While the mobilization of farmers is increasing throughout France, taxis are also mobilized almost everywhere in the territory this Monday. Through snail operations carried out in Paris, Marseille and Bordeaux, the latter are blocking several major roads.
This “renewable” day of mobilization was organized at the call of four national organizations. The demonstrators are demanding a renegotiation of the conditions of remuneration for patient transport, while the National Health Insurance Fund (CNAM) has put on the table an agreement deemed unfavorable by the unions, who demanded a status quo. Taxis fear that the new conditions will force them to take additional discounts on their rates for medical transportation, while forcing them to carpool patients.
In Ile-de-France, while agricultural unions announced their desire to “siege” the capital from 2 p.m., a taxi snail operation was launched in the early morning on the A13 towards the Porte d’Auteuil, in Paris, on the ring road. “The procession progresses at reduced speed and leaves one lane of traffic free,” clarified Bison futé.
In New Aquitaine, some five hundred taxis were mobilized according to the organizers and the prefecture for a snail operation on the Bordeaux ring road, a nerve center between Paris and Spain, already blocked from last Wednesday to Friday by several hundred farmers angry.
Oppose shared patient transport
“We will not give up, we will go all the way to get back on good footing” with the CNAM, Eric Roulière-Laumonier, president of the Bordeaux Métropole taxi union and of Gironde. The prefect advised to “favor teleworking and limit travel” on the Bordeaux ring road, an axis used by 85,000 to 140,000 vehicles per day and regularly congested during rush hours.
In Bouches-du-Rhône, taxis carried out two snail operations Monday morning: a procession towards the prefecture in the center of Marseille and another on the A8 motorway near Aix-en-Provence, complicating traffic .
“The health insurance fund has decided to impose rates on us without negotiation,” Céline Puech, who works as a taxi (medical and classic) in Marseille, told AFP. “We want a return to the negotiating table, we cannot accept this pricing. The taxis have a lot of loads, we work endless hours. We are very angry and our movement is renewable,” she said by telephone from the procession.
Taxi demonstrations had already taken place across France on December 11 to protest against the new Social Security finance law, which pools the journeys of medical patients. Medical transport represented reimbursements of nearly 5.5 billion euros in 2022, and 65 million trips were made over the year for taxis and light medical vehicles alone, according to the authors of the law.
Nearly 15% of trips are already shared. The idea defended by Social Security is to reduce pollution and the cost of travel, by 100 million euros per year between 2025 and 2027.
