Striking Greek taxis block roads, ports and airports

Jul 21, 2011, 15:33 GMT

Athens - Hundreds of striking Greek taxi drivers continued to block access to major roads as well as ports and airports on the holiday islands of Crete, Corfu and Rhodes on Thursday over government plans to liberalize their profession.

The four-day old taxi drivers action has created frustration for thousands of holidaymakers at the height of the tourist season.

On the southern Mediterranean island of Crete more than 300 taxis blocked access to airports and ports, forcing hundreds of tourists to walk several blocks to reach waiting buses.

Meanwhile, taxis also blocked ports and airports on the western Greek island of Corfu and Zakynthos as well as the Dodecannese island of Rhodes, refusing tourist buses from reaching their destination to pick up passengers.

Hundreds of taxi drivers also disrupted traffic on major roads across central Greece and in the Peloponnese.

A meeting between Transport Minister Yiannis Ragousis and union leaders failed to resolve the impasse on Wednesday and drivers warned that they would continue with rolling 48-hour strikes unless their demands are met.

Taxi owners around the country are demanding that the government back down on its plan to increase the number of taxi licenses that can be issued.

Greece is under pressure from the European Union and International Monetary Fund (IMF) to liberalize dozens of tightly-regulated professions, with decades-old licence limits or fixed profit margins as part of conditions to receive funds from a 110-billion euro package of bailout funds.

Those affected include taxi and truck drivers, lawyers and pharmacists.

Taxi drivers say that relaxing limitations for entering the profession will result in an oversupply of drivers, putting further strain on a business already suffering from the economic crisis.

Workers also claim that expensive licenses they purchased, many costing as much as 200,000 euros (280,000 dollars) - and which they hoped to sell on to the next generation - have now become worthless.