Barthélémy Philippe, edited by Laura Laplaud / photo credit: LAURE BOYER / HANS LUCAS / HANS LUCAS VIA AFP 07:55, April 13, 2023

On the eve of the announcement of the decision of the Constitutional Council on the pension reform, the Parisian garbage collectors begin this Thursday morning a new renewable strike to put pressure on the executive, with one more weapon: this time the private sector follows the movement.

For the twelfth day of interprofessional mobilization against the pension reform, the garbage collectors begin Act II of their renewable strike. Mountains of garbage in the streets and blocked incinerators... In March, the strike of Parisian garbage collectors had marked the spirits. But the movement eventually died out for lack of strikers.

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'Pension reform must fall'

For Act II, the garbage collectors want to rekindle the flame and make Emmanuel Macron back down. "It has to be even stronger, because he [Emmanuel Macron] didn't hear. Two more years is not possible. The pension reform must fall. What is most expected is that the workers of this country go on strike en masse. The sectors that have not yet left, they have to leave. This is the only way for Emmanuel Macron to give up," says Régis Vieceli, a member of the executive committee of the CGT waste sector.

"Public, private, same fight"

This time, the call for a strike should also be followed by the garbage collectors of the private sector, less present during the first act. "We have a common watchword: public, private, same fight. Then there are realities that are different. For example, the right to organize is more restricted in the private sector so it makes things a little more difficult. Nevertheless, when we are deprived of rights, employees are able to mobilize in the same way as those of the public," says Ali Chaligui, CGT leader of the private waste sector.

In Paris, waste collection in half of the arrondissements is provided by City officials. While the other half is run by private companies. This time, the entire capital could suffer the consequences of the garbage collectors' strike.