Striking city cleaners have a right to protest against the pension reforms, explained Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo after refusing to order them back to work as suggested by the French government.

The workers have been on strike for 10 days, causing the streets of Paris to accumulate over 7,600 tonnes of rubbish.

On Twitter, the Mayor wrote an open letter to the Paris prefect that read: "The paradox is that the government requires local authorities to solve a problem that they themselves have created. I want to inform you that I will not fulfill your requirement."

Ma réponse au gouvernement sur la demande des réquisitions. ⤵️ pic.twitter.com/iazgOD0aDk

— Anne Hidalgo (@Anne_Hidalgo) March 15, 2023

Hidalgo argued that the only way to move forward is for the government to initiate a public dialogue, and emphasized that the striking workers will not be ordered to resume their duties.
 
"This [pension reform] text, created without the participation of employee rights organizations, is especially unfair to people doing the hard work. The demands of the Paris cleaners, who quite legitimately do not want to work two years longer and are protesting it, are fair," Hidalgo tweeted.

Understanding the pension reform

The pension reform bill being championed by the government in France is aimed at balancing the country's pension financial system without having to raise taxes, government spokesperson Olivier Veran said earlier Wednesday.

The bill provides for gradually increasing the national retirement age from 62 to 64 years and canceling special regimes for numerous professions that require hard labor, drawing the ire of the French people and sparking a wave of demonstrations that took France by storm.

"Why are we carrying out this [pension] reform? In order to keep out distributive [pension] system, not to raise taxes, not to decrease pensions and increase debt. All we do is aimed at that. We stick to this aim and keep it," Veran told French radio station Europe 1.

Furthermore, the government spokesperson stressed that the retirement age was being raised so that Paris could "look the French people in the eye in five, 10, 15 years" and tell them their pension contributions and the pension system would guarantee them "decent income" in retirement.

Veran also underlined that adopting the pension reform would ensure the country's financial balance by 2030 "without a shadow of doubt".

The city of lights turned into the city of garbage after strikes hit the country against President Emmanuel Macrons' proposed pension reforms that the French Senate passed on Saturday, despite massive unpopularity. 

Senators passed the reforms by 195 votes to 112, bringing the reforms one step closer to becoming law.

With another week of protests and strikes looming ahead, more than 5,400 tons of trash remained uncollected on the streets of Paris as of Monday, according to an assessment by Paris City Hall.

The bill got a critical push forward since the French Senate approved it, despite the huge protests taking place, which created chaos in the transportation sector and left large piles of uncollected garbage.

“Strike action has mostly hit France’s capital, but garbage collectors in other parts of the country, such as Rennes, have also walked out,” reported The Local.

More strikes and demonstrations are yet to come, as the country's eight largest unions called for walkouts to continue until today.

Garbage collectors and drivers currently retire at the age of 57, according to the powerful CGT union. They would have to work two more years under the reform plans; the plan still grants an early retirement for those who work under harsh working conditions. 

Despite polls consistently showing growing opposition to the reform and Macron's own popularity dwindling, the French President insisted on keeping a key campaign pledge he made when he swept to power in 2017 and before his reelection in April 2022.

Read more: Ignoring strikes, French Senate approves Macron's pension reform plan