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Italian taxi drivers go on strike

23 January 2012 12:10 (UTC +04:00)

Baku - APA-Economics. Thousands of miles of Italian roads were crippled Monday with truckers blocking accesses to much of the Italy’s highways as a wave of fresh strikes kicked off to protest government efforts to shrink the world’s fourth-largest debt and open the job market to more competition, APA reports citing RIA Novosti.

Taxi drivers also parked their cars from Milan to Bari to demonstrate their opposition to a move designed to grant more licenses that they say will cause serious harm to their livelihoods, but the government argues will create jobs and benefit consumers.

The Italian government on Monday was due to travel to Brussels to present its plan to euro-currency partners. In the package, Prime Minister Mario Monti aims to pry open some of the country’s protected professions, which in addition to taxis, will allow for more pharmacies, notaries and gas stations.

Truckers - whose wildcat, or unauthorized strike is against rising fuel price and toll prices - say they could stay off the job until 27 January. The strikes started last week in Sicily where gas stations were starved for fuel and the regional government accused the mafia of infiltrating the strike.