Rubbish piles up in streets of Paris as France’s pension battle enters final stretch

Mountains of rubbish have formed across the French capital, sometimes echoing the barricades of past revolutions. © Benoît Tessier, Reuters

A protracted strike by rubbish collectors has added a new twist to France’s festering dispute over pension reform as the battle over President Emmanuel Macron’s deeply unpopular reform enters a make-or-break week with tonnes of uncollected garbage piling higher by the day.

“When the rubbish collectors go on strike, the trashers are indignant.” Jacques Prévert’s iconic play on words has long been a favourite slogan of the French left – and indeed of all advocates of workers’ right to lay down their tools in protest.