ISLAMABAD/PARIS: A week into a waste collectors’ strike, dustbins in several parts of Paris continue to overflow as hundreds of tonnes of unattended trash strewed the French capital’s streets.
One Parisian complained on French radio that it was filthy and the waste attracted rats and bugs. The Macron administration’s plans to raise the retirement age from 62 to 64 is why the workers have gone on strike.
The affected cities also include Nantes, Rennes, and La Havre. Trash collectors joined the pension strikes a week ago, and according to the Paris authorities, the action has affected half of the regions that council personnel cover in the city. Four waste treatment facilities have been partially closed, and three have been blockaded.
The Paris government announced on Monday that 5,600 tonnes of rubbish still needed to be collected. One pundit on Europe1 radio compared the scenario to a free-for-all smorgasbord for Paris’ six million rats—more than twice as many people are living there.
Paris council said the service ran almost generally in the ten districts covered by private companies. According to some reports, activists were attempting to stop collecting from happening.
Meanwhile, a private business was spotted on Monday evening by television station BFMTV clearing up trash in the sixth, one of the significant central districts, which council workers typically handle. Two other neighborhoods on the city’s western outskirts had similar bin collecting.
The situation, according to top council official Emmanuel Grégoire, is complex. Still, the authority prioritized public safety intervention, clearing food markets, bin bags on the ground, and ensuring pedestrian safety.
“The strike triggers a change in rat behavior,” specialist Romain Lasseur told Le Parisien newspaper. “They’ll search into bins, lay their eggs there, and leave their waste—urine, and droppings. We have a concerning health risk for the general public and waste collectors.”
Bin workers in the capital are expected to gather on Wednesday to discuss whether to prolong their strike. Due to their demanding jobs, refuse collectors typically retire at age 57; however, the amendments would require them to stay on the job for an additional two years.
Rachida Dati, who runs the seventh district for the right-wing Republicans, complained, “Anne Hidalgo promised to double the clean-up budget, and Parisians see Paris becoming dirtier and dirtier.”
The government’s controversial retirement plans, presently debated in parliament, have prompted protests from France’s unions.
Only a small part of French gas stations have been forced to close, despite some operators at French refineries being on strike for a seventh day in a row on Tuesday.
The upper house or Senate approved the measures on Saturday, and on Wednesday, a joint committee of lawmakers from both houses will deliberate on the final language. The National
Assembly and Senate might receive a final vote on Thursday.
Success on the bill is not guaranteed because President Emmanuel Macron’s party requires a majority in the lower house.
To pass the measures, the government needs 287 votes. Even if it can persuade all 250 of its MPs to support them, it still has to find 37 other parliamentarians from other parties to support raising the retirement age.
Most of those additional votes will probably come from Republicans. The government is anxious to avoid invoking a 49:3 clause in the constitution, which would allow it to impose the legislation without a vote.
