Garbage bags piled up in Paris today, with 5,400 tons of waste not being picked up as a result of a pickers strike which has been going on for seven days, in the framework of the protests in rejection of the reform of the pension system.
In addition to the collection, three garbage incineration plants located near Paris were also stopped today, which explains why in some neighborhoods, the bags occupy the entire sidewalk, according to the mayor’s office itself.
Municipality agents collect garbage in half the city while the other is managed by private borrowers.
The CGT union says that garbage collectors and drivers can currently retire at 57 without bonuses, an age that would be delayed to 59 if the pension reform is approved.
The project, promoted by President Emmanuel Macron, seeks to bring the retirement age from 62 to 64 by 2030 and brings forward to 2027 the requirement to contribute 43 years – and not 42 as up to now – to collect a full pension.
The union assures that the vast majority of the staff of the waste and water management department have a life expectancy of between 12 and 17 years less than that of the rest of the workers.
The collectors “are the first victims of this reform” because “many times they started working young,” Christophe Mouterde, an 18-year-old student, told the French news agency AFP.
“They do a harder job than other people who are in offices,” he added.
“It’s terrible, there are rats and mice,” said Romain Gaia, a 36-year-old pastry chef. However, he believes that the fact that collectors work longer “is delusional.”
“They have every reason to go on strike” and “maybe they should make it last even longer,” says the pastry chef. These are “people who normally don’t have any power, but if they stop working, they have real power,” he said.
The French Senate yesterday approved the controversial reform, which still has to be voted on in the National Assembly, the lower house, this week.
According to the pollss, two out of three French people oppose the Executive’s plan to delay the retirement age from 62 to 64 by 2030 and to bring forward to 2027 the requirement to contribute 43 years (and not 42 as before) to receive a full pension .
The rejection was reflected in massive protests, but also in strikes in transport and the energy sector.
Source: Ambito
