we explain the standoff between the government and the mayor Anne Hidalgo

Soon the end of the battle of garbage? For several days, the town hall of Paris and the government have been sending the garbage bag to each other: each accuses the other of being responsible for the mounds of garbage which are visibly growing in the capital. CGT strikers voted to continue the movement on Tuesday “at least until March 20”.

>> Find all the news on the pension reform in our direct

The Minister of the Interior, Gérald Darmanin, had asked Anne Hidalgo to carry out requisitions. Out of the question for the socialist mayor of Paris, who said to himself “solidarity” of the strike movement.

While 7,600 tons of waste had not been collected, the government therefore decided to go into force on Wednesday. The Paris police prefect, on the orders of the Minister of the Interior, ordered the requisition of personnel. On the 11th day of the garbage collectors’ strike against the pension reform, Franceinfo returns to the standoff between the town hall of Paris and the government.

1 The government criticizes the elected

Faced with the accumulating waste, opponents of the mayor of Paris, whose agents manage the collection of household waste in half of the arrondissements, were the first to increase their criticism. The mayor of the 7th arrondissement, Rachida Dati (LR), for example accused the socialist mayor of leaving “Trash pile up and rats proliferate in the streets”.

Olivier Véran, the government spokesperson, for his part criticized Anne Hidalgo d’“impose” to Parisians “the results” of his support for the strike movement against the pension reform. “It’s not the garbage collectors’ strike that worries me so much, it’s that it’s Anne Hidalgo who is striking herself. She does nothing”also criticized Clément Beaune, the Minister of Transport, also elected in Paris, on France 2. According to him, the elected socialist should have taken “concrete measures such as pooling collection and storage between districts, or even requisitioning”.

To which Anne Hidalgo’s first deputy, Emmanuel Grégoire, responded by assuring that the city “put in place remedial measures”acknowledging in passing that it has recourse to private agents “on absolute emergencies”. “On 30,000 tons [déposées dans les rues en dix jours] we picked up 23,000. This is much more than a minimum service”he argued.

“Simply, every day, because there are strikers, it accumulates. And the more stubborn the government, the more serious the consequences.”

Emmanuel Grégoire, first deputy mayor of Paris

at a press conference

While the situation exasperates some traders, the government would have liked to resolve the situation, without making requisitions itself, which could be frowned upon. Gérald Darmanin therefore asked the Paris police chief to put pressure on the town hall to “requisition” staff. A decision welcomed by Rachida Dati. “We must put an end to the contempt and culpable inaction of Anne Hidalgo”she launched on Twitter on Wednesday.

2 Anne Hidalgo returns the ball

Anne Hidalgo’s response was immediate. The socialist mayor “will not respond” at the request of the police headquarters to requisition the garbage collectors of the city to limit the effects of their strike against the pension reform, she wrote in a letter.

My response to the government on the request for requisitions. ⤵️ pic.twitter.com/iazgOD0aDk

— Anne Hidalgo (@Anne_Hidalgo) March 15, 2023

The elected therefore returned the ball to the State, especially since she had shown her support for the social movement against the pension reform. “It is paradoxical that the State asks local authorities to solve a problem that it has created itself”she says in her letter.

“Let the State assume its responsibilities”, had hammered first deputy Emmanuel Grégoire on Tuesday. The elected official considered that the request was of a political nature: “Are they asking all the mayors to requisition? To Edouard Philippe?”he wondered when Le Havre, a city led by the former Prime Minister, is also affected by the garbage collectors’ strike.

“The claim of the garbage collectors of the city of Paris, who legitimately wish not to work for two more years, is just. The only response likely to appease the current climate is to engage in social dialogue.”

Anne Hidalgo, Mayor of Paris

in his letter to the prefect

As for the employment of private agents, it does not constitute “not substitute work at all”assured Emmanuel Grégoire. “Never Anne Hidalgo and the elected representatives of this majority would commit to breaking a strike movement”assured the first deputy.

3 The State orders the requisitions

Faced with the refusal of the mayor of Paris, the government decided on Wednesday to go into force. The Paris police chief, Laurent Nuñez, on the orders of the Minister of the Interior, informed Anne Hidalgo that he was going to requisition garbage collectors.

In his letter to the town hall on Tuesday, the prefect explained that it was within the competence of the town hall to act because it “detains the safety police on the public highway”. But he had also warned that in in the event of refusal, he would proceed to requisitions himself, “in the event of an emergency when the observed or foreseeable breach of good order, health and public safety so requires”.

Thursday, lThe town hall of Paris has therefore sent the list of 4,000 cleaning agents responsible for collecting garbage cans to the police headquarters, franceinfo learned from the municipality. Now the question arises feasibility. “How do you requisition people?wondered Laurent Berger, the boss of the CFDT. Are you looking for them one by one? It takes 3,000 to collect waste in Paris.”