French schools, taxis on strike

The French civil aviation authority DGAC called today on airlines to cancel 20 percent of their flights as a preventive measure ahead of the air traffic controllers’ strike.

Hundreds of taxi drivers also blocked traffic around airports and train stations in Lille and Toulouse on Tuesday, and they paralyzed traffic in central Marseille.

“We are determined. We will not be moving”, said Ibrahima Sylla, from the group Taxis de France.

France’s black Tuesday has reached boiling point with strikes affecting several sectors such as transport with taxis protesting NCC cars and flight controls as well as schools.

Nineteen protesters had been arrested, police said.

French riot police and firefighters intervened to clear a busy Paris ring road at rush-hour on Tuesday after taxi drivers angry about competition from private vehicle ride firms like Uber threw tyres across the roadway and set them alight.

A number of incidents have already been reported in Porte Maillot, between Paris and la Defense where taxi drivers burnt tires and hindered the passage of cars.

The taxi drivers’ strike comes more than a year after French taxi unions staged widespread protests against Uber’s low-priced UberPop service, which they said “give rides to passengers with non-professional chauffeurs”.

In the case of taxi drivers, the protest is the second time in the past six months that drivers have taken to the streets to express their frustration with Uber and other ride-sharing services.

Millions of teachers, health workers and air traffic controllers are protesting against labour reforms.

The freeze in automatic pay increases has cost civil servants 8 percentage points in the purchasing power of their salaries, FO says.

Civil Service Minister Marylise Lebranchu said negotiations in February could not be expected to lead to a “big rise (in the salary index) because we are in a hard situation”.

There were also reports of farmers, upset over falling prices, setting up roadblocks at some places in the country, including eastern Paris. Their unions are demanding distributors and major food companies pay more for produce and livestock. French taxi unions are staging a nationwide protest against Uber and the French government in Paris, according to local media and posts on social media.