Huge Taxi Strike in Paris today

People are getting out of vehicles and walking along the highway to the Roissy/CDG for 30-50 minutes!!

Kim,

What's the basis for the strike? Are they upset about Uber again?

What's the basis for the strike? Are they upset about Uber again?

Yes. Riot police out with tear gas to clear the streets. Burning tyres again. Road access to Gare du Nord also blocked.

It isn't just Paris - other protests in Aix and Marseilles

Welcome to Paris. I purposely axed Paris from my travels this year just because of strikes. In Paris somebody is ALWAYS striking. Last year took the cake for me and I swore I would not return this year...and we had a great trip!

http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/wireStory/french-taxis-strike-weeks-rising-tension-uber-32015325

Marco,

I figured as much. I'm not sure why this is such a problem in Paris? The authorities here in B.C. have made it quite clear that if Uber sets up shop here without the appropriate licenses, their drivers will be prosecuted. The Motor Vehicle code here is quite specific on transportation for hire, and any one that violates that could have their D.L. suspended. In addition to that, since there's only one option in B.C. for vehicle insurance, that could also get very expensive.

Yes, it's because of Uber, but technically because of UberPOP -- the one where like you or I could pick someone up in our cars if we wanted to make a few bucks on the weekend. UberPOP has been outlawed by the French government, but continues to operate with impunity -- Uber keeps paying drivers' fines, etc. etc.

Taxi drivers have been harassing Uber drivers and their passengers the last couple of Friday and Saturday nights, and earlier this week in Lyon, beat up a guy. Today was REALLY a mess - as indicated by Courtney Love's infamous tweet to President Hollande (!?? I can't make this stuff up). The news today went from being all about NSA spying on French presidents (yesterday) to taxi drivers acting like nutcase vigilantes everywhere.

A couple of colleagues of mine and I had to take someone out to Orly today, and knowing a taxi wouldn't work, we took RERB and Orlyval, which were both a nightmare in and of themselves because 1) everybody had to take RER since NO ground transportation would get you to the airport because the taxi drivers were blocking everything and 2) the RER B was also on a - let's call it a --mini-strike.

Then, as we were waiting for this person to do their detaxe, and we went to wait for them, three taxi drivers were following us (withIN the terminal, we were nowhere near anywhere to get a taxi or look for a ride). They stopped and kept looking at us menacingly, finally their numbers grew to some 10-12 guys, they kept staring at my colleague (a black American male) and came over finally to ask if we were waiting for a ride, we said no, we were with someone else, we were searching neither taxi nor Uber. they continued to hover menacingly, then I saw one of them take a photograph with their cell phone of my colleague-- so I told him, and he started taking pictures of THEM and then they rushed over all en masse telling us we shouldn't be taking their photograph!!! (Fair's not fair, I suppose.) By this time we had sent our other colleague to find the police -- who were nowhere in the terminal because they were all outside dealing with the vigilante taxistes out there!! Finally a group came in and my colleague went and filed a complaint.

This is one of the stranger days I've passed in a while . . .

now even the RERB is messed up . . . rumor is that passengers jumped on the tracks because they are so frustrated with service today in light of the taxi strike . . . ????

Too bad you got into a tiff, Kim. Those guys are pissed and well they should be. A little solidarity would calm the situation.

Taxi drivers pay hundreds of thousands of dollars for their licenses, not thousands, but hundreds of thousands, as well as taking courses and exams about routing and legal matters.

I think any of us would be pissed to pay hundreds of thousands of dollars to exercise a trade only to have some billionaire website based in San Francisco try to undermine the profession. Uber Pop is illegal in France; if police spot you, you'll be stopped.

It's just like with waiters---these people are trained professionals, regulated by the government. They aren't any Tom, Dick, or Harry with a car and a tank of gas willing to drive you illegally around town. Sharing economy is an euphemism for a different reality.

Too bad Cortney Love didn't realize her little Uber Pop is illegal. Maybe that's why the police were glad the taxi drivers were doing the police's job.

P.S. The US spying has been minimal in the US news though it's been all over the French news. Just saying....

Taxi drivers (or taxi firm owners?) ..."pay hundreds of thousands of dollars to exercise a trade"... Does that money get plowed back into training and safety matters entirely for taxis/drivers and their passengers or are such spent elsewhere?

Bruce, that may well be the case. In our experience, and practically everything I've ever heard, official Parisian Taxi's work pretty well, and there is quite a battery of tests in order to qualify, which makes it all the more galling to the operators playing above boards. I read some time back that the city of Paris has an enforcement squad that just searches for unlicensed taxi's, something like 80 members in the unit. So it does sound like they are serious and putting there money where their mouth is. I suspect there is a safety concern too, not the least of which could be the under-insuring or complete lack of insurance with illegal drivers.

A lot of drivers own their own cabs; they have paid the "medallion" or license themselves. Some are employees and share cabs--ie one person drives night, another day. They pay for a medallion, as well. Maybe we should say "pay off".

How is the medallion money spent? Since it is paid to the government, we'd need to see their budget. However, training for drivers is extensive, as is cab inspection. There's a lot more to driving in Paris that most people don't know about. For example, they have to memorize every street, no matter the size. They have to know what days and times deliveries are authorized on what streets in order to avoid them. They work to put the passenger at ease because they know many are nervous about being "taken for a ride." When drivers take a fare out to CDG, they typically wait in line for two hours on a lower level for their turn to come up to the taxi stands to pick up another fare. That's two hours their taxis aren't turning a profit. We just see them when they come up to the stands on the arrival level but don't know that they've been down below hanging out with the other drivers waiting their turns.

Drivers in US cities that require medallions are having the same problem in places where Uber has taken off. Their medallions can't be resold. Taxi driver has typically been an entry-level trade for immigrants to the States, who save up and go into debt for a medallion and now-- pouf.

What is it about the French and their need to burn tyres? Do they all
go to work carrying a spare wheel in case they need to go on strike
again and set one alight?

Say that with with a Seinfeld accent and it's a million times funnier.

Bets is right on target regarding the well founded reason for their anger. I wish more workers in the USA would stand up for their rights. They are losing ground steadily here. The French taxi operators' intent is to cause inconvenience and complaint. It's the only way to their complaints addressed. And it provides another travel story...

Kim,

I don't know what the laws are in France, but if the French government wants to get serious about this situation, they could start prosecuting illegal Uber drivers instead of just fining them. If a few of them lose their Driver's License and insurance, maybe they'll get the message.

Yes -- and last night the Interior Minister came out and said they would start seizing UberPop vehicles when their drivers are caught "en fragrant délit." So that is a definite change of perspective from the government.

The odd thing about this is that the protests are nominally about UberPop, which has been outlawed here (but which has appealed and is awaiting a Constitutional Court decision in September). But the bigger gripe of the taxistes is basically the existence of the real, regular Uber (not the UberPop, which can't represent that big a percentage of uber vehicles -- uberPop here is the one where you or I could go pick up somebody in our car to earn a few extra bucks).

So even if the government cracks down on UberPop, that does NOT make the bigger, more serious Uber "problem" go away.

And yes it all has to do with the medallions, which are sold from person to person at great cost and whose value is plummeting.

Today (Friday 6/26) they are NOT blocking the roads to/from the airports so far this morning. Things look a lot more normal out there, although the taxi groups in Marseille and Aix say they will continue their strike.