Female worker picks up trash for nearly 10 years to earn a living, worrying about the future for sick children

The burden on the mother's shoulders

Amidst the strong smell of garbage and continuous conveyor belts operating at Soc Trang Solid Waste Treatment Joint Enterprise, belonging to Soc Trang Urban Works Joint Stock Company (Can Tho City), Ms. Duong Thi Phuong (53 years old) still quietly stood for hours to pick up each nylon bag and plastic bottle.

Nearly 10 years attached to the job of sorting garbage, for her, this is not only a livelihood but also a main source of income to raise children and maintain family life.

Every day, around 9 am, when the waste sorting line starts operating, Ms. Phuong and the workers stand in their familiar positions.

Garbage runs down the machine, I have to pick it up continuously. Standing all day makes my hands and feet tired, but after working hard, I get used to it," Ms. Phuong shared.

Ms. Phuong said that before doing this job, she had 10 years of experience working as an environmental sanitation worker, sweeping streets. After the staff reduction period, she had to quit her job for a while. When the waste treatment plant resumed operation, she applied to work as a waste sorting worker and has been attached to it until now.

In the early days of working, the smell of garbage made her dizzy and nauseous like motion sickness. "I had to take medicine, endured for about a month or two to gradually get used to it," she recalled.

Ms. Phuong's life became even more difficult when her husband passed away nearly 13 years ago, three years after retiring from the environmental sanitation team. Since then, she has become the pillar of the family alone.

Currently, she lives with 3 children. The eldest child, 32 years old, is affected by Agent Orange, has slow development, can only take care of herself and cannot work. The second daughter has married, and the youngest child has gone to work. Her income is about 6 million VND per month, both covering living expenses and taking care of her sick child.

The job is hard, but as long as there is income to raise children, I try to do it," Ms. Phuong confided.

Nearly 10 years standing by the garbage conveyor belt, what worries her is not the hardship of work, but the future of her eldest child. Every morning before going to work, she still takes the time to cook rice and prepare meals for her child because "the child doesn't know how to cook".

Initiatives from labor reality

Ms. Phuong's waste sorting work seems simple but plays an important role in recovering recyclable waste, reducing the amount of waste to be buried. It is estimated that the amount of recyclable waste collected from the sorting line accounts for about 2.5% of the amount of inorganic waste each day.

Not only diligent with her daily work, Ms. Phuong also participated with colleagues in many innovations in the factory operation process.

In which, there is an initiative to install additional iron bars at the base of drum and sieve equipment pillars to make equipment cleaning ladders, helping workers operate more conveniently and safely when working at high altitudes. This initiative was recognized by Soc Trang Urban Works Joint Stock Company in 2023.

Thanks to her efforts in her work, Ms. Phuong has also been commended many times for completing her tasks well.

Representatives of Soc Trang Solid Waste Treatment Joint Enterprise said that the working environment at the waste treatment plant is quite specific, so not everyone can stick with it for a long time. However, many women, when they are used to the job, stick with the profession for a very long time.

Despite the hard work, workers here are still guaranteed regimes according to regulations. The company fully implements social insurance policies, hazardous duty allowances and welfare regimes for workers.

On holidays such as March 8th, October 20th, women are given gifts. Every quarter there is also a small support for buying personal items. During Tet, the Trade Union and the company also have gifts to care for workers. Workers directly working at the factory are also given periodic health check-ups twice a year, applicable to both male and female workers.

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