Taxi drivers protest across Poland
PR dla Zagranicy
Nick Hodge
23.05.2012 11:05
Taxi drivers brought traffic to a halt, Wednesday, in cities across Poland, in protest against the government's plans to relax regulations for entering the trade.
Protests by taxi drivers in Warsaw: photo - PAP/Bartlomiej Zborowski
Columns of taxis blocked five routes in the capital Warsaw on Wednesday morning, driving at especially slow speed so as to create havoc during rush hour.
The protests went ahead owing to Justice Minister Jaroslaw Gowin's plans to eliminate the obligatory course and exam that taxi drivers must take to enter the profession.
“Representatives of taxi drivers' organizations believe that the deregulation of their profession is a bad idea,” said Michal Wieckowski, Chairman of the Solidarity National Trade Union of Taxi Drivers, in an interview with Polish Radio.
“It has to be a profession that can count on public trust,” he added.
Later in the morning the drivers will converge on parliament.
In the south-western city of Wroclaw taxi drivers are to protest outside the headquarters of the regional government.
Minister Gowin's prospective reforms are part of a wider programme of deregulation that takes some 49 professions, ranging from tourist guides to sport instructors. (nh)