Taxi drivers striking against government deregulation plans wreaked havoc on traffic, commuters and tourists for the fifth straight day on Tuesday. Passengers arriving at Rome's Fiumicino airport found few, if any, taxis as drivers kept their cars in parking areas and staged impromptu demonstrations.
Drivers demonstrating in Rome's central Piazza Venezia, the capital's central hub, caused a ripple effect that slowed traffic throughout the city. In southern Naples, some 150 drivers parked their cars in the city's main square, Piazza del Plebiscito.
Drivers staged a go-slow through the northern port city of northern Genoa and few taxis were to be found at railway stations throughout the country. The protest also split the coalition of Prime Minister Romano Prodi.
Justice Minister Clemente Mastella, who sympathises with the taxi drivers' position, threatened to yank his small UDEUR party from the government in September unless its view on various liberalising reforms was taken into consideration.
Prodi's government on Friday announced measures aimed at increasing competition in various sectors of the economy. Lawyers, pharmacists, public transport firms and taxi drivers were among labour categories affected. The plan increases the number of taxi licences, aims to improve service and may eventually reduce fares. It also eliminates minimum fees for professionals such as lawyers and accountants in a bid to boost competition.
Taxi drivers in Italy sell their licences on an unofficial grey market when they retire or change jobs. The government's move means that those who already have licences will get less money for them because more will be on the market.
The government has said it plans to go ahead despite the protests, but representatives of drivers groups are due to hold talks at the industry ministry later on Tuesday.