French schools, taxis on strike

Mass strikes across France exploded into violence today as Paris taxi drivers brought roads to a standstill in a protest against the threat posed by Uber and other online competitors. The rise in the number of controllers had not kept pace with the increase in air traffic, union leaders said.

Protests were also held in other French cities. Taxi drivers may also blockade access roads to some major airports.

The taxi unions are calling for laws to be enforced that prohibit Uber-like services from picking up clients on the street that haven’t been previously booked. Some of the taxi drivers clashed with police, setting fire to tires and blocking the highway.

Air traffic controllers are also on strike, and the civil aviation authority forecast 20 per cent of flights would be cancelled Tuesday. Taxi drivers, air traffic controllers and civil servants are all on strike, each with different demands.

(AP Photo/Christophe Ena). A taxi driver is being treated after he was injured at Orly Airport while trying to block a bus entrance, Tuesday, Jan. 26, 2016.

Taxi drivers are seeking permission to launch a class action lawsuit against Uber.

Taxi drivers are protesting at what they consider unfair competition from Uber, which has faced a string of legal challenges in France.

Police reported that they had arrested 19 cab drivers in the tumult.

The largest strike Tuesday involves a call by the CGT, Force Ouvriere, and Sud for 5 million workers in schools, hospitals and local government to stay off work.

San Francisco-based Uber finally shut down UberPOP in July after two of its French bosses were arrested and charged with “misleading commercial practices (and) complicity in the illegal exercise of the taxi profession”.

Paris also happens to be the place that taxi drivers have been as vocal – if not the most-outspoken – against Uber worldwide, so this is significant.

Tuesday’s industrial action, which France24 reports is set to be “massive”, follows violent protests by taxi drivers in June 2015, fueled by anger at Uber’s low-priced UberPOP service, which allowed anyone to use a personal auto to pick up customers.

The president of the taxi unions in Marseille has described ride-hailing apps as “American cowboys”, according to The Huffington Post.

“Unions say they are also protesting against job losses”, the same source said.