Rome taxi drivers to strike on 27 June

Source Summary

Taxi unions back 24-hour walkout on Saturday in protest at unlicensed activity and stalled reforms. Rome's taxi drivers will bring their vehicles to a halt on Saturday 27 June in a 24-hour strike in protest over the perceived failure of the city administration to act on commitments made earlier this year. In May, hundreds of taxi drivers gathered outside the Campidoglio; a delegation was subsequently received by the municipality and the prefecture, and the unions were promised a follow-up meeting within 15 days to identify concrete solutions. That deadline passed without result, prompting a further ultimatum in early June before the strike was formally declared. In a joint statement, the unions said that after months of promises, meetings and reassurances, the administration had kept practically none of its commitments, while the sector continued to suffer from irregular competition and widespread unlicensed working, insufficient enforcement, and announced measures that remained on paper. Drivers cite the presence of hire-car operators (NCC) working outside their licensed territory, electric golf carts and other light vehicles carrying passengers without proper authorisation, degraded conditions at main railway stations, delays in adjusting fares in line with ISTAT inflation indices, confusion over compensation payments, and the abandonment of projects such as the 060609 Chiama Taxi app. The action has been called by an unusually broad coalition of unions and trade bodies, including Filt Cgil Taxi, Fit Cisl Taxi, Ugl Taxi, Federtaxi Cisal, Uritaxi, Fast Confsal Taxi, Cna Taxi, Claai Atapl, Unione Tassisti D'Italia, Agci Taxi, Confcooperative Trasporto Persone Roma, Consultaxi, Sul Taxi, Atitaxi and Associazione Tutela Legale Taxi. The unions have indicated that, in the absence of concrete responses from the city, the walkout could represent "only the first in a series of strikes".