Rubbish piles up as binmen strike

BINMEN in Marseille have been issued with a legal order to return to work and clear 10,000 tonnes of rubbish, following a two-week strike.

Rubbish collections have been disrupted since October 11 because of the pensions reform protests, with two treatment plants in the city blockaded by strikers.

The Bouches-du-Rhône préfecture issued an order yesterday for the strike to end. It said it was very concerned about the health risks.

Firemen have attended to 800 rubbish bin fires since the strike began a fortnight ago, 240 this weekend alone.

The problem risks spreading to Paris, where the waste treatment centre at the Porte d'Ivry has been cut off for several days.

Rubbish collections are also disrupted in Toulouse, where three out of five depots are on strike.

Strike continues

There are still more than 4,500 petrol stations in France without any fuel. See the map here.

Few petrol stations were topped up yesterday because of legal limits on delivery drivers' working hours.

The finance ministry estimates that the pensions strikes have cost the French economy up to €3.2bn so far.

The petro-chemical industry is losing €33m a day and Air France €5m a day. Hotel owners have reported a lower than expected turnout for the half-term holidays, as families have avoided travelling.

Some 57 per cent of the French public still support the industrial action and are satisfied with the unions' work, according to an Ifop poll for France Soir published this morning.

Senators passed the pensions reform law on Friday, which will increase the legal retirement age from 60 to 62 by 2018 and from 65 to 67 for a full pension regardless of contributions history.

The law now needs to be reconciled with an earlier version passed by the National Assembly and is due to come into force in mid-November.

Unions have called two more days of action: a strike on Thursday, October 28, followed by a day of demonstrations around France on Saturday, November 6.