Gathering of waste pickers from Paris and New York

Ana Fernández de Luco in Sure We Can during the workshop.

On September 26th, a workshop was held in New York. At the workshop, waste pickers from Sure We Can (SWC), and Samuel Le Coeur, delegate from Amelior, the association which holds biffins (waste pickers in french) in Montreuil (Paris, France) were present. The gathering focused on the exchange of experiences among waste pickers from both cities and on the commitment to the support of the objectives pursued by Sure We Can.

The challenges that waste pickers from New York faced with are similar to those met by waste pickers all over the world. Among them, the following can be listed: SWC receives threats of eviction from its historical property, where canners work daily; they struggle against a bill on packaging and against the continuous stigmatization and harassment that the New York Sanitation Department exerts on poor workers and immigrants of the city.

Moreover, Taylor Cass Talbott, who coordinates WIEGO’s program Reducing Waste in Coastal Cities participated in the workshop and is also a militant for the new organization Ground Score. She shared the challenges that waste pickers face in Portland, Oregon (US). The workshop ended with the training of a group of 12 waste pickers who are going to develop a strategy for Sure We Can aimed at safeguarding waste pickers’ rights.

Ana Fernández de Luco in Sure We Can during the workshop.

The workshop was supported by WIEGO Net Support and funded by SIDA.