Long Paris trash strike ends, workers face daunting cleanup
Paris sanitation workers are starting to clean up debris from a more than three-week-long strike, a day after the 10th nationwide anti-pension reform protest
PARIS (AP) — Striking sanitation workers in Paris began returning to work Wednesday, ending one of the most enduring symbols of opposition to French President Emmanuel Marcon’s unpopular pension bill, as nationwide protests also appeared to be winding down.
Awaiting clean-up crews were heaps of trash that had piled up over their weekslong strike beginning March 6, as well as debris from the streets following the tenth nationwide anti-pension reform protests a day earlier.
Trash mounds that reached up to 10,000 tons along the French capital’s streets — matching the weight of the Eiffel Tower — have become a striking visual and olfactory symbol of opposition to Marcon’s plan to raise the retirement age by two years. For most people that means working until 64 once the measure, under examination by the Constitutional Council, is enshrined in law.
Sanitation workers, who had blocked three incinerator plants and garbage truck depots, retire earlier than most people, at age 57 due to their laborious jobs, though many work longer to increase their pension. The new plan would push their retirement age to 59.
