4 - The Oakville Beaver, Wednesday February 18, 2009 www.oakvillebeaver.com Cab owners say changes would hurt business Continued from page 1 from what I see the system doesn't exist," said Akmal Muhammad, a Halton Taxi Driver. "It is just a tribal system where the influential tribe is dictating whatever they want. If a gentleman belongs to a particular tribe in Pakistan he knows that whatever the tribal leader says, whether he's right or wrong or it's day or night everybody has to obey, the situation here is the same." At the meeting, cab drivers say the current system is open to abuse by cab owners -- especially over suspensions. Contacted by The Oakville Beaver, Oakville United Taxi denies suspending drivers without cause. "Every company has its own rules and regulations and from the office here we do suspend drivers sometimes, for an hour or for two hours, but usually it's because they provided poor service or they violated some rules," said Miroslav El-Bassyouny, gen- eral manager of Oakville United Taxi. "During the last year, I've noticed that a lot of the new drivers, unfortunately have bad customer service and our only way of dealing with it is to suspend them." Halton Taxi owner Frank Martino said he has never suspended anyone in his life. Complaining, he said, is just something drivers do. "They're whining and crying, they're never satisfied," said Martino. "It doesn't matter how much money they make in a day, they always feel like they're getting exploited by one person or another. This is a constant thing that we hear time after time and it's simply not true." Martino said that not only is treating the drivers in the way they describe, unethical, but it also makes poor business sense as it is in his company's best interest to treat them well. "These drivers are the life's blood of our business. They have to make a good living. They have to be treated with respect. Everything has to run above board and if it's not the wheels fall off," said Martino. "If they're not happy, the customer experience is going to be a very bad one. " The problem, as the drivers see it, is that currently in Oakville a taxi plate (licence) is valued at between $165,000 and $200,000. There are 87 taxi plates in Oakville owned by a very small group of people. Oakville United Taxi has 67 plates owned by about 38 people. Oakville United Taxi is owned by around 28 of those plate-owners. Halton Taxi has about 19 plates owned by five people. Halton Taxi is owned by one of those plate owners. As many drivers cannot afford to purchase their own plate, they must drive for a plate owner at a rental cost of between $400-$525 per week. On top of this, a driver must pay between $800$900 for dispatch service to get business from a cab Home Improvements When you use your Sears Card or Sears® MasterCard® on all installed home improvements, you can choose... 'til January 2012 or Collect Sears Club Points** TM Interest Free financing * PRE-SEASON EVENT 400500 off $ Exclusive 10-year parts & labour warranty from Sears: details in store company in Oakville. In this situation, as the plate does not belong to the driver it can be pulled and given to another driver at any time. However, if the Town were to issue ambassador plates, management would not be able to put the cab driver completely out of work. "Then these owners will know that, `If we fire him, he has an ambassador plate. He can work on his own," said Muhammad. The drivers also pointed out that by bringing in ambassador plates and increasing the number of cabs in Oakville to a ratio of one cab for every 1,500 people, competition will also increase, which will result in better service for customers. This will, in turn, help the drivers, who note that with so many cabs on the roads, the fees they must pay will be brought in line with those of other municipalities. On the other side of the issue, management points out the idea could be a bad one given the state of the economy. "Right now with the recession, it's a little bit slow," said El-Bassyouny. "Sometimes, we have people waiting for an order for an hour and a half to two hours during the day and three to four hours at night, so if we're going to have unlimited plates, I wonder how long these guys will be waiting for orders." Martino also worried about what adding more cabs to the streets of Oakville would do to his business as well as what an influx of ambassador plates would do. "It would be like the wild west," said Martino. "Little old ladies would get ripped off severely. There would be no accountability." ALL installed Carrier® central air conditioning & heat pumps Also on sale, $ 300 off Installed Carrier 2-stage high-efficiency, variable-speed furnaces 10-20% off ALL installed Weatherbeater® & Weatherbeater Plus replacement windows 10%OFF 2-8 windows 20%OFF 9 or more windows Fire guts bungalow The Oakville Fire Department is reporting no injuries in a $150,000 blaze that gutted a Culham Street home early Sunday morning. Neighbours spotted the fire within the single-storey bungalow and called 911 at around 3 a.m. with fire trucks arriving on the scene moments later. "When we arrived the whole front of the house was fully engulfed in fire," said Platoon Chief Keith Cassey. "Early reports indicated that there might be people trapped inside, but crews were able to get in and do a search and confirm that there was in fact nobody home." With the search complete Oakville firefighters were able to get the fire under control within 20 minutes. The cause of the fire is unknown at this time, but it is believed to have started in the living room. The Oakville Fire Department is reminding residents to make sure they have functioning smoke detectors and to practice a home escape plan with their families. *Interest free financing until January 2012 when you use your Sears Card® or Sears MasterCard® on ALL installed home improvements. Pay in equal monthly installments, interest free. On approved credit, when you use your Sears Card or Sears® MasterCard®. Minimum $2500 purchase. $99 installment billing fee and all applicable taxes and charges are payable at time of purchase. This transaction will post to your account following the completion of installation ("Posting Date"). The total purchase price will be billed in equal installments from the Posting Date until January 2012. 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MasterCard® is a registered Trademark of MasterCard International Incorporated. Call now, toll free, for a no-obligation in-home custom estimate. Call or visit your Sears Retail Store Call 1-800-590-8676 or visit sears.ca/homecentral Offers end Friday, March 6, 2009. Sears will arrange installation by qualified contractors. Offers do not apply to previously signed contracts. Not valid in conjunction with any other discount or promotion. Not available in all markets Look for the ENERGY STAR® logo. It shows that the product meets ENERGY STAR specifications for energy efficiency. NEO23H109 Canada Sears NE121H208 © 2008. Sears © 2009.Inc. Canada Inc.