Uncollected rubbish continued to pile up on the streets of Paris on Wednesday, as unions made an 11th-hour bid to stop a deeply unpopular pensions reform from being passed.
Opinion polls show that around two-thirds of French people are against the legislation to raise the retirement age from 62 to 64, extend contributions for a full pension and scrap some special privileges for public sector employees.
But despite two months of protests and cross-sector strikes, the bill championed by President Emmanuel Macron appears on the verge of being pushed through parliament.
Several demonstrations kicked off around France on Wednesday, including in the northern city of Calais and southwestern city of Bordeaux, in a new day of strikes and protests.
Walkouts appeared more limited than in previous days of nationwide action, but workers in some sectors stood steadfast in rejecting the changes.
The most visible impact of the standoff so far has been piles of trash on Paris streets, where municipal garbage collectors and cleaners have stopped work since early last week.
Around 7,000 tonnes of rubbish have accumulated on pavements in around half the city, alarming foreign visitors and worrying restaurant owners.
More than 6,000 tonnes of #rubbish have piled up on streets across the French capital after more than a week of strike action by waste collectors against the government's #pension reform. #Paris pic.twitter.com/rvXvrchuex
— RFI English (@RFI_En) March 15, 2023
'It smells'
In a near-empty cafe in central Paris at lunchtime on Wednesday, manager Gregory Brault, 38, said he had seen a definite drop in customers.
"People don't want to eat on a terrace opposite garbage containers. It smells," he said.
He said he now came in an hour early each day to clear the waste from his doorstep, but huge mounds of black bin bags across the neighbourhood were still keeping office workers and tourists away.
In recent days, people in the area had started to spot rats.
"If tomorrow they make it inside and I have a health inspection, they'll close me down," he said.
Even in the other half of Paris, collection has been complicated as two key incinerators outside the capital are on strike.
The street cleaners voted on Tuesday to extend their walkout until next Monday, causing Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin to demand the capital's municipality order them back to work.
Paris mayor Anne Hidalgo said she had "no power" or intention to do so.
In other sectors, workers at power stations were on strike after reducing output in recent days, as they fear losing special privileges if the reform goes through.
But the protest movement seemed to be petering out in transport, with less metro and high-speed train cancellations than in previous days.
The last day of protests on Saturday saw a far lower turnout than in the previous rounds, and strikes last week did not paralyse the country as unions had hoped.
Minority government
A parliamentary committee started examining the retirement plan on Wednesday morning, ahead of a joint vote from the lower National Assembly and the Senate that could come as early as Thursday.
The main question is whether Macron's minority government can muster the required number of votes in the assembly, where it will need the support of the opposition Republicans party (LR) in order to pass the legislation.
Macron's flagship proposal would bring France more into line with EU neighbours, most of which have pushed back the retirement age to 65 or higher.
After initially claiming it was intended to make the system fairer, the government now emphasises it is about savings and avoiding deficits in the coming decades.
Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne on Tuesday insisted a majority exists in parliament for the changes, appealing to LR lawmakers who have long championed pension reform.
But if she fails to find a workable majority in the lower house, she could use a constitutional power contained in article 49.3 of the constitution, enabling her to ram the legislation through without a vote.
(with AFP)
