His despair for the taxi industry in Rhodes

His despair for the taxi industry in Rhodes, which was hit by the pandemic of coronavirus, expressed yesterday in statements to journalists, the president of the Rhodes airport Taxi Owners Association of Rhodes Mr. Theodosis Kastanidis.

“It was a very bad season. We started in July with one person in the taxi and then it increased to three people – for some time. Of course, this was not functional since groups or families were coming, so they chose the buses.

We worked very little in October, but unfortunately, one month is not enough to be able to survive the months ahead.

In our industry, there were no facilities, such as EFKA contributions etc. As for the other measures announced by the government, in addition to the EUR 800 allowance last April, we were given two refundable advances of EUR 2 000 – as loans, of course.

Only 15% of taxis have access to the government’s beneficial measures – that is, out of 32,000 taxis across Greece, only 4,600 will receive financial support. This is because there are strict terms and conditions for the industry,” he said.

Responding to a question about the collective agreement which taxi owners have signed with drivers in Rhodes, Mr Castanides said: ”

It is unthinkable to work for a few months and not be able to complete the necessary entries to be able to get unemployment benefits.

They are essentially seasonal workers.

With this premise and with the help of our parliamentary, representatives, we proceeded to try to get them on the 50-unit work subsidy. To date, however, nothing has been done. I believe that something will be done because they are seasonal workers.”
Mr. Castanidis expressed his satisfaction for the cooperation that has the industry with the Municipality of Rhodes and the South Aegean Region, as there is good cooperation.

As he stressed, next week he will request a meeting with the regional governor Mr. George Hatzimarkos to explore the possibility of being included in the funding of the ‘Island’ program.

“We will ask the regional governor, just as he gave a sum for the catering sector, to do the same for our sector so that we can make it through the winter.

The taxis are not all in circulation. They have all had to book taxis and there are 2-3 taxis remaining from 10pm to 6am to cater for emergencies. We are the most unfairly treated industry by the state and the most affected – since we are… closed.”

Rhodes airport was close for a long time this has had a major impact on the incomes of taxi drivers