From the European Parliament to the garbage truck: workers deserve more recognition

Strictly speaking, as a vocational graduate, I couldn’t do an internship at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs at all, because getting in requires a university degree. Out of activism, I briefly enrolled at a university of applied sciences, and once I was accepted for the internship, I deregistered again.

After a while, I opened up the conversation about my background. Everyone was completely astounded. There were even diplomats who said: is selection based on education level really that objective?

Degree requirements are presented as objective, but that is not the case.

It was a great honor to subsequently work as the first assistent without University as an in the European Parliament. For me, it was a mini-revolution. There too, I was working on my mission: standing up for the working class, showing that you don’t just need fancy, high-level diplomas from prestigious universities to be of value.

‘Which university did you go to?’

During the first few months, this regularly caused confusion. ‘Which university did you go to?’ was a standard question during initial introductions. When I replied, ‘None,’ I got strange looks. People have studied at top universities and worked incredibly hard to reach such an important position. If you don’t meet their criteria to prove yourself, it causes an error in their minds.

Where there is power, there is resistance,’ wrote my favorite philosopher, Michel Foucault. That quote is my moral compass in my fight against the wealthy diploma-elite. Degree requirements are presented as objective, but that is not the case.

Power is more effective when it is invisible; I learned that from Foucault too. And: you can never know the whole truth, he said. There will always be another truth. Because truths are created within power systems. At this moment, I consider resistance necessary, because inequality won’t solve itself. Resistance brings equilibrium and balance to the world.

I would recommend that all policymakers and diplomats structurally do this kind of work.

After six months, I decided to work on my mission in a completely different way. Now I am a garbage collector a few days a week. That gives me a lot of satisfaction: constantly questioning everything, smashing through the status quo. Because the fact that I am a garbage collector now is also not what people expect.

My garbage collector colleagues often know nothing about the European Parliament. Many of them don’t have degrees, but they are more intelligent than most of the people I met in Brussels. Emotionally, they are far more gifted; they pick up on signals very well and quickly sense how someone is feeling.

‘We are looked down upon’

I earn a fine salary as a garbage collector, but the working conditions are tough and unstable. I don’t have permanent colleagues; you never know who you’ll be sharing the truck with. There are severe staff shortages and you get sent everywhere, frequently even to cities elsewhere in the country. We are looked down upon. That is why I want the working class to gain an equal position in society.

But I also simply really enjoy this work; I want to keep doing it part-time until I retire. Hard work in the open air is nourishing. And it is very concrete: you are cleaning up the city.

At this moment, I consider resistance necessary, because inequality won’t solve itself. Resistance brings equilibrium and balance to the world.

The gap between the elite and those who do not belong to it becomes truly visible in the cabin of the garbage truck. During the election campaign, we listened to the radio, to discussions about solidarity, inclusion, climate ambitions, and nitrogen emissions.

When you, as a garbage collector, have just struggled to clear away a bin filled with horse shit and BBQ sauce, that kind of language sounds very vague. That is why I would recommend that all policymakers and diplomats structurally do this kind of work. It gives you insights that you don’t gain during a one-off working visit.

Meanwhile, several ministries have started a traineeship for vocational graduates. And the Member of the European Parliament I worked for is now trying to arrange for workers to start at the European Commission as well. One day, I will accomplish my mission.

In the daily dutch newspaper Trouw’s column De zin (The Sentence), well-known Dutch figures talk about their personal rule of life or inspiring quote.