Paris rubbish collectors threaten Olympics strike over 'excessive workload'

Paris rubbish collectors could strike over the summer, a major French union said Thursday, raising the spectre of piles of stinking trash on the streets during the Olympic Games. Walkouts could start in May and continue from July 1 to September 8, the CGT union branch representing binmen warned, a period that includes the Games, which run from July 26 to August 11.

Refuse workers in the Paris region are demanding an extra 400 euros ($430) per month and a one-off 1,900-euro bonus for those working during the Olympics.

"We're going to be giving it our all and we want that taken into consideration," Nabil Latreche, a member of the CGT-FTDNEEA union, told AFP.

"The municipal police are getting a bonus and we have the same employer. We're going to have an excessive workload too with the 15 million tourists that are expected," Latreche said.