It’s three in the morning when a large garbage truck rolls down Rue de Buci in Paris’ chic sixth arrondissement. A camera crew from the French television station BFM films him on his way as if he were a sensation. In fact, waste disposal, as much a part of everyday life in the French capital, has become a rarity. The truck only moves at a snail’s pace so that the employees can gradually dispose of the mountains of garbage bags that accumulate on the side of the road. The men are not available for an interview, they cover their faces with their hands. You work for a private utility company and don’t want to appear disloyal to your fellow city garbage collectors.
They have been on strike since March 6 to protest the planned increase in the retirement age from 62 to 64. The reform is expected to be decided on Thursday, although 70 percent of French people are opposed to it. Several professional groups, including railway and refinery workers, stopped work. But the consequences of failing garbage collection are particularly striking: in most of Paris’s 20 arrondissements, mountains of garbage pile up on the sidewalks, some of them meters high, making them impassable. It is said to be 7,000 tons in total.
Sometimes plastic bags break open and the contents spill out. Garbage is only picked up at particularly busy traffic intersections, after weekly markets, or on certain streets, like that night on Rue de Buci. But three incinerators in the Paris suburbs are also on strike.
Tourists who visit the so-called “most beautiful city in the world” turn up their noses at the stench. “We are building the Great Wall of China here”, joked Jean-Pierre Reveyrolle, head of “Café Kleber” in Trocadero Square, in Paris, to the daily newspaper “Le Parisien”. Its restaurant offers a magnificent view of the Eiffel Tower. But visitors are currently less photographing the Parisian landmark, but mostly the rubbish. “It leaves them with a memory,” Reveyrolle scoffs. He wants to pool money with other restaurateurs in adjacent cafes to hire a private company.
On the part of the city, the collectors are even encouraged to continue the strike movement. Socialist mayor Anne Hidalgo said she had his “full support”. On Wednesday, she suspended a meeting of the city council to allow its members to participate in the demonstrations.
Local operators cover mountains of rubbish with tarps
The issue has long since turned into a political power struggle. Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin instructed the Prefecture of Police to ask the Prefecture to hire private garbage companies or recruit personnel. If the city does not fulfill its obligation to guarantee public order, cleanliness and security, the city itself can take appropriate measures. Hidalgo’s environment said she does not believe in a compulsory obligation, but advised “to prefer dialogue to the use of force”. Health experts warn of the spread of disease from mountains of rubbish on the streets.
“No one denies the inconvenience to Parisians,” said union leader Laurent Berger. But after applauding garbage collectors during the corona pandemic for continuing to do their jobs, their harsh “social realities” must now also be taken into account. “We’re not doing this for fun,” garbage collector Greg told Le Parisien newspaper about the strike: “Parisians are now discovering that there are rats in their city. But we start at 6 am and rats belong to our everyday life.” So that the small rodents do not run between the legs of customers when they visit the cafe, more and more people are avoiding tables outside, despite the spring temperatures, said Franck Delbau, president of the association of hospitality professions in the capital region. “Some of us will lose at least a week of sales,” he warned. Some bar operators began to cover the mountains of rubbish with large tarps.
However, the city’s tourist office was not scared and said the impact so far has been minimal. Garbage collectors have already announced that they will continue on strike until March 20. Other French cities were also affected by similar shutdowns. In Nantes, the city council hired a private company to clean the streets of 3.5 tonnes of rubbish. In Le Havre, in northern France, residents are being asked not to litter for the time being.