The Artel 'United Janitor'. Why Janitors Are Being Fired and Whether They Can Be Returned to How It Was

A viewer of the program "Without Taboos" left a message on the answering machine stating that the yards are currently dirty, the janitors have been fired, and no one is performing their work.

Another resident of Riga, Elena, who lives in the Jugla neighborhood, also complains that the yards are not being cleaned. The janitor had started to clean the leaves and suddenly learned that she was out of a job.

Currently, the area near the house is covered with a thick layer of fallen leaves, and there are many leaves on the roadway as well. In damp weather, they become very slippery, resulting in a risk of injury.

Elena recounts: "At first, I thought the janitor had gone on vacation. Then I realized that nothing was happening. We had no complaints about her; she performed her duties well. Now we have a problem, we have to live in an uncleaned area. As far as I know, Rīgas namu pārvaldnieks decided to reorganize, and now janitors are being fired. I regularly called the management company to report that the area was not cleaned, but I only received information that the message would be passed on."

Representatives of the management company explain that now, instead of janitors, mobile teams will work, which should clean the area of several apartment buildings in one day. According to Elena, this does not work in reality; the leaves are still there: "I called them for a week, every day. I said I had a lot of time and would remind them every day that the area was not in order. Once a small tractor came and cleaned the path. The dispatcher said that the leaves would be cleaned by November 31."

The day after the filming crew from "Without Taboos" visited Elena's yard, a team arrived and cleaned the leaves.

A representative of Rīgas namu pārvaldnieks, Evija Pastalniece, asserts that the cleaning team should tidy up the area every working day near each house: "Janitors are not being fired; we are uniting them into teams. It should be understood that being a janitor is physically hard work. Most janitors are elderly, and this work is too strenuous for them, so we are uniting them into teams with younger people. The work becomes easier and more efficient. Upon arriving at a house, the team starts with waste collection, then cleans the paths, and only after that cleans the rest of the area - currently collecting leaves. It should be noted that it is harder to collect leaves in the rain, so it may not be immediately noticeable that this work has been done."

Currently, the management company has created 15 teams for cleaning the area, each consisting of 5 people. If residents want to refuse the new order, the majority must vote to restore the old one.