After 12 days of strike, the bar of 10,000 tons of waste not collected in the streets of Paris was reached on Friday, according to the count of the City of Paris, despite the handling of the file by the State.
The Minister of the Interior had thus announced to settle things in force, by the requisition of agents. “As of today (Friday), as of this morning, this requisition is working and makes it possible to collect these trash cans,” said the Minister of the Interior on RTL. These statements were however denied by the Paris City Hall. “No dumpster has come out on the public side” in the districts where collection is provided by municipal agents, indicates the entourage of the mayor PS Anne Hidalgo.
A particular system, dating from Chirac
In the meantime, in addition to dirt and bad smells, the accumulation of rubbish poses many problems of insalubrity. The police headquarters also believes that these piles of waste could cause fires. During the spontaneous demonstrations held yesterday in the capital, heaps of trash had also been set on fire.
The capital has a special collection system, established by its first mayor, Jacques Chirac: city hall officials collect waste in half of the arrondissements (2nd, 5th, 6th, 8th, 9th, 12th, 14th, 16th, 17th and 20th centuries), while the other half is served by private service providers.
Garbage collectors are strongly mobilized against the pension reform which affects them very directly. In its renewable strike notice, the CGT recalls that garbage collectors and drivers can currently claim retirement at 57 without bonus, an age pushed back to 59 with the pension reform. “The vast majority of staff in the management of cleanliness and water has a life expectancy of 12 to 17 years less than all employees”, also assures the union.