Paris is burning - literally. Protests in the French capital have escalated following the president's narrow win in a no-confidence vote, in the wake of his government's unpopular pension reform.
Emmanuel Macron's attempt to raise the retirement age from 62 to 64 has led to days of protests. Sanitation workers went on strike nearly two weeks ago, leaving parts of Paris "a dump", according to Jeremy Olds, a Kiwi working in the city.
"With the rubbish it's different neighbourhood by neighbourhood," he told Midday Report.
"Where I live, the rubbish has been collected normally. But where I work, it's like a dump. There's rubbish all over the sidewalk. There are rubbish bags stacked up against walls. You have to walk single-file down the footpath because there's just garbage everywhere.
"It stinks as well… Where I work, the whole downstairs floor of the building stinks because as soon as you go outside, there's trash everywhere and I sound dramatic, but I'm not exaggerating. It's truly like a dump."
Garbage bins overflowing and garbage bags in a Paris street. Photo: ERIC BRONCARD / AFP
About half of Paris' rubbish collection is done by private firms, which are reportedly still operating.
The retirement age for waste collectors is currently just 57, and will rise to 59 under Macron's plan.
Reuters reported protesters had taken advantage of the situation, setting trash ablaze "in some of Paris' most prestigious avenues".
Other French cities have also been targeted, with bins lit on fire in Bordeaux too.
Thousands of demonstrators gathered on the Place de la Concorde the day after the Prime Minister announced the use of article 49.3 to pass the pension reform. Photo: ANTOINE MERMET
Olds said residents were "exhausted" but the French had an "acceptance of protest and appreciation for the reasons why the sanitation workers are doing it".
Macron survived the no-confidence vote only narrowly, scraping by with just nine votes to spare. The pension reform plan passed in the senate last week comfortably, 193-114.
"Driving home tonight, there are protests about what happened today in Parliament, and so there were like, thousands of people on the streets, rubbish bins on fire, police everywhere," Olds said.
"And then you have also garbage everywhere because of the sanitation strike, so it's just such a mess. There have been so many protests in the weeks leading up to this - public transport strikes, post offices are closed.
"It's not like it's an eruption out of nowhere - it's kind of been a steadily building thing leading up to Thursday's vote [in the senate], and then the no confidence votes today, I don't really think anyone expected them to pass, but they came very close and so maybe encouraged people to say this feeling is very widespread."
