Garbage blunts Paris in full pension strike

PARIS (AP) — The City of Light is losing its luster as tons of trash pile up on the sidewalks of Paris on Tuesday, the ninth day of a collectors’ strike. The growing filth is the most visible sign of widespread outrage over a French government bill to raise the retirement age by two years.

The stench of rotten food started to come out of some overflowing garbage bags and trash cans. Neither the Palais du Luxembourg, seat of the Senate located on the left bank of the Seine, nor, on the other side of the city, a street a few steps from the Palais de l’Élysée, where the rubble of the presidential residence. They came out of the strike.

More than 5,600 tonnes of waste had accumulated in the streets on Monday, prompting complaints from several borough mayors. Some of the piles disappeared early Tuesday with the help of a private company, BFMTV reported.

Other French cities are suffering from a similar problem, but the chaos in Paris, France’s showcase, has quickly become an emblem of the strikers’ discontent.

“It’s too much because it was even difficult to find your way” in some streets, said Nadiia Turkay, a 24-year-old British tourist, after touring the French capital. in the streets you see all the garbage and everything. The smell.”

However, Turkay was sympathetic to the striking workers, saying the inconveniences were “for a good cause”.

Even the strikers themselves, who include garbage collectors, sweepers and sewer workers, are worried about what will become of Paris in their absence.

“It makes me sick. There are containers everywhere, things everywhere. People can’t get through. We are well aware of that,” said Gursel Durnaz, who has been on the picket line for nine days.

But, he added, President Emmanuel Macron need only withdraw his plan to raise the retirement age “and Paris will be clean in three days”.

The shutdowns have intermittently hit other sectors such as transport, energy and ports, but Macron remains firm as his government pushes to push the unpopular pension reform through parliament. The plan will raise the retirement age from 62 to 64 for most people, and from 57 to 59 in the waste management sector.

Those working in garbage collection say two more years is too long for the essential, if ignored, service they provide.

“What makes France go round are the invisible jobs… unfortunately, we are among the invisible,” laments Jamel Ouchen, who sweeps the streets of an upscale district of the capital, suggesting that politicians do their homework to a day to learn. firsthand what it means to keep the city clean.

“They wouldn’t last a day,” predicted Ouchen.

Health is one of the main concerns of the sector, officially recognized with a lower retirement age, even if many operators work longer to increase their pensions. With the exception of sewer workers, there do not appear to be any long-term studies confirming the widespread claim of lower life expectancy in the sector.

The stakes will be high on Wednesday, both for the government and for disgruntled workers. The unions are holding their eighth day of nationwide protests since January, and the third in nine days, meant to coincide with a closed-door meeting of seven senators and seven parliamentarians who will try to reach consensus on the text of the standard . If they succeed, the law will return to both chambers and will be voted on Thursday.

But nothing is certain and the passage of time seems to have fueled the determination of those who maintain the pickets.

Durnaz, 55, is part of an incineration plant in southern Paris, one of three serving the capital blocked since March 6. During this time, he only returned home twice to see his wife and three children. “It’s cold, it’s raining and the wind is blowing,” he said.

Even if the proposal becomes law, “we have other options,” he said. “It is not finished”.

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Alex Turnbull in Paris contributed to this report.