Drawing the right conclusions
The decision by taxi owners and drivers on Friday to suspend their strike action, at least until the details of the liberalization bill are made clear, demonstrates that a willing and determined government can take on any reaction from organized interests against the necessary reforms.
The development yesterday also underscored that the Greek public has grown tired, if not fed up, with extreme forms of protest.
Cab owners went further than the conventional strike. Their mobilization paralyzed taxi services in the capital and much of the country for nearly three weeks and caused significant problems for tourists as protest action involved the occupation of roads, airports and ports.
The cabbies? extreme behavior turned against society and the interests of the country as a whole.
One hopes that cabbies — and any other labor group that operates along similar lines — have drawn the right conclusions from this entire affair.
The same, of course, can also be said for the government.
