Irish taxi drivers and airport workers protested on Friday over job prospects and bus drivers threatened to strike, showing rising discontent over Irelands deepening economic woes. Cabinet ministers have warned of increasing anger in the financial crisis which has already prompted an unusually large demonstration of about 100,000 people last month, a civil service strike and a rare protest by off-duty police officers.
Hundreds of taxis converged on the city centre on Friday to press regulators to limit the number of licences as drivers said it was becoming impossible for them to make a living. Police also warned of traffic delays at Dublin airport where workers at aircraft maintenance group SR Technics were protesting against redundancy plans there.
The demonstrations followed a lunchtime protest on Thursday by civil servants against a new pension levy imposed on public workers, the main item in the governments 2 billion euro ($2.74 billion) fiscal tightening programme so far this year.
Dublin bus drivers also threatened to hold a strike before the end of the month unless the company drops cost cutting plans. "We feel we have no alternative at that juncture but to carry out the mandate of our members which is to enter into a strike situation," said Willie Noone of the SIPTU trade union. The government is presenting a mini-budget on April 7, the second emergency budget since October, to stop the deficit from rising above the 9.5 percent of GDP projected for this year.
Comments
Comments are closed.