John Kelly

'How do we fix the taxi industry,' is a cry I constantly hear from radio talk-back hosts, and it seems Neil Mitchell and John Faine are leading the charge. I suspect the answer lies somewhere in between, 'you get what you pay for' and 'you get what you value.' It is not, I suggest, our taxi industry that is failing us, it is our community failing the taxi industry. When the community learns to RESPECT the industry as a vital and important part of our infrastructure, and VALUES the people who represent it on the front line, the industry will respond. The essential problem today is that the community does not RESPECT or VALUE the industry. IF IT DID....driving a taxi would be seen as a worthwhile occupation. It would be something people would aspire to do. It would be something people would be ATTRACTED to, as it is in say, in London for example. Here in Melbourne, it is a job of last resort....low pay, dreadful conditions, with drivers subject to abuse and assault, no holiday pay, no guaranteed income, no sick leave. Asking drivers to perform to the standards we expect, but in the process treating them in this way is a clear indication that we do not RESPECT them, or VALUE what they do. We value our police, nurses, teachers, firemen, and although they too, complain about their conditions, at least they are rewarded for their performance with a pay structure, holidays, and sick leave. Taxi drivers are called upon to be the front-line ambassadors to our city, and in return we guarantee them NOTHING! When someone rings a radio station to complain about an incident they have experienced, you can hear Mitchell and Faine licking their lips, ready to fire broadsides at an easy target. For all their hyperbole, they have done nothing to help. They have in fact done the reverse. If Melbourne wants a taxi service it is proud of, it must first learn to RESPECT and VALUE its components. It is no use to anyone to say.....'when they learn to do the job properly, we'll respect them.' The buck stops with the COMMUNITY. A fare increase this week will see a new round of complaints emerge and the same old rhetoric from talk-back radio hosts. Then it will all die down for a while, as some other issue grabs their attention, or until a new complaint arises. Let's stop complaining and do something positive. but first, we must RESPECT and VALUE the service, and DEMONSTRATE that in a productive way.