by taking back control of YOUR industry,and eliminating these unnecessary control freaks from the industry
Oh ok never would have thought of that.
FFS When are you going to stop Horsing that dead Flog nobody wants a co op app .Just look at the diverse opinions on here about FLAG or UBER or MEtaxi .
Erm, I take your point, things are good today, with all the apps falling over themselves, the drivers are in control due to the current economic climate, supply and demand, shortage of taxis versus demand for taxis. So the apps are trying to survive and will do anything to protect and control their market share.
Yea loads of money now, its great. But we are giving up control of our business. Imagine in a perfect taxi driver world where all drivers see the big picture and aren't short sighted and nobody works for dispatchers or apps. All the customers would have to hail on the street , walk to the rank or maybe call a regular taxi driver directly. Then all of the taxi work will always belong to taxi drivers and it would be there when you went out to work.
Even taking into account that the demand for taxis has increased over the last 30 years since consumers have had the option of calling or booking a taxi, fair enough, by why not by a system controlled by drivers. When the cycle moves to the opposite, where there are more drivers and less work, the apps will gain control. Even now when things are good,
'the others' plot against the drivers, the MT ads on buses for drivers, the NTA
'fake' job ads for drivers, they want to take away our good times.
The bad times will come again and more and more frequently with shorter good spells and longer bad. When those days come, apps will control the work and no bonuses or stepped commission, the apps that survive will be ruthless.
When dispatchers and apps control taxi work it restricts a certain percentage of drivers from that
'controlled' work because they don't agree with the policies or have been excluded. The more dispatchers and apps that there are, the more work they control. That means there is less uncontrolled or independent work. This increases costs due to base fees or commission. Nearly impossible to earn a living unless you are tied to a dispatcher or app and they take their piece of skin for the privilege.
We are like a snake eating its own tail, full today but leading to our own destruction and rebirth on the dole.
Just have to read the posts back in the bad days about how controlling the dispatchers and apps were. Taxi drivers seem to be like goldfish, no long term memory, all about the moment.
As for Eircab, it is working in the background, setting up corporate and legal structures for driver membership, finding a good tech partner firm to develop a custom app that is owned by the co-op, including all data. Watching, learning, in no hurry and waiting to pick up the pieces after the commercial app war .
A 'real' co-op with one member, one share, one vote. Only way that can be changed is if there is a unanimous vote at a AGM or EGM.
It is envisaged that there will be a once off €100 admin membership fee to cover setup costs. Nothing to pay after that except a reducing commission and maybe a dividend return to drivers.
The co-op will register a private limited company to run the taxi app. The co-op will always have a controlling share in the company and this will be stated in the company's constitution.
Other elements of the co-op and the app will include:
Full Transparency.
One member, One share, One Vote and a voice at Annual General Meetings.
Fair division of work, all drivers are equal, none are more equal than others.
Reducing commission based on volume of work completed.
Credit card and Account work paid next day.
Credit card transaction fees covered by commission including street work!
No discounts, Ever!
Our own voice in the industry.
+ ?...... tell us, what have we missed?
No jobs for the boys, even me, once it is established, I am hopefully heading to a journalistic and academic career. What's in it for me?, That I made a difference and it will look good on my CV.
I respect all opinions about Eircab, for and against, it may work or maybe it won't, but if no one tries, it definitely won't. The co-op needs seven people to co sign its registration, I can get seven bodies to do that but I would rather get people on board that are passionate about our industry even if they have doubts or different opinions. That way it would have the best chance as an optimist's view may miss important issues and vice versa. There will be no reward other than giving back. PM me if you are interested in being founders of the co-op. All names put into hat and six pulled out and witnessed in a public place to be determined.
Eh, unless you think the seven should be pulled out of the hat, then their is a risk that my name might not come out and I am cool with that if the seven are up to the job, I can be an adviser and join as a member later.
The co-founders will form the provisional board until elections are held at the first AGM. The co-founders will have an input and set out the rules/constitution/charter for the co-op.
All members will have access to Board Minutes and decisions by logging into their member account on the co-op website.
I genuinely 100% want it to work and have no agenda other than a comment on my CV and if all my career plans fail I can work away in the co-op/app as a taxi driver into my seventies, I hope.
