You know the old saying, “if at first you don’t succeed, try, try, try again”?
It turns out Toronto taxi drivers stand by this saying, as they’re planning to protest (again) this upcoming weekend to defend their rights, making this the second city-wide protest in the past three months.
But as we’ve seen from recent protests, nothing beneficial seems like it will come from another disruption.
Last evening, around 2,500 angry cab drivers and taxi associations from all over the GTA met at the Woodbine Banquet Hall to plan their next move in eliminating Uber, the Star reports.
Paul Sekhon, head of the newly formed United Taxi Workers Association of the GTA, said the planned strike will be “similar to the one on Dec. 9.”
In case you were somehow lucky enough to miss it, this past December, taxi drivers choked off downtown streets and disrupted traffic as part of their protest.
If this weekend’s protest is anything like that, there will be plenty of angry Torontonians and city visitors who will be in town for NBA All-Star Weekend. Not to mention, many of them will, quite literally, feel forced to turn to Uber for transportation.
Organizers say that since Mayor John Tory and city council voted to delay a possible injunction against UberX last week, cab drivers are now being forced to take matters into their own hands. This follows as the City of Toronto recently granting a taxi brokerage license to Uber, putting it on the same footing as regulated taxi companies Beck and Royal, as well as approving insurance for Uber drivers.
Toronto, like many cities around the world, has been struggling to control ridesharing services like Uber since it first set up shop in the city in 2012. Now it seems like they’re having just as much trouble controlling the taxi industry.