Paris, La Poubelle
The garbage, she is piling up everywhere as sanitation workers join the nationwide protest against the retirement reform.
Sometimes you should be thankful for things that you didn’t even know you should be thankful for until some big news event comes along and makes you realize, “Hey, I sure am thankful!”
Take, for instance, the life of Eugène René Poubelle. Next month, France likely won’t celebrate the 192nd birthday of the man who had a profound impact on the daily lives of the citizens of this nation. Born in Normandy, he became préfet de la Seine. In 1883, Poubelle came up with a wacky idea to address the garbage-filled streets of Paris. “What if,” he said, “we take that trash and instead of dumping it on the street or sidewalk, we put it in a barrel-shaped thingy and put a lid on top?” (Note: All dialogue has been 100% made up for dramatic purposes).
And thus, the French invented the garbage can (or at least re-discovered it. I couldn’t find a handy reference guide to the World’s History Of Trash.) In honor of his breakthrough idea, these trash receptacles were named after him: les poubelles. And la poubelle has been the French word for trash can ever since.
Thus, I am thankful that it was not my ancestor who invented the garbage can. I unknowingly have avoided a lifetime of hearing people say, “Please take the trash out and put it in the O’Brien.” I am certain that this also allowed me to escape decades of being beaten up on the playground and snickered at every time I am introduced at a business meeting.
I stumbled across the story of Poubelle while reading about the growing garbage strike across France. I was out of the country when the latest wave of protests over the government’s proposed retirement reform erupted last week. My first introduction to the garbage issue came Saturday evening while driving home through the Saint-Germain-en-Laye city center. The narrow one-way street was blocked by a garbage truck for about 20 minutes as it picked up the crates and garbage piled one-story high outside a fresh produce store.
Saturday at 7 pm seemed like an odd time for garbage pickup, I thought. But when I got home, my wife clued me in about the garbage strike that had disrupted regular service.
This seems to have become the major topic of conversation over the weekend for this round of protests, particularly in Paris where the garbage is piling up. According to the city government, there were 5,400 tons of garbage that had not been collected as of Sunday night after 7 days of strikes.
“Garbage collectors' strike: Paris under the trash,” tweeted BFM about this segment.
The BFM clip includes interviews with locals who are frustrated by the piles of trash but also remain largely sympathetic to the strikers. There are also some fun pictures of the growing numbers of rats this is attracting. Though a health professional interviewed assures us that the rats are not such a big threat as we might think.
And, of course, there is some concern about how all of this will look to tourists. Though I personally feel that this KFC is at least equally problematic.
Part of the problem is that “3 incineration plants outside the capital have been hit by the work stoppages,” according to The Local. The impact is uneven across the city, with some neighborhoods still getting normal service, while others are buried under trash.
The CGT union has noted that while garbage collectors can now retire at the age of 57, this would increase to 59 under the reform. These workers fall into this “early” retirement bucket because they often start these jobs when they are 18 and the work is extremely physical. Still, the union also points out that this line of work also leads to lower life expectancy.
Oddly, this has prompted a blame game among the political classes.
Take, for instance, this tweet by Clement Beaune, Macron’s Transportation Minister. He is furious that the city of Paris has not used emergency powers to do something about the garbage mess.
“7th day without garbage collection. Stench and rot. No emergency measure, even partial, decided by the City of Paris. Umpteenth example of inaction and contempt of Parisians,” he tweeted.
Mr. Beaune seems to have forgotten that these folks are on strike to protest the policy of his government. But, maybe I’m missing something here?
He is not the only member of Macron’s government (under the center-right Renaissance, the party previously known as La République En Marche!). There seems to be a sense that Mayor Anne Hidalgo (a member of the Socialist Party) is intentionally doing nothing to exact political revenge (she finished 23rd in a field of 12 presidential candidates last year) and to generate even more anger at the retirement reform. Which again, some people might call such inaction a protest, but what do I know?
“The rubbish is piling up but the town hall of Paris does not answer the call and persists in an ideological opposition in contempt of Parisians and its public service mission,” huffed Olivia Gregoire, a deputy economic minister in the Macron government, on Twitter. “There is an urgent need to change road management. It is urgent to react.”
Of course, one could react by withdrawing the retirement reform. But I guess I really know nothing about French politics.
It’s hard to say how long this stalemate might last. Over the weekend, the French Senate approved the retirement reform and now the Assembly will take it up again with adoption looking likely later this month. The big question then: Will workers continue to fight back even after it is adopted?
I’ll let Sex Bob-Omb help us bring this sordid story home as only they can…
Chris O’Brien
Le Pecq
An illuminating post. Thank you