The last lavatory ladies of Paris, a once-feared tribe, are picketing their toilets after they were sacked by an employer who decided to take the loos upmarket.
The 11 “dames pipi” have been staging daily demonstrations outside a lavatory by the Sacré-Coeur basilica in protest against the action of 2theloo, a Dutch “toilet concept company”.
It won the concession to run the city’s last four staffed conveniences and claims it will offer a modern service “inspired by luxury concierges” in a “hyper-clean, non-touch environment”.
A labour tribunal has sent the wrongful dismissal case of the dames-pipi, who are mainly immigrants aged 46 to 65, to a judge for a decision next month. “We are going to fight on. We place our trust in French justice,” said Clémentine, who has spent 15 years in the Sacré-Coeur loo.
Their plight of the ladies, who also worked at Notre-Dame cathedral and two sites on the Champs-Élysées, has caught media attention because they were for so long a fixture of Paris life, cleaning up, demanding tips and ensuring civil behaviour. They first appeared as free public conveniences were built in the late 19th century. Marcel Proust complained about having to tip them.
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Most were phased out from the 1960s, but some held on at a handful of lavatories at big tourist sites.
Anne Hidalgo, the mayor of Paris, has promised to support them. Abbes Keddir, a delegate in the Force Ouvrière union, said: “You can’t just dump these kind old ladies who have been cleaning up people’s urine for 30 years.”