Confinement will have brought to light a new form of mailbox, whose only recipients are garbage collectors. On the trash cans, they receive all kinds of words, sweet and encouraging.
By dint of reading them, the Montrouge ripeurs printed the message: they who were among the "invisible", like cashiers and delivery men, are now entitled to light and daily encouragement. "This crisis has shown that it is the forgotten small trades that are driving France," summarizes Pascal Monnier, environmental technician at Vallée Sud Grand Paris.
“In one or two streets, some residents applaud us every morning, around 11 am. Now we're in it but at the very beginning, it was pinching my heart. We know that people think of us anyway, ”says“ Gégé ”, an old man from the old woman. Pascal, his manager, teases him: “Once, I saw you come home, Gérard! "
Garbage collectors are used to throwing everything away, except those couriers from the heart. They keep them preciously in the technical center. "The guys also compile messages on social networks," says Pascal Monnier, environmental technician. In one corner, around fifty children's drawings and words are pasted on two panels.
"Me, I expect more respect, less horns, better closed bags"
"Thank you take care of yourself"; "Well done and thank you for your work, good luck and be vigilant"; "It is also for you that we applaud at 8 pm". A memorial that brings a little life and comfort to this cold den, where municipal cleaners and ripeurs from Vallée Sud Grand Paris live together.
#jesoutiensmonripeur We continue to receive testimonies from the inhabitants of the Territory to salute the work of ...
Gepostet von Vallée Sud - Grand Paris am Freitag, 17. April 2020"It's very encouraging, we do something that people appreciate. They see the importance of our profession, ”says Mansoib, 48. Of course, garbage collectors would like the applause to resonate on the pay slip. But they don't believe it.
"The epidemic will pass, people will forget us," says Mansoib, disillusioned. "I just expect more respect for our profession: fewer horns, better closed bags", says Christophe. At the age of 29, this carpentry graduate, who went through mass retailing, recently converted because he "was tired of the private sector".
1800 euros net at end of career
He earns 1,350 euros net per month, excluding bonuses. Gérard, with his 32 years in the business, capped at 1,800 euros net. Vallée Sud Grand Paris has promised them a bonus.
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For them, it is the recognition of the arduousness of their profession. Not just in the past two months, but all the time. "Epidemic or not, rain or hot, we are doing the same job," says Christophe.
Of the twenty garbage collectors in Montrouge, there has been no case of Covid-19. Nobody has used the right of withdrawal, according to the intermunicipality. Hydroalcoholic gel (at the technical center only) and surgical masks are available.
"These are agents who already work with gloves and protective gear," says Pascal Monnier. We have provided them with additional gloves. We reassured them because, overall, they are less exposed than a cashier at the supermarket. The risk is to contaminate each other. "
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To avoid this, the 20 m² cloakroom is limited to four people. And Vallée Sud Grand Paris promises to “ramp up” on the disinfection of cabins, buttons, wrists.
Less waste since containment
At the wheel of his dumpster, Denis returns from the incineration center of Ivry-sur-Seine. A 45-minute round trip, half the time before confinement. Gérard and Mansoib can resume the tour. It is 9 o'clock, the equivalent of midday for them.
“We know almost everything about people's lives. What they eat, what they read, when they go on vacation, "laughs Gérard. He "immediately" saw the departures to the countryside to confine himself to them.
To spare burglaries from exiles, he made sure to change the position of the bins, even when they were empty. The figures confirm his intuition: on a classic Monday, garbage collectors collect around 95 tonnes of household waste. Monday April 7, we fell to 78 tonnes (-18%).
In an suburban street, an old woman sticks her head to the window. We can guess Gérard's smile on his widening crow's feet. She is one of those who never miss an opportunity to greet the garbage collectors.
“They are great people, I know their first names. We're going to drink coffees sometimes. This morning will be the only word of encouragement for the tour.
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