Garbage collectors on strike against pension reform, waste accumulates in Paris and in several cities in France

It does not smell good. In Paris, Saint-Brieuc, Rennes, Nantes or even Le Havre, the garbage collectors’ strike against the pension reform is starting to increase the volume of waste piling up on the sidewalks, arousing the concern of local residents, even tensions policies.

Tuesday, March 14, garbage collectors and agents responsible for cleaning the City of Paris voted to continue the strike “at least until March 20”, during a general meeting at the Ivry-sur incineration site. -Seine (Val-de-Marne). On the ground, the situation varies according to the sectors, the most affected being the ten districts where the collection is ensured by the agents of the town hall. But even in those managed by private service providers, collection is disrupted since the three incineration plants, in Ivry-sur-Seine, Issy-les-Moulineaux and Saint-Ouen, which depend on Syctom, the metropolitan waste agency household appliances, are blocked.

Monday in Paris, 5,600 tons remained uncollected, according to the town hall, a volume which increases every day. And “the conflict is hardening” with the blocking of the depot of Pizzorno, a private operator, warns the assistant (PS) for cleanliness, Colombe Brossel. That this service provider sends agents to the capital as reinforcements from its bases in the Var and the Côte d’Azur has sparked controversy, according to Nice-Matin. “We gave a helping hand to our Parisian employees,” said the company’s general manager, Frédéric Devalle, according to the regional newspaper.

The strikers remain determined to continue their action at least until Wednesday, the day on which the bill will be examined by a joint committee between deputies and senators, a day of demonstrations as well – the police headquarters has moreover asked the Town Hall to Paris to do what is necessary to ensure that the garbage is removed on the route of the procession, according to BFM-TV. The CGT recalls that garbage collectors and drivers can currently claim retirement at 57 without bonus, an age pushed back to 59 if the reform is adopted.

It is also for an index revaluation that they are mobilized, because their career development is negotiated directly with the town hall. The socialist mayor of Paris, Anne Hidalgo, finds herself in an uncomfortable situation, she who decreed the town hall “solidarity with the social movement”.

The opponent (Les Républicains, LR) Rachida Dati calls for “the establishment of a minimum service for garbage collection”, and immediately “to call on integration companies”. Minimum service or benefits, “it is legally prohibited”, replied the first deputy (PS), Emmanuel Grégoire, for whom the requisitions are “an initiative and legal competence which fall under the State”. The mayor (LR) of the 17th arrondissement, Geoffroy Boulard, for his part assured on Twitter that he had appealed to the prefect for the waste treatment centers to be “liberated”.

Targeting Anne Hidalgo, the Minister of Transport, Clément Beaune, defended “yet another example of inaction and contempt of Parisians”. “It’s a national situation that other cities are facing,” retorts the mayor’s right arm, citing Nantes, Antibes, Saint-Brieuc or Le Havre.

In fact, the collection is disrupted in Saint-Brieuc (Côtes-d’Armor), where the movement began on March 7, according to the agglomeration. In Nantes, the movement “is scheduled to last at least until Wednesday, March 15. Until that date, users are asked to bring in their bin and take it out at the next collection, no catch-up is planned,” wrote Nantes Métropole on Twitter.

“It’s going to overflow everywhere”

In Bourges too, the collection was disrupted on Tuesday, according to France Bleu, the Suez site being blocked from 4:30 a.m. to 9 a.m. by around fifty employees and union representatives. For the days to come, “the agglomeration and its service provider will ensure that the means that can be mobilized are equitably distributed over all sectors to avoid the accumulation of household waste”, declared the Bourges agglomeration community in a press release.

Situation comparable to Le Mans, according to Actu.fr, where the Chauvinière waste management center has been blocked since Monday. Collection vehicles “can go through the oven because it’s not blocked, but there is still a considerable slowdown in rounds,” said a CGT representative.

The agglomeration of Rennes entered the dance on Monday, with the city’s three collection sites at a standstill, according to France 3. In Pacé, in the Rennes suburbs, “we will collect the waste when the reform is thrown away”, could -we read on a banner. And an FO activist to warn: “If the trash cans are not emptied, it will inevitably overflow everywhere in the municipalities. Anthony, a truck driver, notes a ripple effect between the different mobilizations of garbage collectors: “Since it works in Paris, Montpellier or Marseille, why not in Rennes. »