Groups representing taxi drivers are turning up the pressure on the Quebec government over the deal it reached with Uber.

The group said taxi drivers are disappointed after meeting with Transport Minister Laurent Lessard Monday afternoon, which they called a “last chance” for Quebec to make amends.

The group was hoping for changes to the deal reached with Uber last week and said it would decide on their next move Tuesday.

Taxi drivers said every option is on the table right now including a work stoppage unless Quebec suspends its deal with Uber – and would not accept anything less. The group left Monday’s meeting disappointed.

“The deal is with Uber and the government and it doesn’t include the taxi industry, which demonstrates that we have a two-way system, and that’s unacceptable,” Benoit Jugand, a spokesperson for the Metallos, the union which represents Montreal's cabbies. “You have the taxi industry on one side and you’ve got Uber on the other side and that was not supposed to happen.”

 

Taxi drivers have shown anger and frustration in recent days over the last-minute deal with the ride app.

Uber has agreed to make concessions to its business model to comply with provincial laws.

Under the pilot project, drivers will have to collect 90 cents per ride that will go to a fund to modernize the taxi industry, and they'll also have to get a special permit directly from Quebec, which taxi industry representatives referred to as a “betrayal.”

They say the government promised that Uber drivers would be forced to purchase an actual permit, which run drivers about $200,000. Many drivers said they depend on renting them out on a part-time basis to recoup their money.

Their representatives said on Monday they can't allow the deal, so the half-dozen different taxi groups will be meeting Tuesday at 10:30 a.m. in Montreal to vote on their next move.

"All the industry has unified all together," said Jugand. "We have one purpose and that is to make the government back off the deal they made with Uber. It's unacceptable, it's unequitable."

He added that should a strike occur, it was agreed that taxis equipped for transporting people with disabilities would remain in service.

"All together, we decided that we're not going to touch disabled people, adapted transportation, people that are in need, we're not going to touch that," he said. "People need their transportation to go to school, to go to the hospital. Our industry, we're professionals and we're still going to meet the demand."

No decision has been reached on whether to file a class-action lawsuit against the government.

Jugand said some options still on the table are filing for an injunction against the deal and extending a class-action suit against Uber to the government.

Lessard said he will look at the best practices in other cities, and meet with the mayors of Montreal and Quebec City to determine how both Uber and a taxi industry can co-exist.

Lessard said he hopes to avoid disruptions by explaining the deal and trying to make it as acceptable as possible.

While Jugand said organizations never asked any members to harass Uber drivers, several altercations have occurred over the past few years. Jugand said passions have been inflamed.

"People are very emotional. That's their life that you're talking about," he said.