Taxi drivers announce more strikes

TAXI DRIVERS beat drums, blew horns and whistles, and lit firecrackers outside the Consulat de la Mar on February 15.

TAXI driver associations have announced a series of strikes, starting with a 24-hour strike on March 6.  There are also shorter three-hour scheduled strikes for March, 13, 20, and 27 and April 3, and 24-hour strikes planned for April 13 and 16, which are Thursday of Easter Week and Easter Sunday itself.  

There will also be no taxi service from 10pm until 6am on both April 14 and April 15.  These strikes are aimed to get residents involved in the discussions, as large numbers of tourists and locals alike use taxis during big holidays. 

Recent meetings between the four taxi-driver associations, the minister for Transport Marc Pons, and the mayor of Calvia Alfonso Rodriguez, have produced minimal progress toward a resolution, leaving the deadlock unbroken.  Pons said the meetings made some advancements, but the taxi drivers disagree.  

There is another protest planned on March 17 from 11am until 2pm outside the Consulat de la Mar. 

Emilo Gomez, a Pollensa based taxi driver for 17 years, believes they will continue protesting until a fair agreement is reached.  “Everybody needs a taxi, not just tourists; but what the government is doing is bad service for everyone,” Gomez said at the February 15 protest.  

Many residents struggle to get behind the taxi drivers and their protest.  In 2016 Mallorca’s association of self-employed taxi drivers released information regarding revenue; their spokesman Juan Pablo Arias, stated a typical Palma driver can take home between €5,000 and€ 6,000 in each of the summer months, although winter months see a decrease down to as little as €800 on a slow month. The average yearly salary in Mallorca is €26,375, or taking home just over €2,000 a month; taxi drivers on average take home more than most working in Mallorca.    

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