Greek taxi drivers press on with strike action

Greek taxi drivers decided on Sunday to escalate their strike action until the government satisfies their demands. "We will continue the mobilization until the problem is solved," union leader Thymios Lyberopoulos said following a union meeting convened in order discuss the future of their course of action. The taxi drivers, who oppose the government's plans to deregulate their sector, will gather Monday morning in front of the transport ministry hoping to meet minister Yannis Ragoussis after talks between the two sides failed on Friday. At the same time they are planning to drive their cabs in large convoys starting Monday through central streets of the capital and other major cities, according to local media. NET state channel reported that protesting taxi drivers early on Sunday prevented some 1,600 cruise tourists from visiting various archaelogical sites on the island of Crete. The nationwide strike, which has left the country without taxi services the past two weeks, began after the new transport minister who was appointed in June ditched a plan agreed by his predecessor with unions that would have capped the number of taxi licences based on the population in each region. Main opposition leader Antonis Samaras said in an interview on Sunday that he favors a deregulation of the sector but under certain rules including a limit in the number of licenses issued based on population criteria. "We are in favor of deregulation under rules. The way it's done everywhere in the world," Samaras told the Sunday edition of Kathimerini newspaper. Greece's international creditors, the European Union and the International Monetary Fund, have demanded sweeping deregulation in various Greek labour sectors in exchange for loans needed to save the country from defaulting on its debt.