INC NEWS - solid waste workers

[RW Pickle]

I'm not advocating we reduce the wages of anyone. It may be that working
the 40 hours that are paid for, gets the job done. It appears that working
the 28-32 hours that is worked does not. But if one works part time (32
hours or less), benefits are not required. That cost savings alone would
more than pay the Solid Waste Directors salary. I'm just looking at what
makes dollars and sense. Like Barry, I could miss a couple of weeks of
waste pickup and never feel the problem. Maybe if I knew one was coming, I
could get by a month without it.

What seems odd is that the yard waste was picked up on schedule. These
workers are under the same plan as the green can guys. And even stranger,
the recyclables seem to be picked up every week with far less labor. The
fellow who picks up our neighborhood does it alone. He stops at each
house, gets out of the truck and physically lifts all of the material to
the truck. I don't recall them ever missing a pickup day. And it would
seem, his work is much more physical.

The $13 figure for construction workers was just a figure I came up with
by doing the numbers. I suspect many workers make less than that.
Construction laborers probably make far less than that. And I wouldn't
think the skills level of hooking plastic waste cans to the back of a
truck and pulling a lever would require a great deal of skill level. Maybe
riding on the back of a truck does, but it may be part of the "fun" the
job has for the workers. There has to be something in any work that one
finds "fun". Otherwise one would not find the job rewarding enough to
stay.

Looking at part of the problem that happened last week, it would seem,
that for whatever reason, half of the staff did not show up for work. This
may have been from injury, planned time off, or any number of legitimate
reasons. But maybe it was just a "planned" work slow down in protest to
the new rules that were being implemented. Regardless, there were not
enough bodies to get the actual work done. That seems to be what happened.
And if it was in some sort of protest that half the workers called in
sick, then that's an even bigger problem.

I used McDonalds and the mall as examples of other places to work. They
are inside jobs. And as easily seen, pay less; much less in most cases.
And I would dare say, the skill levels are much greater. The City and
McDonals provide uniforms and most mall stores do not. So there are some
parallels. But the fact remains that people do the job they do for
whatever reason they do it. Enjoyment has to fit in there somewhere. And
what aspects of enjoyment one finds on a back of a sanitation truck is not
known. But if there were none, no one would want the job. And I'd bet if
you let everyone go this week, you could have new employees back in action
next. It's hard to change employee attitudes. It's easier to replace
employees.

I don't have all the answers any more than others. I just like the
conversations. When we're talking, we're thinking. And maybe in our
thoughts we'll help solve a problem. At least we'll get some opinions.

RWP
27 Beverly