Taxi drivers are to stage a six-day protest targeting Dublin city centre and Dublin Airport from Monday in a phase of “major escalation” over fixed fares introduced by Uber.
The Taxi Drivers Ireland group said it was demanding “immediate engagement” from Government following recent appeals and protests that caused significant disruption during rush hour.
Drivers maintain that new fixed rates introduced on the taxi app are sometimes a third of what they would receive under a metered fare, and have said they will “not quietly accept the destruction of our livelihoods”.
The group claimed the Government had “chosen silence instead of responsibility”.
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Where and when are taxi drivers planning to protest in Dublin?
A six-day “national shutdown protest” from Monday to Saturday will bring “the real consequences of inaction to the streets”, it said.
“We warned this would happen. Now it is happening,” said Derek O’Keeffe, spokesman for Taxi Drivers Ireland.
In Dublin, the group has pledged to stage a protest from 7am on Monday, Wednesday and Friday, during which drivers will proceed in convoy from Mountjoy Square to Merrion Square and “remain parked until 5pm”.
On Tuesday and Thursday, the group will stage a protest near Dublin Airport at rush hour between 4.30pm and 7.30pm, saying it will target “all holding areas and access locations outside of airport grounds”.
Taxi Drivers Ireland said the escalation was being taken with the “full support” of its branches in Cork and Galway.
A similar protest at Dublin Airport on Saturday from 4pm to 6pm will be followed by a “rolling convoy” from the north and south into the city centre, entering Dame Street for a “slow rolling protest”, the group said.
It apologised to the public for the pending disruption, adding that it was “not doing this lightly”.
“There is no justification for continuing to ignore us. If Government continues to look the other way, then disruption will continue and intensify,” Mr O’Keeffe said.
“If the Government thinks this will blow over, they are badly mistaken. This is the beginning of a national reckoning for an industry that refuses to disappear quietly.”
Under the system introduced at the start of this month, a customer booking a taxi journey through Uber is shown a projected range of metered prices for the trip, along with a fixed option which they can choose to take at the time of booking.
An Uber spokesman told The Irish Times last week that potential passengers were “much more likely to book a trip if they know what the fare is going to be” and suggested this created “more earning opportunities for drivers”.
The drivers, however, said when there were delays to a journey due to heavy traffic or roadworks, the new system could have a significant effect on their level of income.
