Taxi drivers get up from the dialogue table: strike remains firm

The representatives of the taxi drivers decided to withdraw from the dialogue table that the Minister of Transportation, Guillermo Reyes, had summoned for this Tuesday to reach agreements and avoid the strike scheduled for Wednesday, February 22.

The taxi drivers demanded the presence of the ICT Minister, Sandra Urrutia; the Minister of Labor, Gloria Inés Ramírez; and Vice President Francia Márquez. The leader of the taxi drivers assured that there were no guarantees to continue with the dialogue.

The 26 union leaders who are part of the taxi drivers’ strike committee met this Tuesday afternoon with the Ministry of Transportation for a few minutes before they raised the dialogue table for what they consider “lack of guarantees.”

Manuel Gil, one of the leaders of the taxi drivers, confirmed that the national strike will start at 4 in the morning on Wednesday, February 22.

The meeting, in which there were representatives of the Ministries of Labor and ICT, was agreed on February 17 between both parties after the intention of the taxi drivers to carry out a national strike on February 22 became known.

Among the claims that union leaders brought to the dialogue table are complaints about the increase in the price of gasoline and the regulation of mobility applications such as Uber.

Transportation Minister Guillermo Reyes regretted that the taxi drivers’ representatives had withdrawn from the dialogue table and pointed out that it seems that what they wanted is to insist on the protests.

“We have been talking to taxi drivers constantly, so much so that we have several documents that respond to the clamor of taxi drivers,” said the official.

Gil, for his part, stressed that they did it for lack of guarantees and to avoid “appeasing the claims of fellow taxi drivers.”

The minister pointed out that the debate proposed by the taxi drivers should take place in Congress and not at work tables. “We have indicated that we are against informality and illegality. We comply with the law and today the law prohibits any transportation in private vehicles,” he added.

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