Strike over French pension reform continues, with garbage

French transport workers are back to work after a historic seven weeks off the job, but the strike over a major pension reform currently being debated in parliament is not over. Garbage disposal workers have gone on strike in Paris and in Marseille.

Paris' incineration plants have been off line for ten days, and garbage is beginning to pile up.

The three incineration plants in Paris have been on strike since 23 January. The plant in Issy-les-Moulineaux, south of the city, should be running on Thursday after a police prefecture injunction for striking workers to go back to work.

According to the company that runs the site, Syctom, the site should be able to burn 1,800 of the 6,000 tonnes of garbage collected each day in the Paris area.

In the southern port city of Marseille, workers have been blocking waste-sorting centres for the past 10 days and some 3,000 tonnes of garbage have piled up in the streets, according to local authorities.

The city has required unions to provide a minimum level of service and placed garbage tips out for residents to stop them dumping their trash directly on the street.

Continued anger over the reform
Garbage collectors argue that they should continue to be allowed to stop work early because their life expectancy is seven years less than for the average French person.

The pension reform, currently being debated in parliament, aims to merge 42 different pension schemes into a single, points-based system, to have everyone in France retire at the same time.

• Why are the French still backing the strike?

President Emmanuel Macron's government argues that its reforms are necessary to make the pension system fairer and more sustainable. Critics say it will force most people to work longer for less than they are receiving under the current system.