Wednesday, November 10, 2010

And now the garbage men...


In Paris, when a strike ends, a new one starts! OK, I'm exaggerating, but you've gotta say... This morning when I went out, I had to weave through piles of garbage to reach my scooter (OK, I'm exaggerating a little more...) The reason why? Because the garbage men are on strike... Nothing to do with the retirement law, they "just" want a raise. Now facts and figures... There are 4 000 applicants each year for this job in Paris and only 300 make it. They have to take a - simple - written test to pass and they make 1 200 €/month when they start.

15 comments:

  1. Would you collect garbage for 1200 euros a month? I'm sure that increases over time, but even so, it's not much money. Of course, better health insurance than the U.S., which is a cost for employees that is growing exponentially here. Let's see: 14,400 euros per year, or about $20,000 per year. Less than $10 per hour. Maybe the snappy uniforms (which all the PDP girls love so much) would make up for it...?

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  2. WOW, Drama photo if I ever saw one. You really put your passion into that shot. I love it, BTW!

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  3. never ending story if we talk about garbage..increasing and over and over and over..like the cancer..unstopable
    Say NO to Brain Tumor

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  4. I feel the way you do, Jeff....I was just surprised someone else felt that way, too.

    The first time I saw separate bins for recycling was in London.I think there were 4 separate bins in 4 different colors for the various items. In the Paris apt, that we took a few yrs. ago, they had basically the same thing but we couldn'T UNDERSTAND THE FRENCH TO KNOW WHAT WENT WHERE.( sorry for the caps.) It took a lot longer to reach here when it came to recycling, and still not to the same extent.

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  5. Why is a job that pays so little so competitive?

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  6. Apparently, the starting salary for NYC sanitation workers is $31,200—and after five years that can work up to $67, 141. They do have to deal with rats (but so do the rest of us—hey, it's NY!).
    I love the way you've framed this shot, Eric!

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  7. I'm a big fan of the green guys who clean the street gutters every day. They do an important job and do it well. One of the main reasons Paris always seems so clean for such a large city.

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  8. That's an appalling salary! In Norway you start at 40,000 euros a year straight away. I understand why they're having a strike, salaries in France (for a lot of people) are miserable.

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  9. This is normally not your type of photo hehe. but interesting to talk about though

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  10. I may be wrong but I'm going to guess that the 4,000 applicants for every 300 job vacancies figures came from the management and the low salary figure came from the unions.
    I suspect both figure need to be taken with a pinch of salt.

    We have recently received a fourth bin for waste food, which along with changes to our collection days has caused much excitement, particularly among the elderly residents in our street.
    Curtains are twitching to see who puts, or fails (ha,ha) to put out the correct bins on the correct day(s).
    As you may have gathered, not a lot happens in our street.

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  11. In my opinion, I think there ought to be a better way to get your point across. Considering that my grandfather was one of the first strikers in an auto plant here in Michigan in the last century, it is a little odd, but I think strikes do more harm than good most of the time. I don't have an alternative to offer, but I hope all is resolved quickly and peacefully.

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  13. @Jeff "Would you collect garbage for 1200 euros a month?" Well by the French standards, unfortunately, it's not that bad. This is a net salary. The average workers' salary is 1563 € per month for a man and 1300 for a woman.

    @phx-cdgd. Don't worry we don't understand either. but we pretend we do!!

    @Anonymous "Why is a job that pays so little so competitive?" Like I said above, by French standards, it's not that little...

    @Alexa. thank you for the comparison with NYC. In fact I could not find the real figures for Paris as I'm sure there are bonuses, benefits, etc. And they probably don't work 7 hours a day but less than that.

    @OaklandDP "One of the main reasons Paris always seems so clean for such a large city." That is debatable! But yes, on the whole, it's not bad.

    @Anonymous "! In Norway you start at 40,000 euros a year straight away." Yes but the cost of living is much higher in Norway. About 30% I would say.

    @Drummond "I may be wrong but I'm going to guess that the 4,000 applicants for every 300 job vacancies figures" I don't know really. It was difficult to find reliable figures to be honest.

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  14. 1563 for a man and 1300 for a woman?? I'm just sayin' is all...

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