Garbage collectors in Paris go on indefinite strike

According to news from the French television channel BFMTV, the organization that brings together many unions, the General Union of Workers (CGT), has notified the Municipality of Paris that cleaning workers will start an indefinite strike on April 13.

The statement, written to Mayor Anne Hidalgo, urged industry workers to actively participate in the strike against the government’s controversial pension reform. The article indicated that garbage collectors will also participate in the strikes that will take place throughout the country on April 6.

On the other hand, Mayor Hidalgo is characterized by demanding the withdrawal of the reform and supporting the strikes. In addition, the aforementioned decision to strike indefinitely has a symbolic importance since it was taken one day before April 14, when the Constitutional Council will make its decision on the reform it is examining.

The Council will give the “green light” to the reform on April 14 or demand its withdrawal.

TONS OF WASTE IN PARIS

Garbage collectors in Paris had gone on strike before March 6-29, and more than 10,000 piles of garbage had accumulated in the capital due to the strike. Due to garbage being left on the ground for days, rats began to appear frequently on the streets of Paris, and the government reacted to the strike by arguing that the situation had become a threat to public health.

The streets of Paris, which were littered with piles of rubbish, had long been on the agenda in the international press and on social media.

Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin had instructed the Paris Governor’s Office to introduce a “forced labor” procedure to create a minimum staff of striking garbage collectors.

The government’s decision to pass the bill, which includes raising the retirement age by 2 years from 62 to 64, without a vote, has been protested on numerous occasions in the country with demonstrations beginning on March 16.

There was a lot of violence between the police and the protesters, who responded harshly to the demonstrations.
While more than 1,000 people were detained in the protests, many mass strikes and protest rallies involving millions of people have taken place across the country since January, when reform entered the agenda.

The opposition parties had taken the reform to the Constitutional Council for its annulment. (AA)