INC NEWS - solid waste workers

[Mike - Hotmail]

>From what I've been able to understand it boils down to this:

We pay solid waste workers a full 40 hours worth of pay (full time) and if 
they get the work done quicker,  they can go home early.

>From a number of sources,  this happens just about every single day with 
some workers only actually on the job 20 or 30 hours/week.

The problem is.   Not all the garbage across the city is collected which 
requires the Adminstration to pay overtime to those workers who went home 
early to come back on their day off and finish the job or we have to hire 
contractors to do it.

"Action Jackson" saw the flaw and tried to stick his finger in the dike.

But from what I've read,  he had people pulling him away and telling him to 
"let it leak,  it's the way it's done in Durham"  that frustrated him.

He got 'pissed' on and he promptly said  'enough of this noise', then split.

For me,  I stand behind the suggestion by both Council members Stith and 
Woodard who want a thorough review done before taking any further actions.

It's the smart thing to do.

mike shiflett




----- Original Message ----- 
From: "RW Pickle" <randy at 27beverly.com>
To: <inc-list at durhaminc.org>
Sent: Friday, May 19, 2006 12:51 PM
Subject: INC NEWS - solid waste workers


> 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
>
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