They observed a work stoppage on Monday 25 April 2022 to demand better working conditions.

Some employees of the company Hygiene and Health of Cameroon Hysacam, the company in charge of rubbish collection in the cities, are angry. While the mayor of Yaounde Luc Messi Atangana is threatening to punish residents who dare to dump rubbish anywhere, these workers working in Yaounde have put down shovels, brooms and rubbish buckets. On April 25, they gathered at the company’s headquarters in Yaounde to make their demands.

The angry employees say they  buy work materials with their own money. They say they walk long distances between neighbourhoods in the city to get to their workplaces. The staff claim health insurance, family allowances and especially two months’ back pay.

To make their voices heard, the strikers are committed to going in mass to the administration, refusing to form a delegation of five people as requested by the management.

They refused to be represented by staff representatives. They started negotiations on the basis of a list of demands. In order to get out of the crisis, the employees are demanding both the payment of arrears and the inclusion of family allowances and health insurance.

This strike comes less than three months after the strike of all Hysacam staff. At the end of 2021, on the eve of the kick-off of the 2021 African Cup of Nations, the city of Yaoundé was the capital of garbage dumps and foul odours. The solution to the problem of salary arrears was therefore short-lived.