

godwin

Farmers are the moaniest profession

Sir Arthur Daley

godwin wrote: »

Farmers are the moaniest profession

If its sunny they want rain, if its rainy they want sun, never happy.

OneArt

Joe prim wrote: »

Prozzies, always faking those organisms ( so I've been told:D)

My little cousin had a fake organism once. Called Simba the Lion, or something like that.

Sam Kade

IvaBigWun wrote: »

Thats nonsense regarding nurses. They're the most under-paid profession I can think of

Really, my sister is a nurse great pay and plenty time off. Farmers work long hours and are price takers, which means they have every reason to protest.

B.A._Baracus

I for one think the question of "Are you good at playing the poor mouth?" should be a question added to the taxi license test

Sam Kade

endacl wrote: »

And the teachers. I teach. Haven't moaned since I was a teenager. I do work with teenagers though. They take moaning to a whole new level...

Nothing to moan about really with months of paid leave every year.

Strumms

Taxi drivers have to be the worst actual drivers out there... Either cruising at 20kmh below the limit looking for fares.. jamming on to pick up without warning or signal. Parking where the **** they like and pulling out in front of you without a ****in care in the world... . As for being whinging pricks I have met some sound taxi drivers and had some good interesting conversations but over the last two years it seems like the prick factor is on the rise... I mean I'm paying enough for the fare without you moaning that you have to work 60 hours a week and ****. Most people will charge me to listen to my problems you want to charge ME for the fare and the privilege of listening to your issues.. Ermmmmmm no.

I think most of them forget they are a public service vehicle rather then them doing you a favour and giving you a lift...

Hilly Bill

BillyMitchel wrote: »

Yes ill also agree that they are. It's not an insult really because we are a nation of moaners anyway, it's just they do it more than most.

Taxi service in Ireland is a ripoff but if it was any lower I doubt they'd make a living from it these days.

More people would get taxis if it was cheaper.

Smidge

Sh1tbag OToole wrote: »

Nurse has to look after people puking and sh1tting all over the place, horrible job couldnt imagine ever doing that job not for all the tae in China.

Consultant sits in a nice comfortable office, tells you you're going to die in 5 weeks and there is feck all he can do about it, gets paid 10-20x as much.

:rolleyes:

There's a lot of people every single weekend puking and sh1tting themselves in taxis locked out of their heads on the way home.

Sir Arthur Daley

Smidge wrote: »

:rolleyes:

There's a lot of people every single weekend puking and sh1tting themselves in taxis locked out of their heads on the way home.

That is rough stuff

Sam Kade

Sh1tbag OToole wrote: »

Nurse has to look after people puking and sh1tting all over the place, horrible job couldnt imagine ever doing that job not for all the tae in China.

That's more of a carers job nurses wouldn't do that job.

B.A._Baracus

Fuck the taxi drivers. Fuck the farmers. Fuck every other job.
Because no one gives a bollocks unless it's you yourself, the family of, or other people IN the job.

But don't get me wrong because if I was a taxi driver myself, yeah i'd be moaning yeah i'd be creating a stink because its in my own interest / gain

And before anyone can't get back quick enough to hit that quote button on me - am pretty sure there is alot of taxi drivers moaning about myself and other people on the dole getting €188 per week - "Ah sure, doesnt matter if they paid tax for years, doesnt matter if its hard to get a job, feck em off the dole i say, the spongers!"

Such is life, huh?

rolliepoley

A Dublin taxi driver comes to the juction of Oconnell st and Abbey. The light turns red, so he stops. Meanwhile, this junkie in a Lexus has just picked up a bootload of gear and is making the rounds to distribute to his petty dealers. He is in a hurry to get rid of the gear, because his overlords want to be paid, so he is yakking away on his mobile getting the troops ready to collect the gear. He's flying up Oconnell st yakking away to one of his underlings, so he does not see that the light has turned red. He is doing about fifty, yakking away when he rear ends the taxi.The place is a mess, parts of cars and whatnot are scattered about, a few windows in buildings are broken, baby carriages are hanging from the lampposts and crack is scattered everywhere on the street.

Along comes Garda Green of Store street Finest. He interviews a couple of witnesses, who describe what happened, as above. He checks out the crystals and determines that they are, in fact, crack. Finally Garda Green goes over to the wreckage of the Lexus, checks out the boot and finds more crack. Lastly, he goes around to the left side of the Lexus, peers through the broken window and asks the driver: ‘Sir, just how fast was that taxi driver going when he backed into you?’

steddyeddy

IvaBigWun wrote: »

Thats nonsense regarding nurses. They're the most under-paid profession I can think of

I completely agree but they also chose their job. Just because someone gets to choose their job doesn't mean they lose the right to complain about certain aspects of it.

IvaBigWun

steddyeddy wrote: »

I completely agree but they also chose their job. Just because someone gets to choose their job doesn't mean they lose the right to complain about certain aspects of it.

No but thing is, and here's the key difference, taxi drivers are self employed.

The fact that they still band together like a union and cause traffic chaos with protests on a regular basis is laughable.

KyussBishop

What do Taxi drivers actually earn per hour, on average? And what's the assault rate on Taxi drivers, considering this is a constant risk in the profession?

Should they just be glad to have a job, any kind of a job - no matter how shít a level of pay or personal risk taken, and stop whining?
Perhaps we should extend this further: Should all people with jobs just stop whining, simply because they are lucky enough to have a job?

Or perhaps they have a right to defend themselves from worsening work conditions, or measures which force them to spend even more out of their pocket to stay in business - lowering their overall income?


Why also, do people still think workers have any 'choice' left, in a labour market where it is so easy to fall into unemployment? Very few people have any choices - they take what they can get; you even have a crapload of people working in virtual slave-labour (internships), just on the hope of getting a job out of it.

The idea of 'choice' is bullshít in that kind of a labour market.

awec

There are too many taxi drivers in Dublin.

feargale

Taxi drivers' woes began with deregulation some years ago. People who had paid big money for taxi licences suddenly found them almost worthless. Why have I no sympathy? Because in the two or three years beforehand about four young men died violently in Dublin, having left a pub or a disco and having been unable to get a taxi home. Taxiing was a closed shop and Dublin was grossly underserviced. It took those deaths to shame the government of the day into deregulation, into ensuring that Dublin got an adequate taxi service.Anyone who is of good character with a clean driving licence should be entitled to drive a taxi. Any car that passes an NCT should be entitled to be licensed as a taxi. A licence should attach only to the relevant driver and the relevant car and should not be negotiable. Ditto re pubs etc..The idea of buying and selling licences is the essence of corruption. You cannot buy or sell a driving licence. If you set up as a shopkeeper or doctor or solicitor, you can't whinge if two more set up in competition at either side of you. Free trade is all the rage now, until a competitor threatens my monopoly.

end of the road

IvaBigWun wrote: »

hold the public to ransom

bull****, we live in a free country, better some traffic disruption then being killed for protesting, any potential lowering of standards in the taxi industry should be stopped at all costs

end of the road

Hilly Bill wrote: »

More people would get taxis if it was cheaper.

i'm not sure if they would hilly

end of the road

awec wrote: »

There are too many taxi drivers in Dublin.

agree with this, infact i think thats one of the taxi drivers long running issues, and i believe licences are still being issued? fine during the good times but now, theirs just not the demand

shruikan2553

As someone who lives across the road from a taxi rank, the less the better.

suicide_circus

What are they actually protesting about? The removal of some ranks and an effort to bring more professionalism and uniformity into their trade. This is a job where with absolutely zero training or skill, you can charge people 4.50 for NOTHING.

end of the road

feargale wrote: »

Why have I no sympathy? Because in the two or three years beforehand about four young men died violently in Dublin, having left a pub or a disco and having been unable to get a taxi home.

so let me get this straight, you have no sympathy for taxi drivers because 4 people tragically died apparently because they couldn't get a taxi rather then the fact it might have been something else, the fact they couldn't get a taxi being because of the lack of them due to the government regulating the industry rather then de-regulating it, something which wasn't in the taxi drivers control? i see,

feargale wrote: »

Taxiing was a closed shop and Dublin was grossly underserviced. It took those deaths to shame the government of the day into deregulation, into ensuring that Dublin got an adequate taxi service.

again, due to the government waiting until something happened to de-regulate the industry, so it wasn't the fault of the taxi drivers these men tragically lost their lives

feargale wrote: »

Anyone who is of good character with a clean driving licence should be entitled to drive a taxi. Any car that passes an NCT should be entitled to be licensed as a taxi. A licence should attach only to the relevant driver and the relevant car and should not be negotiable.

theirs not the demand for the amount of taxis their is now, i'm not suggesting we go back to pre-deregulation either, but the industry needs to be sustainable, so therefore it shouldn't be the case that anyone can apply for a licence, infact taxis should have higher standards then the normal car (something which should be possibly fazed in)

feargale wrote: »

The idea of buying and selling licences is the essence of corruption.

lol, seriously, if you think that is corruption you don't know real corruption

feargale wrote: »

If you set up as a shopkeeper or doctor or solicitor, you can't whinge if two more set up in competition at either side of you. Free trade is all the rage now, until a competitor threatens my monopoly.

theres a lot of demand for the professions you mentioned, however sometimes their can be a saturation of businesses in an area, which is the case with the taxi industry. sometimes a monopoly is good