Taxi drivers hold off on work stoppage to protest Uber deal

Insults were hurled andtough action was promisedduring a meeting of taxi drivers toorganize a response to the Quebec government'sdeal with ride-hailingserviceUber,butin the end, they decided not to strike. Not now, anyway.

Themeeting's organizers, RTAM-Mtallos, say they will lay out theirpressure tactics after a meeting on Mondaywith Transport Minister Laurent Lessard.

• What's in the Uber deal?

Cabbies areworried thedeal with Uberwill undermine the value of taxi permits, which can cost closeto $200,000.

Chris Michailidis says he's been paying his permit off for more than 10 years.To make ends meet, he leasesit out to other drivers while he's not working.

"Now I can't even find drivers to rent my permits because their going to Uber and they're driving their private cars," he said."What do you want me to do now?"

Although cabbies are holding off on a work stoppage, they didlay down some guidelines to follow as they explore pressure tactics. For one, drivers agreed not to disrupt services fordisabled passengers.

They also plan to seek an injunction against the agreement as well as explore possibilities about filing a classactionlawsuit.

Sanctions for stoppage

Earlier in the day,the owner of the largest taxi operation in Montreal warned his drivers they will be punishedif theytake part in any work stoppage.

"We sent a clear message the last thing we want is to take the population hostage with taxis," said Alexandre Taillefer, whose company Taxelco owns both Diamond Taxi and Taxi Hochelaga as well as To Taxi.

"If there are people from our companies who take part in protests that are judged illegal, and that affect the reputation ofthe industry, there will be sanctions, which could include being disaffiliated from Diamond or Hochelaga."

• Uberreaches agreement to stay in Quebec

Government deal questioned

Taxi driversand the owners of taxi permitsare upset the deal reached last weekwithUberwillprovidethe servicewith permits for its driverson a pilot-project basis, in exchange for payments to the government per ride.

TheRTAM-Mtallos, an association of taxi driversaffiliated with the steelworkers union, hasarguedthe deal introduces too much competition and waters down the value of existing taxi permits.

Montreal's taxi industry hopes to coordinate its response with its counterparts in Quebec City, who also held ameeting Sunday.

• Taxi drivers call Quebec deal with Uber 'betrayal'

"We envisage an escalation of pressure until the government treats the situation fairly," saidHamidNadji, a spokesperson forRegroupementdespropritairesde taxis de lacapitale, an association of taxi owners in Quebec City.

"That could translate into a 48-hour strike."

For his part,Taillefer whose private equity firmreceivedstart-up capital from the provincial development agencyarguedtheUberdeal safeguards many of the benefitsthat come with a taxi permit, such as the ability to be hailed andaccess to reserved lanes.

"To have a taxi permit today in Montreal remains a good thing," he told Radio-Canada. "The deal maintains the value of permits for drivers."