VIDEO. Dump truck driver Farid explains why he is on strike

“When I was little, they told me ‘If you work badly, you will be a garbage collector’, the mistress was not mistaken because I am there but I don’t regret it”. Farid is a dump truck driver. It is attached to Force Ouvrière. Today, he talks about his daily life, the treatment of garbage collectors which has evolved since the Covid and his decision to support the strike against the pension reform.

“I strike for young people”

Farid started at the age of 16. Today, he is 58. A few years from retirement, he does not regret the choice of his profession, which is still poorly perceived today. For him, part of the general opinion categorizes garbage collectors as “good-for-nothings”“illiterates”. A cliche on the job since “of the dumpster drivers and garbage collectors have bac+3 and diplomas”.

“He makes one thing known: the difficulty, we have it”

Beyond the clichés of the profession, Farid evokes the attacks related to his work. “When we collect the streets, I can tell you that it takes a lot of headaches when we block a street. There are insults in everyday life. It’s part of the job.” AT to this are added the restrictive hours of the profession: “there are guys who get up at 3am to work at the service outlet. We get up at 3 a.m., 4 a.m., 5 a.m. and we are present”.

This physical sector does not spare the health of the professionals working there either. Virus, disease, these workers are confronted every day with waste carrying microbes. “The garbage cans, there is scabies, there are also germs, and so on. But we pick them up. You know when there are homeless mattresses on the floor, sanitary-wise, it’s not very good, but we pick up”.

Today two years from retirement, Farid is mobilizing for young people and their future. “Normally, at 60, I am retired. Full rate. I have practically all my quarters without interruption, private and city. To tell you that I am striking for young people. Me, I fight for the youth, for the future”.