Taxi drivers gearing up for Parliament protest

A new appointment has been set by professional taxi drivers for 10am on Tuesday at the offices of their union, with a possibility that they will march on foot towards Syntagma Square.

The situation on the streets of Athens spiraled out of control after the traffic chaos caused by the taxi protests. The drivers departed from Piraeus port and later from Eleftherios Venizelos airport and headed towards the center of Athens to protest, but were not allowed to do so.

The police blocked the roads to Syntagma with cranes

A roadblock was set up on Amalias boulevard, resulting in a vehicle queue of dozens of kilometers up to Syngrou Avenue. Another roadblock was set up near NIMITS in Ilisia, across from the Hilton Hotel.

Finally, shortly after 2:30pm on Monday, the taxi drivers decided to leave from all roads.

Monday’s protest chronicle

In Piraeus, after negotiations with the harbor master, the taxi drivers allowed access to two gates at Xaveriou Coast where the cruise ships are, in order to let the tourists board their buses.

According to the Coast Guard, only on Monday,15000 tourists were expected to disembark from vessels at Xaveriou Coast.

2.500 taxi drivers rallied in Piraeus. As a result, traffic chaos and congestion ensued on all roads in and around the city of Piraeus, causing public transport to grind to a halt.

Since early morning, several hundred taxis had queued for kilometers near the airport exits to Attiki Odos, leaving only one lane open to traffic. There were flight delays of up to one hour. Strong riot police arrived promptly on the scene.

SATA Chairman, Thimios Lymberopoulos, made it clear that the protests will continue and called upon the Minister of Infrastructure, Transport and Communications to reverse his decision and create a dialogue based on a Presidental Decree.

On the order of District Attorney Eleni Raikou, the minister asked that judicial proceedings be initiated against any taxi drivers that are hindering public transportation.

On his part, Minister of Tourism Pavlos Geroulanos appealed for calm tempers and urged taxi owners to realize the discomfort experienced by thousands of citizens when the protesters cause traffic jams around ports and airports.

As is quite apparent, the relationship between taxi owners and the government has been driven to extremes since Minister Giannis Ragkousis’ made a decision to proceed immediately with the full deregulation of the taxi trade, ignoring the presidential decree promoted by his predecessor in the ministry, Dimitris Reppas, and agreed upon by owners.