More than 5,400 tons of waste remained uncollected in Paris on Sunday, the seventh day of a strike by garbage collectors opposing pension reform, the city hall said.

Three incinerators near the French capital remain closed, and in some areas garbage cans are overflowing and lining sidewalks with bags full of household waste.

The capital’s municipal waste agency Syctom said it was redirecting containers to 15 other treatment or storage sites and that it had not yet required police intervention to end the blockade of its centers, AFP and News .ro report.

City hall employees are responsible for waste collection in half of Paris’ districts, while the other half are managed by private service providers.

The trade union reminds that currently garbage collectors and forklift drivers can retire at the age of 57, and if the pension reform is adopted, the retirement age will be increased to 59. “The vast majority of Waste and Water Management employees have a life expectancy 12 to 17 years shorter than the rest of the workforce,” said the union, which is also negotiating a wage reclassification. and career development of garbage collectors.

On the streets, passers-by interviewed by AFP on Sunday said they “understand the protest movement” of the litterers, but on the other hand, they are frightened by the rats and mice they see. Food retailers are especially desperate. In one square, the accumulated garbage was more than a meter.