Argentine cabbies aren't more aggressive at protecting their turf than ones in other countries. Here in Nice (and Paris) cabbies went berserk last year against Uber. They blocked all train stations and even pedestrian traffic in front of them so that I could hardly find a way out of my station to walk home. They burned cars in the streets, set tires on fire on the commercial street going to the airport, yanked Uber customers by their arms out of their cars (!) and ruined even luxurious licensed limousines- by throwing eggs into their interiors.
They pulled cyclists who offer visitors short rides down and back along the seafront off those rides accusing them of operating a form of public transit although it's just a tourist attraction on par with, say, eating violet ice cream! They abused those cyclists' customers inches from their faces. To cabbies here, any kind of moving 'transport' became regarded as a direct illegal threat to their monopoly even knowing that some of the services they were attacking were legal and not competing with taxis.
Cabs in Nice are way more expensive than London's! We can't even flag cabs here. National law forbids that anywhere in France. France's highest court has upheld the ban on rides flagged in the streets. Criminal charges were laid again the CEO of 'Uber France'.
So all this violence in my darling, charming, utterly 'safe' mid-sized city in its very best area makes me look askance at union protests in Arg being considered especially bad. No way are they.(I've been trapped in Villa Solati in that park called 'something-Americano' an hour before the police killed that illegal Colombian immigrant in Dec/11. We put all our trust in our cabby and stayed tranquil 100%. Portenos have the world's best cabbies.)
One of the main reasons I love BA is on account of its cabbies. They created so many of my most meaningful memories there Their customer service exceeds even Lodon' highest standards! In BA, they are effectively a police service protecting and always looking after customers. Who else ensures that you get safely into your apartment building late night before pulling away from the curb? They teach you Spanish and play great music. I would never use an alternative service there. I don't want Uber etc there at all!
In my former city of Ottawa, Canada (a sleepy place), cabbies followed and filmed Uber drivers all night long last year. The city stopped that. In Toronto, a local MP parked outside an Uber driver's home in the suburbs and gave anti-Uber speeches right there to the press while terrifying the Uber driver's family as they tried to sleep. All our North American cities have formidable taxi unions.
I don't see anything unique about Argentina having strong unions. Even if that were unusual, so what? All countries are sovereign.
