VIDEO – “It’s despicable!” : in Toulouse, the garbage collectors’ strike drags on

In Toulouse, some streets have been invaded by garbage for several days. In question, the strike of the garbage collectors, which lasts since last December 15. So, some residents are now throwing their trash cans on the ground, as quickly as possible. And on the sidewalks of the Pink City, waste is piling up.

“It is despicable. Ignoble!”, comments a passerby in front of the TF1 13H camera, in the video at the top of the article. Another continues: “It can bring illnesses. It’s starting to smell bad, since the time”. “I see the restaurants, all that … They are overflowing everywhere. Where are we going to walk, soon? On the sidewalks, it’s hellish”, also impatient a man.

Between the packaging and food scraps, a bakery in front of which TF1 has visited has produced a lot of waste. And her manager is now at the point of throwing the bags on the ground, in the street.

“We have to put them on the ground, there is no more room nowhere”, notes Isabelle Guillemette. And to add: “We are very keen on hygiene as food professionals. There it is not a shopkeeper, it is dirty, the customers are not happy either”.

According to some residents, not all areas of the metropolis are housed in the same boat. “In the middle of the city, it does not overflow as much. So the garbage collectors had to pass more regularly”, indicates a woman. Indeed, the strike movement was less followed in the center.

A few kilometers away, the trucks are stationary. Because the garbage collectors protest against the suppression of the finished one. “When they had finished their tour, the colleagues could go home. Whereas tomorrow, once the same tour is over, they will have to wait at the depot for the end of their working hours. So that will be about two hours of extra attendance per day. “, summarizes Nicolas Refutin, general secretary Force Ouvrière Toulouse Métropole. In compensation, the trade unionist and his colleagues are asking for 34 additional days of leave.

But despite the dirt piling up, some Toulouse residents understand the social movement of garbage collectors. “We have to know that they exist. Thanks to them, the city is clean”, comments a man. Another philosopher and believes that “everyone must produce a little less waste”.

New discussions with the metropolis are scheduled for Wednesday 5 January afternoon. The garbage collectors, they plan to harden their movement if they do not succeed.