Warsaw taxi drivers on strike

At 11.30 CET this morning several dozen taxi drivers set off from Bankowy Square to the Chancellery of the Prime Minister in the style of a funeral procession. The drivers were playing the funeral march and carrying a coffin with the inscription “The last licensed taxi driver”, as well as wreaths and banners saying: “Illegal transportation is the end to legal taxis”, “False cabs – a symbol of EURO 2012”, “Enough of taxi piracy”.

The coffin was laid in front of the ministerial building on a catafalque.

The protesters want the government to reduce the number of unlicensed carriers and punish those who pretend to be bona fide taxi drivers.

“Unlicensed carriers don’t have taxi-metres and don’t give receipts, so a client can’t make a complaint. Besides, most of them charge more than regular taxi drivers because the Road Transport Inspectorate doesn’t control them properly,” says Pawel Biedrzycki from the Warsaw Private Transport Association. “We will not allow unlicensed carriers to force us out of the market,” adds Biedrzycki.

The striking taxi drivers are supported by Solidarity trade unionists from the Mazovia region and airport taxi drivers, who also complain about illegal carriers.

The protesters have already announced that if the government does not meet their demands, they will continue the protest by blocking Warsaw’s streets. Today’s demonstration has caused traffic jams in the Chancellery’s vicinity, not far from the city centre. (mg/pg)