Global Waste Pickers’ Day is celebrated on March 1 in memory of the massacre in Colombia in which 11 workers were brutally killed at the Universidad Libre de Barranquilla (University of Barranquilla). For the past 21 years since this tragic event, waste pickers/recyclers have continued fighting for recognition of their work.
“There are no borders for those who fight,” is the slogan that symbolizes the struggle of the more than 15 million waste pickers, catadores, recicladores, pepenadores, churequeros, cartoneros, zabaleen, gancheros, buzos, barequeros, guajeros, minadores, thawis, cirujas, clasificadores, buceadores, and recolectores who make a living from recycling in the world. It is with this slogan and the organization of waste pickers as the driving force that we celebrate the Global Waste Pickers’ Day. Read more about Global Waste Pickers’ Day and past actions.