Garbage collector, ‘physically, mentally and psychologically demanding job’ at center of protest against pension reform

The adoption of the pension reform in the parliament on Monday, March 20, did not affect their determination. For sixteen days, garbage collectors in several cities, such as Paris, Nantes, Saint-Brioux and Le Havre, have been on strike to denounce the postponement of the legal retirement age. Others, like those in Marseille, joined the movement on Tuesday, March 21.

Mobilization with quickly visible results and which emphasizes the profession of garbage collector. Paris streets crossed a symbolic threshold of 10,000 tonnes of uncollected waste on Friday, city hall estimated. It is about stopping the municipal agents responsible for garbage collection in half of the townships (2^e5^e6^e8^e9^e12^e14^e16^e17^e and 20^e) – the rest of the capital is the responsibility of four private companies.

The situation prompted police headquarters to call in agents from the city’s sanitation department to evacuate the garbage. But unions and strikers are determined to continue resisting pension reform for both municipal government agents and private sector workers. “The fact that institutional time is over does not mean that it is over for us!” »Natacha Pomet, general secretary of the CGT public services, warns that the strike in Paris lasted until March 27.

“At the end of their career, garbage collectors come worn out and don’t always have the opportunity to hold a sedentary position. Two more years, no! » In the announcement of the February 13 strike, CGT Public Services recalled that “Garbage collectors [en régie municipale] and drivers [de camions-bennes] Can now claim retirement without bonus, the age has been postponed to 59 years by the pension reform.. Private employees will have to go to 64 instead of 62 at the moment.

“repetitive tasks”

“Be a wave [personnel chargé de ramasser les déchets et de les vider dans les camions-bennes, par opposition au conducteur]It’s being in the back, in front of impatient drivers, lifting several tons of waste a day and seeing the effects of it all on your muscles, your joints.shell m^I Pommet.

“Night schedules, significant physical effort, compounded by time constraints, are undoubtedly challenging factors that vary by tour, city, and employer.”adds Serge Volkoff, a statistician and co-author of an early 2000s analysis of the hardships of scraper work commissioned by unions of employers and waste collection companies. “At the end of their professional lives, many of those interviewed at the time complained of pain in their knees, shoulders, recurrent lung problems – although not necessarily serious – related to bad weather and/or gas emissions, even if they did not have them. Let’s deny the technical improvements made over the years, namely containers and more comfortable trucks. »