The three sites where the waste of Parisians are incinerated are closed: two due to the strike and one for work.
On the thirteenth day of the strike, the garbage crisis worsens in Paris. “They are no longer piles of garbage cans, but walls“, worried a resident of the 8th arrondissement in front of gutted and smelly bags, this Friday. The symbolic threshold of 10,000 tonnes of waste scattered on the sidewalks was crossed this afternoon, according to the town hall of Paris. Beyond the inconvenience, the risks of insalubrity and insecurity could lead to dangerous situations in the capital. “The concentration of rubbish, especially food, poses risks to the population, poses a public hygiene problem and promotes the proliferation of rats, vectors of disease“, underlined the Paris police headquarters, before adding that”this heap increases the risk of fire“. During the spontaneous demonstrations against the pension reform which are multiplying in France, some activists do not hesitate to set fire to the piles of garbage cans in their path.
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This garbage crisis seems to be the result of a small number of garbage collectors striking. The unions have not provided a figure, but the Horizons mayors of the 9th and 5th arrondissements of Paris, Delphine Bürkli and Florence Berthout, estimate that there are only 5% of garbage collectors on strike. “This 5% has the power to block almost all the collection, by carrying out two types of action: blocking garages under municipal management and incineration centers“, said Florence Berthout. The three sites where the waste of Parisians are incinerated are closed: two due to the strike and one for work. The police tried on Friday to lift the blockage at the Ivry-sur-Seine incineration center but had to back down in the face of strong opposition from the strikers.
First requisitions
Faced with the scale of the situation, the first requisitions of personnel took place on Friday, after a standoff of several days between the government and the mayor of Paris. Anne Hidalgo refused any requisition, even if her powers as mayor authorized her to do so. “The situation you mention is entirely attributable to the government’s desire to legislate to raise the legal retirement age.“, she scolded in a letter to the prefect of police of Paris to challenge his formal notice. Laurent Nuñez has resolved to publish a decree himself to requisition the municipal cleaning agents of Paris under the General Code of Territorial Communities. The prefect wrote an order specifying the identity of the requisitioned employees. The list of 4,000 municipal agents to be mobilized was previously sent by the town hall of Paris, forced to do so in its capacity as employer.
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In most cases, the employees concerned are notified of their requisition by telephone, before receiving a letter. The requisition can also be reported to the person concerned by a bailiff, supervised by law enforcement, directly at his home. Employees who refuse their requisition risk six months’ imprisonment and a fine of 10,000 euros. Determined, the federal secretary of the CGT Public Services explained on Friday afternoon that there was “probably ways to dodge it“, citing in particular “sick leave“.
