truck driver

recycling center attendant

mécanicien poids lourds

chauffeur de camion

mécanicien monteur

Emterra Group

I just finished this job as a road supervisor at the St Catherine’s office. Started working there on May 13th 2019. And was basically let go terminated quit whatever you want to call it on July 10th. That morning I was asked to get on the truck as a driver team. When I told my boss that I was unable to drive on the back of a truck or in the cab  of the truck  because of the heat which I can’t handle because of medication that I take. I even told Bruce that spring fall and winter no problem. I was told that one of the guys there was going to drive me home and Bruce would figure out what my position would be at the company. I was trying desperately to learn the way things ran but found it very difficult when I was out on the back of truck or driving a truck. I was hired on for this position it was as a supervisor which at that time I didn’t know that I would have to drive a garbage truck as well as throw garbage on the back of the truck. This is the first time I’ve seen a unionized job that you can have a supervisor doing unionized work. I started work at 5:30 in the morning and I never got home earlier than 8 p.m. when I was asked to go on a truck on the 10th of this month I tried to explain to them that I can’t be on these trucks or thrown garbage when it’s so hot because I get severe headaches and I get heat stroke very easily. The reason for this is because I take medication which they thought that I should have actually told them this when I went for my interview. If I thought it relevant then I would have but I was being hired on as a road supervisor. It really does take a different breed of person to work in garbage and recycling. Remember these guys are on trucks and the guy that’s driving doesn’t have air conditioning. The cab of these trucks are in the area of 60 degrees Celsius. The trucks themselves are in very rough shape and in saying so they breakdown daily we’re two three four five trucks are breaking down being towed in. The crews have certain amount of time to get everything done in their area. I actually did enjoy doing the work because it was a fast-paced type  of job. My salary was based on an 8 hour day 5 days a week which as I said before I would start work at about 5:30 and I would be driving to go home at usually 8 8:30 sometimes I got home at 11:30 and that’s usually on Fridays because I knew I didn’t have to get up the next day and I wanted to be a team player. I actually thought when I was working with other supervisors I would actually be apart of family so to speak or group that were willing to help each other but it was far from the truth but only because they all had to worry about the route that they were doing so they didn’t really have time for the new guy. When I first started I tried to be the guy with the go have fun attitude and get things done but over time that life got sucked out of me. I actually thought that the people iwas working with were people that were like my family. Nobody seemed to stick their head out for me. I’m sure I didn’t do things perfect cuz I didn’t know the area that well but I tried my best I think the thing that hurts me the most is the fact that I left on the 9th of July and my position was posted on the 10th of July. When I left nobody said good bye nice knowing you so you’re leaving anything serious except for Francis at the front office. I thought I was doing a good job but apparently I wasn’t I even made it clear if I did something wrong to tell me right away so I could correct it.Hence me thinking all was good.This company has a lot of potential but unfortunately the men and women that work there can only work with what they have. I’m not a rocket scientist but I’m pretty sure when you need to have a supervisor get on a truck there is something wrong. I work outdoors for 32 yrs and I am 55. Anyway good luck to anyone who gets the job.

Worst place I've ever worked. You are exposed to seriously dangerous chemicals, humans and animal feces, asbestos, broken glass and needles. You are not given any protection other than a pair of glasses and a pair of gloves that offer no protection at all. When you raise a safety concern with management they shrug it off. One co-worker got stuck with a needle and they kept trying to push him to go back to work but he demanded to see a doctor. While this employee was off work for a few days management talked a lot of trash about him behind his back. Management loves drama & butt kissers. So much so they are willing to fire & lose good hard working employees to keep the employees who create drama or consistantly kiss the managements butts. Employees who drink or do drugs either before or during a shift are given special treatment such as being allowed to show up and leave when they want and still get paid their full wages. But if you miss a day due to an illness you loose that days pay & they drill you about it for days on end. The shop steward is useless & so is the union. The union rep never calls back. I've been waiting for over a year for a call back. I was given absolutely no training other than a 5 minute walk thru of the facility and told "this is the sorting machine...you'll figure it out. It's not that difficult." I finally left when I was having health issues brought on by working here. My sinuses were glogged and when the doctor flushed them out nothing but a black tar like substance poured out of my nostrils. My lungs were also showing signs of bleeding. 4 months after I quit this place my health went back to normal & I've been fine since. I recommend anybody considering employment with this company...if you value yourself or your health you should think twice and steer clear of this place.

Before I complain about this place, I do have a few nice things to say. You get 3 day weekends, unless management decides to make you work a Friday. The co-workers are great too, everyone has a sense of humor so everyone is pleasant to be around. That's it for positives!

You work in a filthy, and I mean FILTHY workplace, you have garbage, needles, condoms, rats, rat feces, copious amounts of broken glass, you name it, it's everywhere here! The pay is extremely low for the kind of work you'll be doing too. You are paid barely above minimum wage, and you will be cleaning all of everything I said earlier plus picking garbage on an assembly line where you are exposed to TONS of dust and nasty smells. Working conditions are also beyond abysmal. In the summer time you will be working in extreme heat depending on how hot the day is. All you have for AC are fans, which are nice until they just start blowing the hot air around. It's even worse in the winter time! If it's -40°C or -50°C outside it will be the exact same inside. They have heaters in there but half of them don't even work and you only feel heat if you are directly under them. You also will get in trouble if you take too long trying to warm up.

Also if you want to keep your job for longer than 1 year, you better let management force you to come in on your days off, otherwise they'll pretty much kick you to the curb.

THE BAD:

As a driver for this company you will be signed up under a different company name so you won't have to be a part of union. Here's what you're in store for if you work for this company:

A typical day for you is to work from 5AM to 5:30PM. If you don't work overtime, then they won't like you. Overtime is paid after 9 hours. Over 12 hours of work is not allowed. you must work 12 hours each day not including 30 minute unpaid break.

The management will want you to drive unsafe equipment. Every truck has an issue and don't repair it until its out of service. If you can't drive the truck because of this, you go home for the day. Safety isn't in their top 5 priorities.

You will be trained for 1-2 days and expected to work right after.

The management will blame you for everything. from traffic to broken down equipment. The want a certain amount of bins done regardless of the traffic conditions.

There are no health benefits. regardless of what the job posting says.

The pay rate includes a safety bonus of $3 that you will never get. All the trucks have live cameras on 24/7 and they will cut the bonus if they deem the truck not clean enough to their standards. You won't  get a clean truck when you start.

THE GOOD:

Co-drivers are nice people.

The work itself is nice, once you forget everything else that I wrote above. This is a very simple and easy job made hard due to management practise.

There are much better employers out there that pay the industry standard wage, unlike this workplace.


Safety has never been something they have been worried about, but they will lie about it to the last breath. Trucks always seem to be in poor condition, no mechanic even hired for some locations, and when they get one from another they show up for 10 minutes and dont fix anything. Your boss will likely do anything to save a dollar to look better to the high ups this includes "mistakes" where they accidentally dont pay you enough on your paycheck.  as well as materials for the job being fairly limited due to cutting costs (dont even have chains for the trucks in 2 feet of snow) even though the company is very profitable. Health benefits dont exist if you are a labourer so dont expect those even if they say you get them. As far as the work culture goes if you work hard your reward will just be a bigger shovel with nothing else. This creates a culture where everyone around you is doing as little as possible and anyone who comes into the company  that is a hard worker will inevitably burn out and be gone fairly quickly usually. Oh they also will do anything to stop the workers from unionizing. 

There is no appreciation for the job, nor from the company. Management and supervisors talk down to you like you’re a nobody. Trucks are not maintained safety features on the truck are nonworking for example, back up cameras pretty much all the trucks are equipped from the factory as a safety feature pretty much all are not working. Uniforms and gloves for employees are cheap and Not good quality for the job that they are used for. A typical day for a driver at Emterra is sitting in a cab for 10 to 12 hours. A typical day for a loader is loading for 10 to 12 hours per day. A lot of the loaders are temps. They are not trained how to do the job. They are just simply told in the morning that they are on this truck and to go to it. The only thing that keeps guys working here is the 4 day work week. I hope whoever reads this from the company actually try’s to do something about it and not just saying “ oh will look into it” because we all have heard that way to much at that place and nothing ever happens. 

My primary issue was with management and the way employees were spoken to. Interactions often felt condescending and dismissive. There were also frequent instances where expectations around timelines were unrealistic. When I tried to voice these concerns with HR, the situation was not addressed constructively and was instead redirected in a way that placed the blame on me rather than acknowledging the underlying issue. I’ve noticed the company replies to reviews by stating that feedback is taken seriously. While I hope that is true, my experience did not reflect that. The main issues I had came from management practices and their communication style. At times, I was criticized for my performance during disagreements, only to later confirm through vendors that my approach had been correct. Despite this, there was little accountability from management. This created an environment where I felt discouraged from speaking up even when I was right. My best advice for the company is to reflect on how employee concerns are handled.

Hidden beneath a mountain of cherry-picked dissent, lies a female-led, innovative company doing good work in the essential but highly underappreciated waste management industry.

So, what does a typical day at Emterra look like? Contrary to what many "objective" reviews on here might say, this is NOT purgatory. There's meaningful work to be done during reasonable hours, interesting co-workers with different personalities, strengths and backgrounds, and a management that's willing to listen.

You might be saying, "Employee, everything can't possibly be perfect?" and you'd be correct. The inconsistent heating in the head office is an absolute nightmare– no one should have to freeze in their cubicle all year round. I'm totally ice-olated!

But seriously, this is an environmentally-friendly, inclusive workplace full of your typical everyday hijinks. Obviously, your mileage may vary depending on what location you work at, but what company of 1,100 employees doesn't have a few bad apples?

My experience at this company was nothing but lack of communication and irresponsible staff who could care less about the employee and more about production. There was multiple health and safety issues I had addressed to management which was ignored as again, they only care about production. Not only was this a dangerous work environment it was also one where I seen other employees damaging peoples personal property on purpose, management was always aware and did nothing. This is one of the most unprofessional and hazardous places I have ever worked in the 20 years I have been working. Do not apply here it's not worth your time although they always paid for my hours they always had a shorter amount of time than me and my driver and they would compensate later for the discrepancy. 1/10

Very experienced and driven organization from the CEO level but undisciplined and lack of clear lines of responsibility and roles throughout.  Micromanaged with little value put on employee inputs.  Lack of every imaginable policy or procedure and inability the inability to retain competent staff. 

My own education in waste management was excellent, but my inability to create a vision of how good we could be as organization was overshadowed by daily firefighting, lack of experienced staff and the inability to accept change or devote the necessary resources to implement positive change.  It was culture where the attitude was "it has worked well for 10 years, we do not need nor do we want change".

It was a badge of honor to stay the course and argue with anyone wanting to improve the systems and cohesiveness of the employees.

Top Job Titles	Average salary
Truck driver 2 salaries reported	$25.75 per hour
Recycling center attendant 3 salaries reported	$20.00 per hour
Mécanicien poids lourds 24 salaries reported	$40.77 per hour
Chauffeur de camion 1 salary reported	$25.50 per hour
Mécanicien monteur 12 salaries reported	$31.58 per hour

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