Taxi drivers provide essential services in Malaga during two hour strike
During the taxi strike in Andalusia this weekend, drivers will only operate essential services for two hours a day.
As taxi drivers across Andalucia begin their scheduled strike action tonight, Friday September 23, a statement issued by the sector has informed users that there will be three stops at the city’s main transport hubs from Malaga – airport, port and train and bus stations. .
Unions representing taxi drivers have called for a strike which starts at 7pm today and will continue until 7am on Monday 26th. They are protesting against the government’s perceived lack of control over VTCs in Andalucia.
Essential services will be covered in Malaga between 7 p.m. and 9 p.m. tonight. On Saturday 24 and Sunday 25, they will operate between 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. The rest of the time, until Monday morning, a fleet of just 205 vehicles will cover Malaga Airport.
This is an understated taxi fleet due to the majority of drivers taking part in protests in San Telmo, Seville. In the statement, the taxi drivers apologized “for any trouble we may cause these days.” They clarified that taxis for people with reduced mobility will continue to be available, as part of essential services.
Speaking on Thursday September 22, Miguel Angel Martin, President of the Costa del Sol Taxi Confederation, summarized the demands of the sector. They want to regulate deferred pre-contracting, to include a time of 15 or 30 minutes before performing the service.
A ratio of 1 VTC vehicle for 30 taxi licenses is also required. As he pointed out, at the moment this ratio in Malaga: “is 1/1, above 2,000 vehicles of each type, but they also come to operate from other autonomous communities, there is no has no control”.
Martin assured that the Junta de Andalucia has not advanced the draft decree which should come into force on Saturday, October 1. This is the date on which the so-called Abalos decree, which will regulate VTCs, should come into force. in Spain.
“First, Marifran Carazo, the Minister of Transport, met with us and told us that there would be pre-contracts. That same afternoon, along with other leaders, they told us that neither the pre-contract nor the ratio would be like that. It is a pity that they defend companies that do not pay their taxes in Spain,” denounced Martin.
“They are going to destroy a public service that feeds more than 10,000 families in Andalusia,” he stressed.
The salaried taxi drivers, however, denounced not having a voice in this whole process, although they are “an essential part of the sector”. They argued that they should be kept informed by one of the associations of the development of the conflict with the council.
Despite this, they supported the strike “without showing any weakness to the employers of the sector in defense of public services”, as reported malagahoy.es.
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