French dustbin collectors to strike.

Les éboueurs en grève dans toute la France

le Lundi 12 Mai 2014

Les 35.000 éboueurs français sont appelés à faire grève ce lundi © Maxppp (Strike on Monday, 35,000 bin collectors)

Votre poubelle va sans doute rester pleine ce lundi. La CGT a appelé les 35.000 éboueurs des secteurs privé et public à faire grève. Un mouvement qui pourrait toucher toute la France.

Your bin will without doubt stay full on Monday. The union CGT has called on 35,000 binmen in both private and public sectors to go on strike. All of France could be affected.

Chaque année, ce sont 372 kilogrammes de déchets que l’on jette en moyenne par personne. Des déchets qui ne seront pas ramassés ce lundi par les éboueurs. La CGT a invité les éboueurs, balayeurs, chauffeurs, agents de tri et de traitement des déchets, qu’ils soient du secteur privé ou public, à se mettre en grève.

Each year, 372 kgs of waste is thrown out on average per person. The waste will not be collected on Monday by the binmen. The CGT has invited all worker catagories, bin men, sweepers, drivers, waste recycling personnel, in the private and public sectors, to go on strike.

Tout le monde s’accorde à dire que ces métiers sont pénibles et peu gratifiants, mais ils sont essentiels au bien-être de tous” écrit Baptiste Talbot, de la fédération CGT des Services Publics, dans le préavis de grève. “Ces missions se font au détriment de la santé de nos collègues.

Everyone agrees it is a horrible job for little return, but is is essential for all, writes Baptiste Talbot, from the public services CGT, in the run-up to the strike. “Our mission is to highlight the detriments of the health of our members, (and reduce it)”

Un métier insalubre

La pénibilité et l’insalubrité des conditions de travail, voilà précisément ce que dénonce le syndicat. Benoît Fontanilles, éboueur à Toulouse, évoque bien sûr les problèmes physiques mais aussi la difficulté de vivre en horaires décalés. “Surtout pour ceux qui commencent à 5h du matin, ça les fait lever à 4h pour courir derrière un camion.” Benoît Fontanilles raconte aussi craindre ce que l’on peut trouver dans les poubelles ; une fois il a même reçu de l’acide chlorhydrique.

The hardship and unhealthiness of the exact working conditions are those denounced by the union.  Benoît Fontanilles, Toulouse binman, describes the physical problems but also the lifestyle difficulties of the shift hours. “Often to start at 05h00 in the morning, it is necessary to rise at 04h00 to run behind the truck”. He also tells of his fear of what he can find in the bins: once he got hydraulic acid. 

About bill

Worked in the technical / engineering area as a Science Laboratory Technician and as an Aeronautics Engineer. The artistic side involves writing under the nom de plume of Billy Olsenn, his recently written play 'A Case of Wine' was staged by the players group Straight Make-Up at the 2012 Birr one act drama festival. It's next staging was in the one act circuit is in Cavan, at Maudebawn on Sat 10 Nov 2012. Then it was performed in the Bray, Co.Wicklow at the very popular one act festival in January 2013. Next play is FEAR. A dark tale about revenge on the cruel death of two pensioners by young thugs. Neighbours hatch a devious and dangerous plan to exact old-style revenge. Bill is a member of the Drama League of Ireland and his plays have been critically vetted and certified as original pieces of work by the DLI. Another literary project is that of commemoration of an aircraft crash on Djouce mountain in Wicklow in 1946. Bill wrote articles for the 50th, 60th and most recently the 70th anniversary, (12 Aug 2016) all were published in the Wicklow Times and ensured the survivors of the crash, all French Girl Guides, were not forgotten. Articles reproduced on this website. But mostly this site gives a more general European and specific French slant on popular and not so popular articles of French news, translated to English by the author. Each article is translated on a paragraph by paragraph basis so easy to read in either language and even possible to improve either language by comparison of the short English and French paragraphs. Amusez vous bien. The author is currently writing an easy to read technical aviation book centered around the Fokker 50. Another interest is that dealt with in another of Bill's websites www.realnamara.net, a Statue of the mother of God, Mary. It was erected in 1972 in Dublin, at the end of the Bull Wall near Clontarf, and my grandfather William Nelson, was the main instigator of that project. I give talks on the history of the statue and my grandfather's adventurous and dangerous life at sea. Technical assistance with each website is by J O'N.
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