PARIS
Furious taxi drivers in France are staging a one-day nationwide strike over the UberPop transport application, blocking access to Paris airports and major highways around the capital.
Cab drivers on Thursday obstructed roads to Charles de Gaulle (CDG) and Orly airports as well as main train stations. 2,800 taxis are involved in the strike according to police.
They claim the UberPop app jeopardizes their jobs by taking customers away from licensed cab companies.
"We must put an end to the anarchy, we must respect the law and suspend the UberPop application," the general manager of Les Taxis Bleus company told French TV channel LCI.
The low-cost car-pooling app puts members of the public in touch with others who want to offer ride-sharing, reducing each person's travel expenses. The company says it has more than a million users in France.
French Interior minister Berard Cazeneuve has called for UberPop to be banned.
Cazeneuve told reporters that he "asked the Paris police chief to issue an order prohibiting the activity of UberPop."
"I call on all those involved in the action [strike] not to commit any violence," he added.
French media broadcast footage of taxi drivers burning tires to block parts of major roads into the French capital and clashing with other drivers.
The strike turned violent in some cities, leading riot police to intervene with tear gas.
