Paris sanitation workers’ trade union CGT-FTDNEEA will cease its strike, which started on March 6, due to the absence of strikers, the trade union said.
“We take responsibility for suspending our strike movement from Wednesday, March 29, 2023,” the statement said, adding that the reason for the decision was the small number of strikers remaining.
The trade union will once again talk with the city’s authorities responsible for waste management and sanitation in order to further defend its interests, the statement read.
The strike of sanitation workers has already lead to large amounts of waste accumulating in the city streets. The gravity of the situation prompted the city’s mayor to open a crisis center.
The CGT-FTDNEEA’s strike is a part of a nationwide strike movement in France against the pension reform, which presupposes a gradual increase in retirement age from 62 to 64 years.
On March 16, French Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne triggered an article in the country’s constitution to enable the passage of the disputed pension reform without a parliamentary vote, which sparked a massive backlash in French society. French President Emmanuel Macron expressed the hope that the reform would be implemented by the end of the year.