Garbage workers in Paris said they would resume their strike on April 13 against French President Emmanuel Macron’s plan to raise the retirement age, just as streets in the capital have finally been cleared of mounds of trash.
(Bloomberg) — Garbage workers in Paris said they would resume their strike on April 13 against French President Emmanuel Macron’s plan to raise the retirement age, just as streets in the capital have finally been cleared of mounds of trash.
The CGT union’s public services branch called for an open-ended strike from next Thursday and for workers to join a nationwide protest on April 6. The strike had been suspended on March 29 due to a dwindling number of strikers.
Half of the 20 districts in Paris, known as arrondissements, rely on municipal workers for garbage collection. The other half uses private contractors.
Uncollected heaps of garbage, which had become one of the most visible signs of public frustration over pension reform, peaked at about 10,000 metric tons in mid-March.
That number dropped to nearly zero in the last few days as garbage collectors returned to work and the city ramped up the number of trucks circulating.
(Adds data on uncollected trash in last two paragraphs)
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