Thousands of tonnes of rubbish have piled up on streets across the French capital after a week of strike action by waste collectors against the government's pension reform – a key plank of President Emmanuel Macron's second term.
Work stoppages in three incineration plants outside the capital have left pavements covered in black bags and overflowing bins.
The capital's household waste agency Syctom said it has been re-routing dustbin lorries to other storage and treatment sites in the region and has yet to resort to calling in the police.
Paris city hall said on Sunday that 5,400 tonnes of waste remained uncollected.
City hall employees are in charge of picking up rubbish in half of Paris's districts, including the upmarket 5th, 6th and 16th arrondissements.
The other half is served by private firms which are not striking.
Rolling work stoppages
The hard-left CGT union, which represents a majority of refuse collectors in the capital, has declared a ‘rolling’ strike in protest over the government's pension reform.
According to the CGT, refuse collectors and drivers can currently draw a basic minimum pension from the age of 57.
Under the pension reform bill, currently going through parliament, they would have to work two more years.
Life expectancy for garbage workers is 12-17 years below the average for the country as a whole, the CGT says.
Des #éboueurs toujours en #grève, 5.400 tonnes de déchets non ramassées à #Paris pic.twitter.com/52ixeva0h5
— Guillaume Asskari (@Gasskari) March 12, 2023
Garbage collection 'easier than before'
In the chic 16th arrondissement, close to the Eiffel Tower, a local resident is taking photos of the piles of rubbish bags littering the pavement.
"It's two metres high after three days of striking, at this rate it'll be 10 metres high pile in a few days," he told RFI.
Another resident says he has had to take a detour to get back home. "We'll be getting rats and mice, it's not normal."
He doesn't agree that refuse collectors have tough jobs.
"Some jobs are more difficult," he says. "I'm a tiler, that's a difficult job. Collecting garbage is easier than it used to be, it's becoming a sought-after job."
However a young couple show support for the striking garbage workers.
"They're taking strong action, the stoppage is significant," says the young woman while her partner believes it will "make the public realise how important refuse collectors are".
Opposition to reform
A lady with a chignon passes by the smelly mountains of rubbish and pinches her nose. "It's appalling, after Covid we're heading for cholera," she says.
The reform's headline measure is to increase the general minimum retirement age from 62 to 64.
Polls show the majority of the French are opposed and view it as unfair to people who start working early.
On Saturday, France's Senate voted to approve the reform. It will be reviewed by a joint committee of lower and upper house lawmakers, probably on Wednesday.
A final vote in both chambers is expected to take place on Thursday.
(with AFP)
