Italy taxi drivers strike against freeing up the sector

On Thursday, thousands of angry taxi-drivers from all over Italy continued to protest in central Rome; against government plans to free up the sector bringing more taxis on the Italian streets.

While awaiting the outcome of talks between their union representatives and the government, they expressed their discontent by chanting out loud slogans against the Prime Minister Mario Monti and his liberalization plan which is one of the measures that are meant to revitalize the stagnant Italian economy.

The objective of the liberalization of services trade is to reduce privileges for certain groups of professionals, often accused of using guilds to limit access to competition in their sectors.

There are about 50,000 taxi-drivers in Italy and practically almost all of them want to preserve their present status.

They are against the government’s proposal to open up the circulation of taxis. Currently a taxi-driver is permitted to work only within the area  in which his licence was granted.

Furthermore they are opposing the plan to license more drivers.

They are also demanding that each taxi-driver holds one taxi-license only. Meanwhile the government wants to give licensed drivers an additional license that they can rent or sell. The taxi-drivers view this as insufficient in light of the economic setback they will suffer due to the reforms.

Unions have said they will hold a nationwide strike on January 23 against the government’s plans if an accord is not reached with Italian premier Mario Monti.

At the end of the meeting with the government – that some union reps described as “the mother of all the battles” – the unionists announced that some concessions to the government had to be made and that a final decision by the Monti-led executive will be made on Friday.

When they ordered the taxi-drivers to put an end to the strike and go back to work many disappointed protesters lost their nerve and approached their own unionists with aggressive intent.

Several taxi-drivers are threatening more wildcat strikes in the coming days.

As well as taxis, the reforms designed to liberalize the services will include measures to increase the number of pharmacies and notary offices and open petrol distribution to greater competition.

While more disruptions are likely to occur, petrol pump attendants have already threatened a 10-day strike.

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