Taxi drivers occupy regulator's office
national |
worker & community struggles and protests |
news report 
Friday March 12, 2010 01:10
by Paula Geraghty - Trade Union TV
mspgeraghty at yahoo dot ie
Video of taxi drivers outside the Taxi regulator's office at the end of the occupation. A number of taxi drivers are interviewed including the 71 year old who describes how he was assaulted. Filmed tuesday 9th March.
Full and comprehensive article by Vanessa O'Sullivan and is available on the SWP website.
Following last years strike, four members from the ITC went to talk to the regulator about the refusal to follow through with agreements made (Monday).
The regulator then asked for security forces to remove the drivers when the refused to leave without answers.
The forcefulness of the guards resulted in one of the men (71 years old) leaving in an ambulance after being refused water to take medication, one being pulled outside the building and the other two occupying the building.
The occupying drivers were refused food, water and even access to a toilet after locking themselves in a room.
Rest of the article available at http://www.swp.ie/index.php?page=772&dept=News&title=Ta...mises
Caption: Video Id: TRSQ6dpBvLY Type: Youtube Video
Taxi Drivers Dublin protest.
Comments (2 of 2)
Jump To Comment: 1 2I would like to congratulate you on a quality video.
However, forgive my ignorance but I am not sure of the purpose of blocking O'Connell street in Dublin and other parts of the country. The biggest group affected by the direct action would be the public transport users. While I have sympathy with anyone trying to earn a wage at the present time I am not sure the aims of this protest would be any closer to resolution by the actions taken.
Full-time Taxi drivers should be supported, they are the people you will rely on when the part-timers have finished their weekend runs, to get you to work/hospital or where you need to go in a hurry.
I strongly disagree with the methods used. I would recommend people not to use Taxi's that blocked O'Connell street and other places of public transport usage. They need to formulate their demands and think about the best way forward for their industry but I don't like public transport users being blackmailed for their aims. No Minister/TD would be affected by their actions, the only elected politican I ever saw on public transport on O'Connell street was Patricia McKenna.
Details of two of the three taxis which blocked north bound traffic at the top of O'Connell street:
Taxi ID - 386D
License Plate - O5-D-72870
Taxi ID - 33261
License Plate - 08-CN-2750
From the regulators office documentation:
Am I entitled to choose any taxi at a rank?
Yes, as a consumer your can choose whichever taxi you would like to travel in.
I would recommend avoiding the two taxis listed above out of principal if you don't want to end up stuck in these type of blockades in the future. Let them learn a lesson.
The taxi men say one thing when they mean something else , eg , ''everyone who drives a taxi ( no matter where they come from ) , is entitled to earn a living '' , thats not what they say to people when they are constantly moaning ( and rightly so )
when they are not even making the minimum wage .
Indymedia Ireland is a media collective. We are independent volunteer citizen journalists producing and distributing the authentic voices of the people. Indymedia Ireland is an open news project where anyone can post their own news, comment, videos or photos about Ireland or related matters.