Marseille: Mayor Benoît Payan issues a decree ordering the SNCF to clean the Saint-Charles station

social conflict Employees of Laser Propreté, the company responsible for cleaning Saint-Charles station, have been on strike since August 1 for non-payment of salaries

Trash cans are overflowing at the Saint-Charles station, in Marseille on June 20, 2023. — Alain ROBERT

Benoît Payan wants to see Saint-Charles clean again. The mayor of Marseille therefore issued a decree on Thursday. enjoining the SNCF to clean the station, whereù the employees of a private cleaning company have been on strike since August 1 for non-payment of their salaries.

“This judgment is justified by the risks of fires and unsanitary conditions; causes the pileup of rubbish,” the town hall, while cans, food packaging and various rubbish accumulate in this station which is one of the most important in France.

“ The municipality” will see to it; execution” of the arrest

Benoît Payan took an arécirc; “under his police powers, by which he enjoins the company” SNCF Stations and Connections to; proceed without delay to waste removal and a station cleanup,” the town hall of Marseilles, explaining that “in order to guarantee the health” and security of all, the municipality will see to it; execution” of the arrest.

“More than a dozen (employees) received no pay for the month of June, and many weren’ paid only at half. And for several months no one has received a pay slip,” in a press release employees represented by the CAT Cleaning union, the Union Syndicale Solidaires des Bouches-du-Rhône and SUD-Rail Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur. They claim to have “deposed; complaint” Thursday against their employer, Laser Propreté;, denouncing the actions of a “boss-thug”. On Wednesday, the cleaning company had affirmed that “all wages had been paid. paid” on July 31.

Saint-Charles station, through which more than 16 million passengers pass each year, has already experienced two previous cleaning strikes in 2023.