A federation representing taxi drivers and owners in Greece on Wednesday announced another 24-hour strike for Thursday in the greater Athens-Piraeus region, a continuation of a current two-day industrial action.

The same national federation warned of more strike actions during the upcoming holidays.

Regionals unions and the nationwide federation have repeatedly demanded a series of measures from the government, namely, extending a deadline for exclusively e-taxis in the country to 2035 and a much stricter framework – bordering to the point of prohibition – of multinational ride-share applications, such as Uber, Lyft the locally known Freenow etc.

In a bid to protect for what decades had been an exclusive and almost cartel-like domain, taxi owner unions also want more state-imposed restrictions and burdens placed on leased chauffeur-driven multi-passenger vehicles (vans), such as a minimum time hire and higher hourly rates.

Another demand is to allow cabs carrying paying passengers to enter bus lanes in the greater Athens-Piraeus region’s already traffic-congested streets – a plea that ostensibly generates little or no sympathy from the Greek capital’s other motorists and commuters using mass transit systems.

Ubiquitous fare hikes are also included in the demands, as well as what the cabbie unions declare as a “fairer regime” for the sector, which in the case means raising the annual tax-exempt threshold to 12,000 euros.

Although many commuters in the greater Athens area rely on taxis for their transportation, especially people with mobility problems and in emergencies, streets in the Greek capital are noticeably less congested during cab strikes.