ROME—Taxi drivers at Fiumicino airport refuse to pick up passengers in a strike against illegal practices in passenger transport industry.

 The aim of the protest, which started at 10am today and, according to the national coordinator of Unica Taxi Cgil, Nicola Di Giacobbe, has already gained a “massive support”, is to “call for a restoration of legality against the long-standing problem of car rental companies with drivers from outside of Rome, working in the capital, and other forms of malpractice” in the taxi industry.

 The strike, scheduled to end today afternoon, has caused serious inconvenience to passengers flying to and from Fiumicino airport, with most passenger transport companies joining the strike. According to early estimates, Uritaxi, a taxi service company which has remained uninvolved, has provided around seventy vehicles, which have been transporting passengers from the airport since this morning. The company claims to prefer “a path different from that of a strike; [...] a confrontation to rewrite the rules which would restore legality.”