Why is there a taxi driver strike in Colombia and what are they demanding?

( Spanish) –– After a failed dialogue table between the taxi drivers union and the Government of Colombia, the country faced a new day of protests on Wednesday led by numerous taxi drivers, who called a strike in the main cities, including Bogotá, Medellín and Cali. .

However, not all the groups of this union joined the call. Some leaders have stepped back and said that they will continue to press through dialogue with the authorities. And in some points in Bogotá, the taxi drivers lifted the measure of force arguing lack of guarantees.

After the failure of the meeting on Tuesday, the Minister of Transportation, Guillermo Reyes, lamented on social networks that the representatives of the taxi drivers withdrew from the dialogue table. He also pointed out that he kept the doors open to talk about the demands of the sector.

“The doors of the Ministry of Transportation remain open for channels of dialogue and agreement with all the actors in the Transportation sector, the time has come for Colombia to end the exclusions,” Reyes said on Twitter.

What do taxi drivers ask for?

Hugo Ospina, president of the Association of Taxi Owners and Drivers in Colombia, has been one of the spokespersons for this union. Ospina has not complied with the strike call, but he has insisted on asking for improvements for the sector.

Through his Twitter account, he has expressed that one of the main requirements is compliance with the regulations that already exist in Colombia for transport technology applications such as Uber.

Currently, Colombian law prohibits private vehicles from being used as taxis, which creates conflict with some transportation platforms. However, the audit on this issue has not been satisfactory for the rest of the workers in the sector, says Ospina.

Another of the taxi drivers’ complaints is the high cost of fuel, which affects the profitability of taxi owners.

The industry also asks the Government of Gustavo Petro to fulfill his campaign promise to grant social security to the workers of this union.

In response to this, President Petro said on Twitter that in his government “there is no lack of guarantees” and stated that “the State must help dignify” the work of these carriers.