So the taxi drivers in Greece have been on strike for the past 2 days and no person in the PASOK government has chosen to meet with the taxi drivers union. Greek taxi drivers have been sporadically blockading ports and air ports on a national scale. Let me first say..
that fundamentally I agree that dergaultion is the way forward for the taxi industry in Greece. A lot of Greek I have spoken to have voiced their disatisfaction with the service offered by taxi drivers, whether it be the fact that they will pick up more than one fair at a time or the fact that they charge you the same amount regardless of whether there are more than one person in the cab with you.
For these reason I think the taxi industry in Greece should be deregulated. There is a monopoly in the taxi business at the moment which seems to be putting off a lot of people from using taxis. Some people would obviously like a choice.
However the way the government has handled the situation is not only wrong it is immoral. Because of government intervention in the licensing of taxis in Greece, the cost of getting a taxi license is 80,000Euro. The Greek government wants, at a stroke, to reduce the cost to 3,000Euro.
As you can imagine the taxi drivers are not happy, which is why they are on strike.
I think most people will believe that the taxi drivers have a case but they have to be careful in managing public opinion. As long as they have public opnion on their side then the strike could be successful, if not then they will loose.
As of this morning, the taxi drivers have decided to extend the strike indefintely. This could be a mistake, both for their cause and for public opnion. At the end of the day the drivers need to eat. By striking indefintely the length of their strike will only last as long as their savings. For a solid foundation for a long term strike perhaps it would be a better idea to strike for 2 or 4 or 8 hours a day for example. This way at least they still make some money during the time they are striking.
The other isssue is public opinion. People depend on the taxi service. For it simply not to be available full stop could potentially alienate their supporters which could be extremely damaging to the support that they get from the public. Again, I do not rule out the fact that government agencies have infiltrated the unions in Greece in an attempt to radicalise the members with the aim to alienate the public.
As long as public opinion is on the side of the taxi drivers their action is legal. If the public begins to resent the actions of the taxi drivers, the government will have carte blanche to do anything they think is necessary.
As long as the public at large support the taxi drivers their strike can continue. For the government not to re-negotiate the terms of the dergualtion shows complete disrespect for the taxi drivers and for the public at large who are effected by the strikes of the taxi drivers at large.
The government in my opnion should negotiate. Extending the dergualtion period to say 5 years while gradually reducing the cost of the licenses over this period would be much fairer than simply cutting the price of a license overnight.
The Greek government need and should listen to the grievances of their citizens. Democracy no longer seems to exist in Greece, strike action seems to be the only democratic outlet remaining. The taxi drivers are striking for the Greek people at large. Today it is the taxi drivers but who will be next?
As an example of who is next. You have a member of PASOK Lambrinidis, despite consecutive Greek governments being shown to have been incompetent and corrupt, proposing that all Greeks should be taxed on their private transactions. And not only Greek, Lambrinidis wants to tax all Europeans on their personal transactions. I have no idea how any government can show how they can be trusted with public money. If government was a business it would have gone out of business years ago.
And thinking about it, the Greek government looks like it could go out of business anyway. And this is depsite the fact that they can compel their customers to be the services with physical service.
Any organisation which cannot operate profitably, even with the use of physical force to compel it’s customers to buy deserves to be wiped out. It certainly is not justified for the incompetent government to come out and demand even more more by force.
For any politician to come out and say more taxes are the answer, shows in my opnion, that they are completely drunk on power.
Other links
The best taxi driver in Greece?
Ragkoysis it is to blaim as minister of transports for the situation in Greece that has as result the strike TAXI.
lymperopoylos they is chairman of association and gives fight for the workers taxi
The strike the taxi is continued who fighting with closure of harbours and airports.
The fight TAXI it should they is who dynamic should this government fall resign Ragkoysis that is responsibility as minister of transports and brought the sector in impass
Thx for your support strike continues strong, greece is close
Being a visitor to Athens for the first time in July, 2011, we found that although the taxi companies were on strike – with automobiles, their minivans and minibuses (with the same taxi companies) were able to pick passengers up at the airport and cruise lines. We were left at our hotel even though we confirmed we were to be picked up. We in the States call this discrimination.
They took you to the hotel but would not pick you up from the hotel?
They took you to the hotel but would not pick you up from the hotel?
Yes, we had a previous return trip confirmed with owner’s son and also by John the driver who dropped us off at the hotel. When they did not show up, they said they had NO reservation for us even though I had written and verbal confirmation from GT (initials of taxi services). We were lied to and abandoned. But apparently if you have 3 or more (we were 2), a minibus or van is not affected by the strike and therefore can be used. It’s a shame but we did get back to the airport in time for our flight.