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Italian Taxi drivers renewed the strike in the middle of July 2006 right after talks over government plans to deregulate the sector ,causing chaos in several cities.
The drivers staged different types of protests, besieging major squares, deliberately snarling traffic, blocking access to a number of airports and organizing go-slow drives, local media reported.
In Rome, the drivers descended on central Piazza Venezia, the city center of Rome, soon right after midnight following taxi unions abandoned the negotiating table.
They remained there all through the evening and forced local authorities to close the square off to targeted traffic.
Some 60 other taxis took part in a go-slow drive from the city's principal airport to the city and back again, causing additional issues.
The protests had been replicated in Naples, Turin, Genoa and Milan, exactly where drivers blocked access to the city airport.
Italian Financial Development Minister who drew up the bill contested by the drivers, mentioned that "they (the taxi drivers) do not own the city."
The matter of controversy is a government decree that intends to liberalize taxi licensing and break the virtual monopoly status of nearby taxi federations.
This decree orders municipal administrations to boost the quantity of taxi licenses issued and give out short-term permits for the duration of predictably busy periods.
1 of the most controversial aspects is a measure which would have permitted private firms to enter the sector by acquiring licenses and then hiring their own drivers.
Taxi licenses in Rome are regarded as private house by their holders, who trade them on when they retire or pass them on to their kids. The practice has created a grey market place in which the cost of a permit can attain as high as 200,000 euros (about 240,000 U.S. dollars).
Italy's 40,000-robust fleet of taxis is the smallest in Europe. According to official statistics, there are two.1 taxis per thousand inhabitants in Rome compared to 8.3 in London and 9.9 in Barcellona.
The quantity of taxis operating in Rome is five,820, compared to a lot more than 61,000 in London, almost 43,000 in New York and 17,000 in Paris, the report mentioned.
Complaints from residents and tourists over the difficulty in finding taxis during peak hours and at night have shot up in current years, with taxi drivers accused of deliberately restricting the number of automobiles obtainable in order to safeguard their earnings and the values of their licenses.Fur Pet Care 1712 Riverside Drive, #237 Austin, TX 78741 512-660-7919 http://furpetcare.com petsitter
