Lxs Rifadxs de la Basura was an advocacy campaign launched in Mexico City during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 to highlight the conditions of 10,000 “volunteer” public sanitation workers. Through testimonies and a short documentary, it promoted their recognition as workers and access to labour rights and social protection.
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WIEGO and the Rifadxs pose in the Zócalo, the main public square and historical heart of Mexico City, after holding a demonstration and press conference to present workers' demands to the city government.
Mexico City is estimated to be the second largest urban waste producer in the world, generating 12,454 metric tons of waste every day – and thousands of people do the essential work to collect and sort it.
The public sanitation workforce includes more than 14,000 unionized workers and about 10,000 workers classified by local authorities as ‘volunteers’.
All of the ‘volunteers’ work without wages, relying on tips and income from recyclable materials. They lack contracts and social security and often pay for basic equipment that authorities should provide.
WIEGO and Creatura produced a short documentary to make these conditions visible and highlight the Mexico City government’s failure to implement Recommendation 07/2016 of the Mexico City Human Rights Commission, which would formally recognize the informal waste workers and improve their working conditions.
Lxs Rifadxs de la Basura was a collaborative research project, in which the ‘volunteer’ waste workers were co-researchers, and a strategic communications campaign.
The project centred the voices and experiences of Mexico City’s “volunteer” public sanitation workers, through eight testimonial videos, a short documentary, a comic and an infographic. It transformed stories of invisibility and exclusion into tools for awareness and change.
It strengthened workers’ collective organization, amplified their voices in public and advocacy spaces, and contributed to greater recognition of their essential role in keeping the city clean, healthy and functioning, as well as the urgent need to guarantee their labour rights and dignity.
The project transformed individual stories of effort and resilience into a collective voice demanding recognition and rights. For the first time, Mexico City’s “volunteer” public sanitation workers publicly shared their experiences, revealing the precarious conditions they work in while serving their city.
The workers chose their own name – Lxs Rifadxs de la Basura – reflecting the courage, resilience and commitment they bring to their work every day.
The testimonial video campaign highlighted their vulnerability in their work, which became even more apparent during the COVID-19 pandemic, when they continued working to keep the city clean despite lacking recognition and social protection.
The initiative built empathy and public awareness, and called on authorities to recognize the waste workers’ rights and essential contribution to waste management, the circular economy and inclusive recycling.
The short documentary Lxs Rifadxs de la Basura, produced with Creatura, marked a decisive moment for the campaign and Mexico City’s ‘volunteer’ waste workers.
The film strengthened their organization and turned their individual experiences into a collective voice. For the first time, workers who had remained silent for years out of fear of reprisals publicly described their working conditions.
Through interviews, screenings and events, participants became spokespeople for their realities and demands. The documentary highlighted the importance of their work and the injustices they face while exposing the government’s failure to implement Recommendation 07/2016 of the Mexico City Human Rights Commission. Its impact extended beyond the screen, building confidence, organization and hope for recognition and justice.
The campaign also reached the streets: the documentary title and social media handles were painted on public sanitation vehicles that travelled throughout the city.
To help the story of Lxs Rifadxs de la Basura reach wider audiences, the campaign developed a popular education comic that turns a complex reality into an engaging, accessible and easy-to-understand narrative.
Through illustrations and stories inspired by workers’ own experiences, the comic introduces their working conditions, challenges, and the essential role they play in the city. It was distributed among the city’s “volunteer” public sanitation workers.
WIEGO’s Mexico City team conducted research on the waste workers’ working reality during the COVID-19 pandemic by submitting information requests to the local borough governments.
This information documented the number of “volunteer” workers,and revealed there were no resources allocated to their work, and no measures in place to protect them from infection and their working conditions.
Many responses denied any employment relationship with these workers, revealing the precarity and invisibility surrounding their work.
After the documentary was released, the findings were used to create an infographic that clearly and accessibly explains who makes up the public sanitation workforce and the lack of protection experienced by “volunteer” workers, despite their vital contribution to the city.
