Slashdot Mirror
Anti-Uber Taxi Protest Blocks Access To Airports In France
An anonymous reader writes: Taxi drivers in France have been complaining that a recently passed law against unlicensed commercial drivers is being flouted by Uber, and going relatively unenforced by authorities. They claim to have lost 30% of their income to Uber over the past two years, and they've become fed-up with the situation. The taxi drivers have now started an indefinite, nation-wide strike in protest. Part of that strike involves blocking access to Paris's Roissy airport as well as the main road encircling the city. Protesters have also blocked access to train stations in Merseille and Aix. "The drivers — who have to pay thousands of euros for a license — say they are being unfairly undercut by Uber, which is not licensed by the authorities. Prosecutors have cracked down on Uber, filing almost 500 legal cases involving complaints about UberPOP. About 100 attacks on Uber drivers and passengers have been reported in recent weeks."
Uber is taking away our right to treat customers like shit! Now these Uber drivers with their fancy daily bathing practices, non-arrogant attitudes, and actual fair pricing are taking wine from our baby's mouths! WE WANT OUR MONOPOLY BACK!!!
SJW's don't eliminate discrimination. They just expropriate it for themselves.
You call for a ride, and arrest/fine the driver when her or she arrives. It's not like they're hiding out in the mountains of Afghanistan.
Is it just my observation, or are there way too many stupid people in the world?
They can protest the uneven playing field.... but attacking uber drivers just because they are taking a chunk of the customer base is way off line.... Jimmy Hoffa would be proud.
What's illegal about protesting illegal government actions? Uber is ILLEGAL in France but they continue to operate! Do you understand the concept of "protest"? The idle rich like you are SUPPOSED to be inconvenienced, it is the INTENTION that you get annoyed.
Technically, they should already have 'a monopoly'. They're putting up these blocks because the government is unwilling or unable to actually enforce previously existing laws OR the new law that was passed back in October 2014.
And since governments don't take too kindly to protests against its own institution (you may protest.. you know, somewhere out in a field where nobody's bothered by it, sees it, and you accomplish nothing - there's a good little citizen), they've taken to these measures.
Whether that will result in the law getting enforced, or ferrying people about is turned into a free for all (in which case the 'official' taxi drivers should not have to get a license and pay for that either), for the time being they have every right to be upset; not so much at Uber, but certainly at the French government.
Though if you think this is bad - keep an eye on Calais and the French government's unwillingness to deal with that clusterfuck.
However, you don't get to stop others from getting where they're going. That's what a gang does.
Martin Luther King:
I have almost reached the regrettable conclusion that the Negro’s great stumbling block in his stride toward freedom is not the White Citizen’s Counciler or the Ku Klux Klanner, but the white moderate, who is more devoted to “order” than to justice; who prefers a negative peace which is the absence of tension to a positive peace which is the presence of justice; who constantly says: “I agree with you in the goal you seek, but I cannot agree with your methods of direct action”; who paternalistically believes he can set the timetable for another man’s freedom; who lives by a mythical concept of time and who constantly advises the Negro to wait for a “more convenient season.”
These protests just make me want to avoid taxis and only use Uber. I don't live in France.
You'll want to avoid Paris in general when travelling by air; pick a different airport to change flights if you can. Good advice from my travel agent. If it isn't the cabbies on strike, it'll be the air traffic controllers, baggage handlers, caterers, customs officers, cleaning staff, or the guys with the lollipos guiding the planes to the terminal.
If construction was anything like programming, an incorrectly fitted lock would bring down the entire building...
Don't worry. What they hear sounds completely different. I doubt anyone learned to pronounce the umlaut correctly. Actually, it would sound more like what you'd get when French or English speakers sing "deutschland über alles".....
bickerdyke
Because something is illegal doesn't make it wrong and enforcing all passed legislation is impossible in most countries. Most police officers use their discretion to enforce practical laws (when is the last time you were ticketed for jaywalking?). The legislation in question is a protectionist movement for jobs that will die anyways. Its like protesting immigrant workers taking cruise liner jobs as the cruise ship is sinking into the ocean.
Brilliance without wisdom, power without conscience. Ours is a world of nuclear giants and ethical infants.
What is illegal is attacking Uber drivers and damaging (in some cases burning) their vehicles. Do YOU understand THAT?
Because attacking people is a perfectly reasonable form of protest.
The cabbies themselves already did a great job in making me want to avoid taxis (in the Netherlands). Refusing short rides, overcharging, and if you argue with them they'll put you out of their vehicle on the highway (if you're lucky) or just stab you (if you're unlucky). Sure, Uber should stick to the law, but I am hoping that we'll see a legal "2nd class" tier of cabs, like the Private Hire scheme they have over in the UK. Uberpop should fit nicely into that. I've had a few very good experiences with the service until they clamped down on it.
If construction was anything like programming, an incorrectly fitted lock would bring down the entire building...
What a great way to shut down a protest! Hire some thugs to go in there, bust up a few cars, blame it on the protesters. We saw it in Seattle too.
However, once you start interfering with other people's lives (who aren't involved in this at all), I view that as unacceptable and utterly puerile.
Martin Luther King:
I have almost reached the regrettable conclusion that the Negro’s great stumbling block in his stride toward freedom is not the White Citizen’s Counciler or the Ku Klux Klanner, but the white moderate, who is more devoted to “order” than to justice; who prefers a negative peace which is the absence of tension to a positive peace which is the presence of justice; who constantly says: “I agree with you in the goal you seek, but I cannot agree with your methods of direct action”; who paternalistically believes he can set the timetable for another man’s freedom; who lives by a mythical concept of time and who constantly advises the Negro to wait for a “more convenient season.”
#1: The taxi drivers are not being persecuted by society.
#2: Martin Luther King Jr.'s cause is one that I believe is great enough to allow stuff like that, even though I don't agree with the way he did his protests. While I am neutral in this debate, the taxi drivers are not pursuing freedom to live or anything like that, but their jobs. If it was revealed that there were terrible conditions in the market of Estonian basket weaving, and they decided to march in front of your house and barricade your driveway, I highly doubt you'd have any sympathy.
#3: Please at least come up with something new to say as opposed to just copy-placing the same block of text multiple times on this story. It makes you look like a troll.
"Set a man a fire, he'll be warm for the rest of the night. Set a man afire, he'll be warm for the rest of his life."
Let's see... How about blocking the roadways? Very illegal. Even worse are the violent assaults.
And, unlike Uber's own illegality, the blockings and assaults are malum in se whereas Uber is guilty of merely malum prohibitum.
Welcome to Bill Maher show. Save your class warfare rhethoric until 2017, for the centennial celebrations of the Great October Socialist Revolution.
The "idle rich" don't care, whether a ride costs €20 or €40. It is the rest of us, for whom such trifle sums matter.
In Soviet Washington the swamp drains you.
No, Uber's model is to bring in real competition to a service industry that has rested easily on a state-imposed monopoly for WAY too long.
if that were ACTUALLY true then they would be working WITH governments to improve competition instead of blatantly breaking existing laws and feigning ignorance.
Silly silly you, their model is to make as much money as possible for the stakeholders while not caring about anyone else. They really don't care if their drivers are ruined financially if they get in an accident. They don't care if their passengers are robbed or raped. They are a corporation, they are not allowed to care about these things.
This dedication to direct action explains why MLK supported lynching white people back. You need to be more devoted to justice than order. Now it's payback time.
Can you please provide the complete moral code that you abide by? In the way I was raised, braking the law is wrong and obeying the law is right. Obviously everyone cannot simply follow their own moral code because then drug dealers would declare themselves "illegal but not wrong". Perhaps if you could provide yours to completion, all of society could just adopt it and we can finally have peace on the insanity of 'the people' selecting the laws that work the best for them.
Laws are rules for the court, but merely a bottom bar to hit for life. Think beyond laws in your actions always.
Is that better than you taking away the right for Uber to treat their employees.. er, contractors? No.. Let's just call them phone associates with no bargaining power whatsoever... is it better that Uber is allowed to treat them like shit? Just because people will do the job doesn't mean that it's right that people are in the position that they have no choice.
Laws are rules for the court, but merely a bottom bar to hit for life. Think beyond laws in your actions always.
Because they want a chance to make a living capable of supporting a family and making a comfortable life, as opposed to popping bennies and driving for 72 hours straight just to keep things going? Just a guess. Also, they've made expensive business investments in the licenses to drive, which is now becoming useless. How would you feel if several families suddenly decided to move into your house and the government refused to do anything about them?
Laws are rules for the court, but merely a bottom bar to hit for life. Think beyond laws in your actions always.
When I bought a new car, I had to leave my truck at the lot and come back for it. I tried to get a taxi on three different occasions (I've never been in one before), and all three times I got screwed over; two just didn't show, and the third wanted to charge almost $50 to go less than 8 miles. I installed the Uber app, and had a car in front of my house in less than ten minutes. Only cost $17 for the ride. I will walk or just stay home before I ever take a taxi in this city after that experience.
As far as them inconveniencing everyone, I'm with the above poster: if I was caught in that, I'd do everything I could to avoid them there as well while doing everything I can to support anything that takes them out of business. There are any number of ways they can protest. Disrupting traffic when people need to either get to jobs or possibly a hospital is just doing it wrong.
dimwit, how else will people pay attention? inconveniencing the idle rich IS THE WHOLE POINT of non-violent protesting.
"Non-violent protest" doesn't include flipping cars, burning tires, beating up drivers, and blocking emergency vehicles,
As for "the whole point" - Yeah, look how well shutting down critical infrastructure worked for PATCO.
I feel sympathetic toward cabbies, I really do - Their industry basically died overnight because someone came up with an alternative that makes them irrelevant. All the world's protectionist systems of placards and medallions and special licensing, "poof", suddenly worthless.
Finding new lines of work sucks, no doubt. But when you manufacture buggy-whips, you implicitly depend on the continued use of horse-based transportation to make your living. Similarly, when you deliver low quality rudely-delivered service at a high price and with upcharges for the top 90% of destinations - You implicitly depend on a complete lack of any viable alternatives.
Most Uber drivers work part time for extra money. They generally have another job that pays the bills. It is very difficult to make a living wage driving full time for Uber.
But it is a "regulated market", the regulations of which Uber is explicitly not following.
What's illegal about protesting illegal government actions? Uber is ILLEGAL in France but they continue to operate! Do you understand the concept of "protest"? The idle rich like you are SUPPOSED to be inconvenienced, it is the INTENTION that you get annoyed.
Protesting is fine. Here in the USA, we have this crazy thing in our constitution called "free speech" that covers it. Most or all of Europe has no such law. Se we are Americans are totally cool with the whole protesting thing. What myself and others are not at all cool with is blocking access to train stations, beating up people who they don't agree with, and so on. You want to set up protests and carry signs outside of train stations and such? That's great. Some people may be interested and may ask what you are protesting about and may end up on your side as a result. You want to block everybody from using the train? Screw you and your cause. At that point, all those protesters are doing is making the people who can't get to the train sympathize with the other side. I've been to France and in the past I worked for a US office of a big French company. This kind of stuff is why I have really mixed feelings about the French. This kind of a-hole "I am going to screw you over because I have a problem that's not your problem so I'm going to make it your problem too until you get so angry you make my problem go away" stuff is a perfect example of what I really don't like about them.
"About 100 attacks on Uber drivers and passengers have been reported in recent weeks."
Taking a page out the Unions' playbook eh?
Comment removed based on user account deletion
What's illegal about protesting illegal government actions? Uber is ILLEGAL in France but they continue to operate! Do you understand the concept of "protest"? The idle rich like you are SUPPOSED to be inconvenienced, it is the INTENTION that you get annoyed.
You almost sound like you're arguing with yourself...
person A) What's illegal about protesting illegal government actions?
person B) Uber is ILLEGAL in France but they continue to operate!
person A) Do you understand the concept of "protest"?
I know that doesn't totally make sense, but neither does citing the "protest" of illegal government actions while simultaneously lambasting uber continued operation simply because it's ILLEGAL. What the taxis are doing isn't really protest either - they're blocking public services, which is more like a hostage situation, blackmail, or extortion.
Personally, I can't pick a side in this debate. Both seem wrong to me as exaggerated ends of the spectrum...
UBER: it breaks a lot of the significant and good strides that were made within the various taxi systems (though that's city-specific). For example, in NYC, if you get in a taxi, the drive is required to take you wherever you want to go - even out of state. They're not allowed to kick you out. If they do, be sure to take down their badge number (which is required to be displayed prominately) and/or license plate, and report them... none of them want to get in trouble at all because it would risk losing the medalion. There's lots of other (good for the people) rules that go along with being licensed correctly. The service may be doing ok, but discrimination is actual one of its features (whether or not that gets abused).
TAXI: WTF medalion prices and artificial rarity! The exclusive club that was created can go fuck itself. Services like Uber can't comply if they wanted to.
Somewhere in the middle is where things need to be (IMO), but I have no clue how that can be accomplished. Maybe if licensed taxi services could use uber without charge (or very low charge), and they got a special badge or something within uber so one could search for official taxis if they so chose, then it'd help level the playing field (IE. allow people to choose to pick a driver that probably lacks proper insurance, licensing, etc, but also allow people to find those that do carry those credentials).
No, taxi licensing and regulation need to be DRAMATICALLY changed before that. The entire system is corrupt and needs to be purged BEFORE any real progress is made.
Good-bye
I feel sympathetic toward cabbies, I really do - Their industry basically died overnight because someone came up with an alternative that makes them irrelevant. All the world's protectionist systems of placards and medallions and special licensing, "poof", suddenly worthless.
Fuck cabbies right in their part-of-the-problem ears. We wouldn't even goddamned have them today if not for auto companies sabotaging public transportation. We'd just have better public transportation, and more of it. The cars would be on rails and they'd take you where you want to go without a driver. We probably could have done this before the widespread distribution computers with a mechanical autoswitching system, if we'd chosen to. Instead we opted for the illusory freedom of "ownership" of cars which the government can take away from you at any time on any bullshit pretext and the best you can hope for is that you won't have to pay the towing and storage fees. Meanwhile, look at all the pavement we have to pay for.
"You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
Why should taxi drivers pay thousands of Euros for the privilege of driving a taxi? That seems excessive and non-democratic. The taxi driver in turn has to charge the passenger extra to cover the high cost of the license.
The license fees should be cheap and nominal. If there are more drivers than licenses, there should be a lottery system (not a bribe system) to select which driver wins the (non-transferable) license.
OK.. Then arrest everybody who's breaking the law....
"File to fit, pound to insert, paint to match" - Aircraft Maintenance 101
So jaywalking to save a baby in a runaway stroller is "wrong", but watching it roll past isn't?
Learn to love Alaska
Please, we're 65 millions. Easy on the wide brush. Thanks.
Uber is a company which provides an app and additional technology using cheapest labor (average driver) on the back of cheap labor (taxi drivers) to generate lots of money for those who already have enough. Therefore, do not use Uber. Do not support Uber. Instead support the protest.
Any argument which puts Albania ahead of France in any way except alphabetically is simply ridiculous.
To have a right to do a thing is not at all the same as to be right in doing it