“It is out of the question to have to close because of the waste”, says a Parisian restaurateur

“We will never be made to close our establishment again, we have suffered too much from the Covid!”exclaimed on Tuesday March 14 on franceinfo Alain Fontaine, manager of the restaurant Le Mesturet in the 2nd arrondissement of Paris, while the garbage collectors’ strike against the pension reform disrupts the functioning of his business.

“People find restaurants much less glamorous, because of the piles of waste, especially near the windows. But it’s out of the question to close because of that”he specifies, claiming “alternative solutions”.

“It’s hard to ask for a woman’s hand in front of a pile of trash cans.”

Alain Fontaine, Parisian restaurateur

at franceinfo

The restaurateur, who says he lost “10,000 euros on strike days, between January and February”defends the use of private companies. “Two days ago, a private company came to pick up the bins in the middle of the night, there were a little less in the morning”. A solution that he plans to generalize. Failing that, he also says he is ready to “to take the car” to bring their own waste elsewhere.

Request for recourse to private companies

If Alain Fontaine says he understands “political and union discussions”and recalls that catering employees are concerned about pension reform given the arduous nature of their job, he believes that the social conflict is once again disrupting his activity after several difficult years. “Traders who want to work are as always taken hostage”he concludes.