Taxi strike: a meeting planned at the Ministry of Transport on Saturday, in the presence of Bayrou

Taxi drivers held a meeting Saturday at the Ministry of Transport in the presence of the Prime Minister, after a fourth day of protests on Thursday, during which they demonstrated against a new agreement governing patient transport and also against competition from private hire vehicles. François Bayrou will "open" this meeting with taxi representatives, his entourage announced on the evening of Thursday, May 22. The aim will be to "exchange" with the profession, which has been mobilized since Monday, the same source specified. The meeting is organized by the Ministry of Transport. "I think they have seen the determination of the taxi drivers," Rachid Boudjema, president of the National Union of Taxis Together, declared on France Info.

On Thursday, 1,700 taxi drivers mobilized across France, including 960 in Paris, according to the prefecture. In Pau (Pyrénées-Atlantiques), François Bayrou's hometown, which has become one of the centers of the mobilization, hundreds of taxi drivers, according to their representatives, and 100 according to the police, mobilized. The taxi inter-union began a massive mobilization on Monday to protest a proposed new health insurance pricing for patient transport by licensed taxi drivers. Approved by the government in a decree on May 16, it is due to come into effect on October 1. The goal is to control the growth in medical transport spending, which reached €6.74 billion in 2024, including €3.07 billion for licensed taxis (a 45% jump since 2019). But these trips to hospitals or doctors' offices represent the majority of the turnover for many drivers, especially in small towns.

In an interview with Le Parisien , Thomas Fatôme, the Director General of Health Insurance, assured that "the vast majority of taxis will benefit from this new model, because it is based on the logic of transporting more patients . " "We want to build a "virtuous" model with taxis: economically relevant for them and sustainable for Health Insurance," he added, considering it "essential, before its implementation, to explain this new agreement in detail and to reassure on points that may have been misunderstood."

In Pau, taxi drivers met Olivier Faure, leader of the Socialist Party (PS) deputies, in the city to sign his latest book. "I hope we can freeze this agreement, which has not yet come into effect. This assumes that there will be a real discussion between now and then," he declared on BFMTV after the meeting. In Bouches-du-Rhône, more than 300 taxis were mobilized, according to the police headquarters. They were once again blocking one of the main arteries of downtown Marseille, joined by taxis from the Alpes-Maritimes, Var, and even further afield from the Hautes-Alpes. In Paris, 650 taxis from all over France blocked Boulevard Raspail, near the Ministry of Transport, according to the police. A roadblock was also set up at the entrance to Charles de Gaulle Airport, before around fifty taxis set off in a slow-moving operation. Others slowed traffic around Disneyland Paris.

If it has increased, it is because the population is aging, the population is sicker and we have destroyed the health system."

Thibault Lafontaine, vice-president of the 83 (Var) Taxi Union

Marseille drivers said Thursday they were ready to continue the movement for as long as necessary despite the loss of turnover, which they estimate at between 1,000 and 2,600 euros over a week. "Now, we no longer have a choice. We are all together. I will be there until the end," Thibault Lafontaine, vice-president of the Taxi Union of 83 (Var), told AFP. "We have some rather poignant examples of people we transport who explain to you that they have a hospital 20 km away, but that it cannot treat them," he explained. "So people travel 150 km. And so that's why it has increased. If it has increased, it's because the population is aging, the population is sicker and we have destroyed the health system." Taxi drivers in Marseille plan to distribute leaflets in front of hospitals on Friday. In Paris, they plan to block train stations and slow down several boulevards.

The climate has become tense on several occasions with law enforcement and also with chauffeur-driven car drivers. Many taxis are protesting against competition from chauffeur-driven car companies, coordinated by platforms like Uber. The Ministry of Transport proposed increased monitoring of chauffeur-driven car companies on Wednesday. The chauffeur-driven car union Union-Indépendants, for its part, called for "calming down."