Taxi drivers were on strike for
the fifth consecutive day across Italy on Monday as part of a
protest in response to an amendment that would deregulate the
sector enabling a wider use of Uber.
Taxi service will continue to be offered to and from
hospitals and for the disabled.
Taxi unions will meet on Tuesday in Rome, as announced in
recent days by Transport Minister Graziano Delrio.
A rental car driver in Milan has been reported to the police
for threats after pointing a pistol - later found to be a toy -
at taxi drivers who had thrown eggs at his car around 4 am. The
man was tracked down by police shortly thereafter.
In recent days, several Uber drivers have had their vehicles
damaged and been targeted by the egg throwing from the taxi
drivers on strike.
The Naples strike started around 8 am on Monday ahead of the
meeting at the transport ministry in the Italian capital on
Tuesday.
Announcements are posted at the Capodichino airport detailing
how to get around the city without taxis. Service will be
provided to the disabled, the elderly who require assistance and
doctors that have to get to hospitals and healthcare centers,
taxi drivers in the city said.
Delrio commented by saying that "tomorrow we will look into
why there is a situation that has long not been regulated" as
concerns taxi drivers, and "come up with a regulation that is
finally serious and takes away the temporary nature of the
current situation".
He added that "guarantees are needed. On the one hand are the
rights of citizens and on the other the rights of those who have
invested in their business, the taxi drivers".
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