Photo exhibit: From Mexico to Quebec: recycling for the planet and our collective well-being
The FIQ invites you to visit the outside photo exhibit From Mexico to Quebec: recycling for the planet and our collective well-being (unofficial translation). It will run until the end of August 2023 across from place Émilie-Gamelin at 505 Boulevard De Maisonneuve Est, Montreal.
Put together by our partners in solidarity, the Centre International de Solidarité Ouvrière (CISO), Conseil central du Montréal métropolitain de la CSN (CCMM – CSN) and the Coopérative de solidarité Les Valoristes, the goal of the exhibit is to raise awareness around the essential work of recyclers in Mexico and Montreal.
As part of the FIQ’s international solidarity internship program, two union reps had participated in an inter-union internship organized by the CISO, in Mexico in 2020. During their stay, a meeting was held with the Pepenadores, the Mexican recyclers in Dolores Hidalgo. Often unknown in Quebec as in Mexico, recyclers protect our environment. The photo exhibit showcases their important contribution to better recovering recyclable material. Their work helps to reduce the amount of garbage put in landfills, as well as environmental contamination and resource wasting.
However, these people remain in a precarious position because cities do not recognize the value of their actions. Often informal, their work does not give them the conditions set out in labour standards, nor access to a viable income, or income replacement (in case of injury or pregnancy, for example), or protection from occupational health and safety risks. There are risks of getting cut, coming into contact with dangerous substances, working in straining positions, etc.
Yet, by recycling cans and bottles and cleaning up parks and streets, cities are tidier, safer and less polluted. It has a positive impact on social determinants of health because it gives us all a cleaner, healthier environment to live in.