The week will start off with inconveniences in Athens, due to a 24-hour taxi strike in Greece’s capital city.
The taxi strike was announced by Athens’ taxi union SATA due to their displeasure with taxation, insurance schemes, electric mobility and what they consider to be unfair competition.
The strike starts at 5:00 Monday, September 9 and ends at the same time on Tuesday, September 10.
In the union’s announcement, it claims that the new tax law will lead the drivers to unprofitable work and finanical ruin, which is exacerbated by Greece’s costly insurance system.
They also consider the increasingly prevalent multinational taxi apps and private cars to be unfair competition.
It also launches a personal attack towards the Minister of Tourism Olga Kefalogianni herself for spreading misinformation and preventing the authorities from imposing penalties on the competition for their violations of Greek law.
The taxi drivers assert that the government’s insistence on transitioning to electric mobility by 2026 will be a nail in the coffin for their profession.
Cleaning-up Bad Reputations
@mynameisandreas Greek taxi drivers be like 😂 #fyp #foryoupage #fy #viral #tiktokgreece ♬ original sound – Andreas
Greece’s taxi drivers are notorious for their own violations of laws and often poor behavior, invoking the ire of tourists and locals alike. Some offenses over the years have included drivers smoking in their cars, charging outrageous fares, and not issuing receipts.
The widespread negative comments on social media about Greece’s taxis from tourists have put the sector in the sights of the Greek government to clean it up.
The taxi union has been one of the strongest in Greece and, in the past, drivers’ protests have brought transportation in Athens to a hault.
One measure that taxi drivers vehemently protested against was the Greek government’s insistence this past year that taxi drivers accept payments via credit cards. Up until this past year, even taxis at Athens’ international airport demanded cash from tourists for the expensive journey to-from Athens’ city center.
