These types of protests underscore Uber’s mounting troubles as the company expands overseas.
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French riot police secure an access road for non-striking taxis as striking taxi driver block an approach road near Roissy Charles de Gaulle Airport in Roissy-en-France, near Paris, Jan. 26, 2016.
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.
France faced travel chaos Tuesday as taxi drivers and air traffic controllers went on strike across the country, local media reported. Some drivers set pre-dawn bonfires, put out later by firefighters.
A total of 14 protesters were arrested around the capital for violence and lighting fires, police said.
EasyJet said it had cancelled 35 flights, mainly within France but also to or from Switzerland, Italy and Spain. They have also condemned around 150,000 job losses since 2007.
Air France said it planned to operate its entire long-haul schedule on Tuesday but would only fly 80 per cent of its normal short and medium-haul services.
Wednesday is expected to see similar disruption on city ring roads like the peripherique in Paris, where protesters had burned tyres on Tuesday, as well as around train stations and airports. “They think they are creating jobs, whereas for every created job there is one that’s destroyed”. In what one might characterize as the French flair for the dramatique, signs were spotted that proclaimed “Je Suis Taxi” or otherwise accused Heetch, another maligned ride-sharing app, Uber, and Economy Minister Emmanuel Macron, who has publicly supported Uber, of “economic terrorism”.
In other cities such as Toulouse in the southwest France, taxi drivers said they were prepared to protest for days if necessary in their quest to combat what they say is unfair competition from drivers working for private cab ride services.
Jean-Marc Canon of the hardline CGT union said Monday any increase would be “light years from what we want”, demanding that wages keep up with inflation as well as “significant measures aimed at recovering the losses since 2010”.
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Farmers upset over falling prices also blocked roads with tractors in several rural areas and dumped manure outside some tax offices.
