From my home office window, I saw my mother walking towards the rubbish truck with a box of Merci chocolates. She waved to the driver, and he left the cab to accept the chocolates and thank her.
It was time for a cup of tea, so I asked her why she had done that.
‘Was it his birthday?’ My mother replies, ‘No, just because they work so hard in all kinds of weather. And they make sure our streets and city stay nice and clean. I’m so happy with them.’

And they do indeed do a good job. Just look at the annual festival, Carnival. Five days of fun for the residents, but tonnes of waste that is cleaned up by a team of 15 men and women, getting the city ready to welcome tourists again. The sickly smell of beer still lingers, but there is not a plastic cup or beer can to be seen.

And this is why my mother often puts the waste collection workers in the spotlight. She brings cakes or sweets when she takes her surplus waste paper to the recycling centre. In hot weather, she brings trays of bottled water and ice creams. It’s not that they don’t get refreshments from their employer, but she wants to do something extra for them.
The nice thing is that everyone knows her at that location, so they help her unload the car or stop for a chat with her. When I go, I don’t get any special treatment. That’s okay, because my mother is very sociable. My father always said, ‘Your mother would talk to a lamppost.’
During my work at the municipality, I had close contact with the waste collection service. You get to know the employees better and you also find out if a resident is rude, because then their waste won’t be collected for a month. A so-called penalty.
I had no idea that these employees were subjected to so much aggression. Often the reason is that a container has not been emptied, but if access to the containers is blocked, this can happen. Cars block the passage for the truck and then just drive on. It is also crazy work to find out who owns the blocking car.
Working conditions are not always safe either. Last year, the depot was closed for a whole month because an employee had been caught by a claw. The labour inspectorate intervened and waste was no longer collected until the problems were resolved.
But the employees have a good collective labour agreement and an end-of-year bonus. When there is a heatwave, they are given a tropical work schedule.
In fact, they are the employees with the most power in the municipality. Because if they go on strike, the rats will soon be dancing in the streets. And that is a party that no one wants to experience.