"If the reform passes, we're screwed": in Paris, taxi drivers are turning up the heat

The smell and smoke of barbecued food waft through the Rue du Bac metro station in Paris's 7th arrondissement. Just steps from the Ministry of Transport, under the spring sunshine of Thursday, May 22, hundreds of taxi drivers block the entirety of Boulevard Raspail, which climbs up to the 14th arrondissement. A few firecrackers burst against a backdrop of dance music, punctuated by the honking of horns. A demonstration that resembles an afternoon barbecue with friends, but which nevertheless reveals a very serious malaise . "I'm disgusted," says James, who arrived last night from Mâcon, in Saône-et-Loire.

The thirty-year-old has been in the business for seventeen years. By buying a company's business in February, he invested a lot of money, thinking he'd make a profit in a few months. But if the new health insurance agreement comes into effect on October 1st, as planned, James says he'll lose €4,000 in turnover per month. And with that, the prospect of having to reimburse his expenses. "It's disgusting. Losing 30% is stressful. I'm worried about what's next." Like his colleagues