They came from everywhere. Porto, Matosinhos, Gaia, Valongo, Braga, Santo Tirso, Kentucky, Valencia, Santa Maria da Feira. There were more than 800 taxis that circulated in the morning and afternoon of Tuesday on the main streets and avenues of the city of Porto – on motorways – to raise awareness of a fight, says José Monteiro, vice president of the National Association of Road Carriers for Passenger Cars (ANTRAL), is all righteousness, “Just want you to comply with the law”
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In Lisbon have been close to 3000, according to the main association of the country’s taxi drivers, with the protest to end by 16:30 after representatives of ANTRAL to have met with the Justice Minister Paula Teixeira da Cruz.
Addressing the taxi drivers in the Palace Square, the leader of ANTRAL, Florencio de Almeida, expressed satisfaction with the meeting, but warned that if things are not resolved in favor of the sector taxi, there will be new protests.
Florencio de Almeida says that the challenge of taxi drivers “has nothing to do with the election campaign” but if the Uber does not end, will emerge protests during the campaign for 4 legislative October.
The demonstrations on Tuesday in Lisbon, Oporto and Faro and the idle hundreds of vehicles wreaked havoc in traffic as the taxi procession went through the cities. The situation was no better in the airports of Lisbon and Porto, where tourists have built up since the morning without taxis to take them to places of destination.
Contrary to what happened in France, where demonstrations against Uber degenerated into violence, the protests on Tuesday in Portugal took place almost without incident. Only in the capital there were minor skirmishes, with assaults on taxi drivers who did not join the protest and throwing eggs at cars of professionals who did not come forward.
Joining the Port “was very high,” as predicted Vice President of ANTRAL, even before the first car, his, escorted out by the Transit Division of the PSP (which mobilized for this operation virtually all your device) of Gonçalves Zarco Square to start climbing the Avenida da Boavista. “Both the taxi bosses and employees know that this fight is fair,” said José Monteiro.
The first car left at 9:20. The graduate of the PSP Division of Transit, which had the function close the column, started up the Avenida da Boavista was after 9:45 a.m.. Were 20 minutes buzinões and the northern section of the Avenida da Boavista to fill up the two tracks, towards the city center.
The expectation was not to create confusion. “We are not troublemakers,” said Hannibal Days. “We came to fight for what is ours,” summed up John Poland, taxi driver “since 1969″.
The planned route, starting at Avenida da Boavista, passing the Aliados Avenue and Francisco Sá Carneiro Airport and end at the Plaza Gonçalves Zarco, took all morning Tuesday. A strong police force was mobilized to accompany the taxi drivers protest procession. In addition to the PSP Traffic Division and the GNR Traffic Brigade (which followed the route on the motorways A4, A28 and VRI), also the PSP intervention body mobilized several mobile units. Porto airport was one of the places where it was mounted a strong device agents in prevention.
Eggs against taxi drivers in Lisbon
In Lisbon, President the ANTRAL, Florencio de Almeida, called for a peaceful protest, referring to the PUBLIC that taxi drivers would “give a moral lesson to the prophets who said” that the class is “violent.” The demonstrators through a megaphone, the officer asked “that the demonstration take place in a orderly and peaceful manner.” In protest at Lisbon will have participated nearly three thousand professionals, estimates the ANTRAL.
The march began in the northern part of the Park of Nations, at 8 o’clock, and arrived around 10 am to Portela. At about 12:30 the parade followed by the Avenue of the Republic, with many buzinões but all taking place in an orderly fashion. After a spell at the Institute for Mobility and Transport (IMT), on Avenue of the Armed Forces, the taxi drivers then headed to the Ministry of Justice in the Palace Square. Asked what might happen if the government change the law in favor of Uber, professionals responded in a peremptory manner: “If the Government change the law will be dead,” shot a taxi driver supported by several other
Already in the Palace Square, the representatives of ANTRAL refused to be received by the chief of staff of the Ministry of Economy and hoped the early afternoon to get to direct contact with the justice minister, who wanted to deliver a file with the whole process in court against Uber. The president of the association said right then Publico that the demonstration had been a success and had fulfilled its purpose.
The UberX and UberBlack services, applications through a mobile application that connects between the client and private driver or employed by partner companies Uber, operates in Lisbon for a year and nine months ago in Porto. A reaction that is not exclusive to Portugal, the company set up in the United States and operating in more than 70 countries have faced lawsuits challenging the way it operates.
Uber responds in Internet
New York taxi drivers have also demonstrated on Tuesday in a protest aimed at alerting the public to these issues. In recent weeks, there have been cases of taxi drivers insults to drivers who transport passengers who used the mobile application.
On the same day that the Portuguese taxi drivers demonstrated the Uber launched # WHYIUBER, a project video format where users and drivers can share their experiences of using the mobile platform. According to the company, to have been collected now more than 700 witnesses, many of whom are gathered in a series of videos that are also now available on YouTube.
The company also sent a email to all its users in Portugal alerting them to the travel demands increase with the Uber this day when many taxis were stopped, which could “limit the availability of vehicles for certain periods” and “prolong the movement of vehicles in the cities. “
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