[UPDATED] Toronto Taxi Drivers Might Strike on All-Star Weekend
After seeing Uber gain so much ground with both its consumers and the government in recent months, it’s hard not to understand why taxi drivers might be getting a little desperate.
After Edmonton officially passed bylaws regulating and legalizing UberX in the city, it only seems like a matter of time before other cities follow suit. As Canada’s largest city and one of North America’s tourist hotspots, Toronto’s taxi industry has a lot to lose. Over the past couple of years taxi drivers have tried to make their voices heard in a number of ways, but for all their protesting and gusto, they’ve only managed to hurt their own image while Uber has grown more and more attractive.
Despite this it seems as though they’ve accepted their role as “the bad guy” similar to a certain famous Al Pacino character. The United Taxi Workers Association of the GTA must be well aware that they won’t make any friends by going on strike during what is expected to be a very busy weekend, but at this point, they don’t care. They just want change.
And yet, they themselves refuse to change, and change is the way of the world.
We can’t be sure what day or even where exactly this strike will occur ([UPDATED: 02/10/2016]: The United Taxi Workers Association of the Greater Toronto Area have officially called off the strike, but have not ruled out striking at a future date), but keep it in mind if you have plans in Toronto this weekend and try to avoid the downtown core. Besides being an annoyance, traffic jams often lead to higher rates of accidents and dangerous driving fueled by frustrated drivers. So drive safe and avoid making an auto insurance claim this Family Day/All-Star Weekend.