Requisition, no requisition? Since March 6, the State, the town hall of Paris and the prefecture have been passing the buck on the response to be given to the strike of garbage collectors in the city, who are protesting against the pension reform. Force striking staff back to work? Anne Hidalgo had said no to Gérald Darmanin, who had expressly requested it. But, the prefect of police of Paris, Laurent Nunez, finally announced this Thursday March 16 the requisition.
By what right ? The prefect can indeed “requisition any property or service and require any person necessary for the operation of this service or the use of this property”. Under what condition? “In the event of an emergency, when the observed or foreseeable breach of good order, health, peace and public security so requires”. It is also necessary that “the means available to the prefect no longer allow him to pursue the objectives for which he holds police powers”.
The urgency
Was there an emergency? Yes, according to the government and the police headquarters, and many experts, who warn of the risk of contact with rats, and the diseases they can carry. More than 7,000 tons of waste sit enthroned in Paris, on the sidewalks. A mountain of rubbish even caught the attention of New York Timeswhose journalists had fun filming the Eiffel Tower hidden under a mound of rubbish.
“The concentration of rubbish, especially food, in certain streets of Paris, puts the population at risk, in that it hinders the safe movement of pedestrians, in particular that of people with reduced mobility, poses a hygiene problem public and promotes the proliferation of rats, vectors of diseases transmissible to humans”, wrote Laurent Nunez to Anne Hidalgo, this Wednesday, according The Parisian.
“This piling up promotes the risk of fires, as the Paris fire brigade was able to observe on the night of March 13 to 14 in the 16th arrondissement with the start of 8 to 9 fires between 1 a.m. and 2 a.m., situation which she describes as very unusual”, he further argued. A way to ensure, therefore, that the requisition was openly justified.
Requisition does not mean stopping the strike
According BFM TV, the town hall provided this Thursday the list of 4,000 cleaning agents, so that the prefecture can carry out requisitions. Can requisitioned personnel refuse? After all, the strike is a right. “The claim of the garbage collectors of the City of Paris, who legitimately wish not to work two more years, and who are mobilizing to oppose it, is just”, had also declared the mayor of Paris, in a letter to the prefect of police, a way of positioning oneself in the battle against pension reform.
In reality, the agents are not forced to stop going on strike, but some of the strikers will have to, if called upon, make sure to solve the problem of insalubrity. “The refusal to carry out the measures prescribed by the requesting authority constitutes an offense which is punishable by six months’ imprisonment and a fine of 10,000 euros”, provides for the article L2215-1 of the General Code of Local Authorities. Remedies exist. Employees can file an interim order in suspension before the administrative court of Paris. And, a posteriori, an administrative judge can decide that the requisition was made irregularly.