Sanitation workers have held numerous strikes demanding hazard pay, frequently linking their fight to movements like Black Lives Matter. But the issue remains a contentious one for the waste industry. Sanitation workers have held numerous strikes demanding hazard pay, frequently linking their fight to movements like Black Lives Matter. But the issue remains a contentious one for the waste industry.
Cole Rosengren report for Waste Dive
Since early May, sanitation workers employed by a New Orleans city subcontractor have been on strike in an effort to win pandemic hazard pay and other changes. Their action comes at a time when frontline employees in sectors across the country say they are being exposed to heightened risks that justify increased wages.
Frontline waste industry employees can earn high wages in some instances, but rates differ for a variety of reasons depending on the employer or location. That has sparked growing interest in supplemental pay in light of newly challenging conditions. Absent regulatory drivers, which have largely not come to fruition, the decision to pay more rests with employers and it has so far not been the norm. Now, as the pandemic’s risks appear to be rising across the country and conversations about systemic racism have come to the forefront, some believe the debate about hazard pay is likely to mount.
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The striking New Orleans “hoppers,” who jump off and on to trucks collecting waste, began their action on May 5. They are employees of PeopleReady, a subcontractor of Metro Services Group (previously called Metro Disposal), which services part of New Orleans under contract. Daytriàn Mariell Wilken, a spokesperson for the striking workers, told Waste Dive the hoppers want more personal protective equipment (PPE), upgrades to the trucks they use, a minimum wage of $15 an hour, and $150 per week in hazard pay.
When the strike began, Metro briefly employed incarcerated workers from the Livingston Parish’s Transitional Work Program, who spent several days on the job. LaTonya Norton, press secretary for New Orleans Mayor LaToya Cantrell, said “a number of workers” returned to their jobs after that. She said the city confirmed with Metro that workers are receiving proper PPE and has requested records to ensure subcontractees are receiving proper pay.
A spokesperson for PeopleReady said via email that employees working with Metro have been provided with full PPE, including gloves, masks, and eye protection. The company also said no striking employees have been fired and there are no intentions to fire them in the future. “The fact that a business continues to operate with replacement workers does not mean that striking employees have been fired,” said the spokesperson. “When faced with a strike, it is a company’s lawful right to continue to operate the business.”
Virginia Miller, spokesperson for Metro, said her company has been communicating with the subcontractees through New Orleans City Council President Jason Williams, which Wilken confirmed. Williams’ office did not respond to a request for comment, but Miller said the striking workers have not asked for Metro itself to institute hazard pay. The company has said it supports federal action on hazard pay for workers more broadly.
“Thus far, while Metro is still hopeful that a dialogue can occur, there has been no response,” said Miller.
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