Taxi strike, the unions: “Almost total support”. The demonstration in Rome

From difficult to impossible. Today, finding a taxi in almost all Italian cities will truly require a miracle: It runs from 8am to 10pm the united protest of trade unions of every color and orientation: Unica Cgil, Fast, Ugl, Uti, Tam, Claai artisans union, Satam, Orsa, Uritaxi, Atlt, Ati Taxi, Sitan Atn, Usb Taxi, Unimpresa, Federtaxi Cisalsuch synchrony of intent has not been recorded for over two years.

“The participation in the national taxi strike is almost total throughout Italy. It is practically impossible to find a taxi”, declare the acronyms in theHandle.

The guarantee bands and social services provided for by law remain unaffected. At the same time, the acronyms announced a protest in Rome which will take place in Piazza San Silvestro from 10am to 5pm, with the presence of delegations from organizations from all over Italy. Garrisons are also planned in other cities.

The reasons for the protest

Machines stopped “To counter the illegitimate use of rental authorizations and safeguard one’s autonomy and independence from the slavery of algorithms and multinationals”. The focus is on the increase in licenses decided in various cities starting from Rome, Milan and Florence, but also the competition with rental cars with driver, in particular those that can be booked through Uber. The Taxi manager of Ugl Alessandro Genovese: “If the demand for taxi and chauffeur services grows, the algorithms of the multinationals will skyrocket; in emergency situations or natural disasters, prices, as we have seen, have increased by up to 400%”. And he recalls that “in February ministers Urso and Salvini had called us to define the adequate implementing decrees with the commitment to approve them by April. But some meetings at the Mise, where he was received Uber vice president Tony Westand some statements at question times gave us the impression that everything is at a standstill, while due to the multinationals operating in big cities, deregulation is there for all to see”

The government’s mess

“I am working, after years of inertia from those who preceded me, to give certainty to taxi drivers, NCCs and citizens who are the primary custodians of public transport and private transport. If they have thought about this strike, they are free to do so. I hope that the inconvenience for citizens is limited” he said the Minister of Transport, Matteo Salvini. In reality, the combined work of his ministry and that of Adolfo Urso’s companies managed to discount everyone. The white cars protest against the increase in licenses, the NCCs against the constraints of the Salvini decree which requires waiting 30 minutes between one customer and another, the return after each service to the garage in one’s own municipality and the filling out of service sheets with names and routes. Rules that have raised doubts in the Constitutional Court, and are at risk of rejection by Europe. Uber itself has rejected them because they seem designed to reduce competition for taxi drivers. Consumer associations are convinced of this: for Massimiliano Dona, president of the National Consumers Unionit is the “usual unmotivated and preventive strike to maintain caste privileges”. For members it is an “absurd and unmotivated strike”.