Taxi driver taken to hospital in hunger protest
Posted December 4, 2015 11:08 am.
Last Updated December 4, 2015 11:26 am.
This article is more than 5 years old.
Taxi drivers ended their City Hall protest on Friday when one of them collapsed and had to be taken to hospital.
Five cabbies had been staging a hunger strike since Tuesday morning in a protest against Uber, which they say is acting illegally.
The protesting cabbies set up a tent in the eastern side of Nathan Phillips Square but they say police took it down. The drivers then packed up and moved to the covered stage area.
They vowed to stay as long as it took to get their message heard. On Friday, their strike ended with tea and cookies.
“I’m having this meal after 75 hours,” one cab driver said.
“This is for entire taxi industry, so they know we are here together to fight Uber. We’re putting the city on notice to implement laws that cover everybody.”
Mayor John Tory is in favour of regulating Uber, but not banning it. Cab drivers used his words in an enormous banner. Click here to see it.
Council is awaiting a staff report, due in the spring, advising how to bring Uber under municipal bylaws.