NASSAU, BAHAMAS – President of The Bahamas Taxicab Drivers Union, Wesley Ferguson, on Tuesday rallied scores of cab drivers to hopefully strategize a plan to address the many challenges of drivers, mainly being overlooked by major hotels who are reportedly opting to secure their personal transportation or those of major tour bus operators rather than cabbies.
Ferguson said if this issue persists, there could potentially be a repeat of the country’s 1958 general strike.
Back in 1958, taxi cab drivers protested outside the Sir Lynden Pindling International Airport, known back then as the Nassau International Airport, to express their displeasure with an exclusive deal that major hotels had agreed to sign with a new taxi company. That deal could’ve excluded many, had it not been for the pushback of cab drivers during that time.
Six decades later, Ferguson told Eyewitness News Online that the same challenges still exist today.
“The issues we have are the same issues we had 61 years ago,” Ferguson lamented. “It is still very timely because when you don’t know your history you don’t know where you are headed.”
Ferguson said major hotels have been transporting their guests in personal tour vans, rather than seeking the assistance of cab drivers.
One cab driver at Tuesday’s meeting referred to cab drivers as “the ambassadors of this country”.
“The minority believe it is their right to take advantage of the majority, and the taxi drivers have been pushed back further from the economic pie,” the irate driver expressed.
“We are to the point where we are saying enough is enough. The time is right and we are ready to go, whatever we have to do we will do.”
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