Tens of thousands of French teachers, civil servants, hospital workers, taxi drivers, air traffic controllers and farmers went on strike yesterday
to protest against shrinking purchasing power and the growing use of Uber – a driver hire app. A fifth of French flights were cancelled and French prime minister Manuel Valls denounced violent acts as “inadmissible”.
Twenty people were arrested after incidents at Port Maillot in Paris, where taxi drivers threw burning tyres onto the Boulevard Périphérique ring road. At Orly airport a bus driver who tried to force his way through a barricade knocked down a protester.
The communist trade union CGT claimed between 130,000 and 150,000 civil servants demonstrated across France, “the strongest mobilisation” since Francois Hollande came to power in 2012.
Civil service minister Marylise LeBranchu told France 2 television: “There will not be a significant increase [in the way salaries are calculated] because we are still in a difficult situation.” France’s high jobless rate and last year’s jihadist attacks had forced the government to take “extra measures,” including creating more positions. “So there’s little margin for manoeuvre,” LeBranchu said.
Spending cap
The European Commission has repeatedly authorised France’s failure to comply with the 3 per cent cap on deficit spending. Within days of the November 13th attacks that killed 130 people in Paris, Mr Hollande announced that France would not be able to meet the 3 per cent rule by 2017 as promised.
The ministry of education said 11 per cent of French teachers were on strike, but teachers’ unions said the true figure was much higher.
Mr Valls, the interior minister Bernard Cazeneuve and transport minister Alain Vidalies met taxi drivers at the prime minister’s office.
The Thévenoud Law of October 2014 was meant to establish a clear division of labour between licensed taxis and Uber taxis, but drivers say it is not enforced. In particular, taxi drivers accuse Uber drivers of remaining on standby, instead of returning to a “home base” between clients.
‘Economic terrorism’
Placards held by taxi drivers called for the resignation of finance minister Emmanuel Macron, denounced “economic terrorism” and demanded a “halt to deregulation.”
Uber provides a cheaper alternative to clients who long ago tired of futile searches for taxis in bad weather and at rush hour. There is a permanent shortage of taxis in the French capital, because drivers who paid high prices for licenses refuse to allow their number to be increased.
Up to 120 marches were scheduled by civil servants, some by sectors including health and finance. In Marseille, they chanted, “Enough austerity. Raise salaries and pensions.”
Paris hospital workers objected to a planned reform of their 35-hour working week.
Air traffic controllers joined the civil servants’ movement. At Lille airport, one third of flights were cancelled.
Some 1,500 taxis blocked roads in the Paris region, including the A106 motorway where only striking taxi drivers were allowed to pass through barricades. Airports and train stations in Toulouse, Marseille and Aix were also affected.
