French taxi driver protests to continue for rest of week

Disruptive action by French taxi drivers is set to last for the rest of the week, as they continue to protest changes to hospital transport fees and the proliferance of ride-hailing apps.

Major demonstrations were held across France on Monday (May 19) and continued into Tuesday in Marseille and Toulon. 

The taxi driver’s federation (fédération nationale du taxi, FNDT) announced on Tuesday evening that action would continue until at least Friday (May 23), and further major demonstrations are planned for Saturday across the country.

Cities set to be particularly affected are Paris, Marseille, and Pau, the latter the destination of a major convoy of taxi drivers that left on Monday seeking an audience with French prime minister François Bayrou. 

While no major announcements have been made, FNDT members have indicated that major meeting points for drivers will be the Minister of Transport offices (near Boulevard Raspail in Paris) as well as major stations and airports in the cities. 

It is thought the latter locations have probably been chosen as they are spots frequented by drivers working for apps such as Uber and Bolt.

“We will still be [protesting] and until our demands are met, the movement will continue,” said FNDT vice-president Yazid Ziani to media outlet FranceBleu.

Tensions flare at protests in south

Taxi drivers in the south have continued protests today (May 21) and are mostly blocking train stations in Marseille and Aix-en-Provence as well as Marseille-Provence airport, as opposed to setting up blockages on motorways according to local reports.

An assembly point at Place Castellane has been called for taxi drivers in Marseille. 

The location saw violent scenes yesterday after the driver of a vehicle blocked by protests rammed into protesting taxi drivers, causing two injuries. 

Mr Ziani claims the assailant was a driver working for a ride-hailing app, although this has yet to be officially announced.

The driver allegedly made his way through a blockade by taxi drivers, and was criticised for not having fulfilled the requirements for working as a VTC (Voiture de transport avec chauffeur. 

His vehicle was pelted with eggs by protesting taxi drivers, causing him to do a u-turn and return to the blockade and drive into several people, according to local media FranceBleu. 

“Fortunately, our colleagues are ok, but we could have had a tragedy with several deaths,” said Mr Ziani.