Today’s demonstrations by taxi drivers protesting against web-based transport service Uber ended in violent clashes in Lisbon as nationally 3,000 drivers mounted slow drives through the capital as well as through Faro and Oporto.
In Faro more than hundred and fifty taxi drivers assembled at the Algarve Stadium to start their slow drive at 09:00 to the airport and then on to the regional capital, ending up at 11:30 at the Largo de São Francisco.
The protests were organised by the National Association of Road Transport Passenger Cars (ANTRAL) against the transport of passengers by vehicles via the web-based Uber network.
Antonio Pinto, the delegate for ANTRAL in the south said the protest was "very positive" and that he had not expected so many to show up to defend the interests of taxi drivers in the Algarve and nationally.
But Pinto said the protest today was against all non-taxi transport, not just Uber as those businesses that make a living by running transfers between hotels, golf courses and the airport without having a license also were damaging the taxi trade.
Although the Uber electronic platform is operating in Lisbon and Oporto, and has not yet reached the Algarve, the union stance in the south is that its members are under threat and should protest now.
The taxi drivers say that their pricing is set by the Ministry of the Economy and they cannot alter rates to combat unfair competition from other cheaper transport services.
Uber's management says that they still are "open to discussion with all entities, public and private."
"In Portugal, Uber operates entirely in accordance with the legislation in force, with licensed partners who pay taxes on each journey booked through the Uber app," the company stated today, noting that "the technology is also an important tool for modernising and improving the mobility sector as a whole."
Nationally, ANTRAL is threatening to strike in the run up to the October 4th general election to highlight its plight in an effort to push the government into some action.
Communist party leader Jerónimo de Sousa supported the taxi drivers today and attacked the "clandestine" working methods of Uber – also of ‘tuk-tuk’ drivers which he sees as robbing trade from the unionised taxi drivers who work with state set pricing levels.
The PCP leader and full time dinosaur says that these illegal companies will do everything "to escape taxes, all in the name of supposed modernity" and concluded that he would ensure the defense of the public transport sector against any threats of liberalisation.
Taxi drivers and leaders of ANTRAL were welcomed today by the Justice Minister Paula Teixeira da Cruz, who accepted a petition outlining the taxi drivers’ woes.
After the meeting, ANTRAL’s Florencio Almeida, expressed satisfaction saying that Paula Teixeira da Cruz assured them that she would discuss things with the finance minister and a solution would be found "in the coming days." The minister is not noted for her speed of delivery and the definition of 'coming days' seems to leave her a suitable amount degree of flexibility.
Previously, the delegation tried to deliver a petition to the Ministry of the Economy but got no further than reception as the minister’s adc refused to emerge from his lair. Economy Minister Pires de Lima wants moderity, deregulation and an efficient transport sector. The trouble is, he also wants votes and angry protests just before an election will look like he has not got things under control.
