Paris torn between empathy for protesters, ire over rotting garbage

By Umit Donmez

PARIS (AA) – Tempers are fraying fast and patience is running thin in Paris as thousands of tons of putrid rubbish piles up on the streets of the French capital.

Sanitation workers have extended their strike against the government’s pension reforms – already in its second week – until at least March 20, fueling fears that the squalor, stench, and rats are here to stay in the City of Light.

The bitter standoff between the central government and Paris’ socialist-run city hall has no end in sight for now, with Mayor Anne Hidalgo supporting the protesters and President Emmanuel Macron’s administration pushing to get them back to work.

Hidalgo has defied the government, refusing to comply after Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin ordered the Paris police to ask the municipality to get staff back to work.

Paris and its residents are just as divided. On the one hand, there is understanding and empathy for refuse collectors, and anger and concern over public health risks on the other.

Jean, a retired man in his sixties who did not want to give his real name, termed the situation “intolerable” and laid the blame squarely on Hidalgo.

“We pay people to do nothing a whole year. By that I mean the Paris mayor and all of her henchmen who do nothing. Just look at the situation we are in,” he told Anadolu, gesturing toward mounds of trash bags behind him.

“We had COVID-19 not long ago. If rats start invading this garbage, our shops and our houses, we can only imagine what will happen,” he said.

The spread of diseases “is more than a risk, it’s certain,” he asserted.

Jean said he does understand what workers are fighting for, particularly those already forced to work after the age of 60.

For him, those at all levels of the French government are “disconnected from the people’s everyday life and reality.”

- ‘We are not in a Third World country’

Lucas, a young man in his 20s who also asked for his identity to be protected, said it was high time “to start collecting the garbage.”

“I understand that people are fighting for their rights, but there should not be cholera in Paris,” he said with a hint of dry humor.

“People can fight in whatever way, but it should not become a danger to the population. We are not in a Third World country,” he added.

On the pension reforms, Lucas said he is too young to be directly affected.

“Yes, I support those who are fighting for their rights, but it does not really concern me. It will, eventually, in 20 or 30 years. We will see how it goes then since everything will change,” he said.

On Thursday, the Senate passed the draft pension reforms bill, bringing it a step closer to becoming law.

Thousands had turned out for another round of nationwide protests on Wednesday in Paris and other cities, calling for the plan to be shelved.

The controversial reforms include raising the retirement age from 62 to 64 in 2030, and requiring at least 43 years of work to be eligible for full pension payments.

The final deadline for the reforms to be approved is March 26.

* Writing by Nur Asena Erturk in Ankara