Two Baltimore City Councilmembers are calling for pay increases for the city’s sanitation workers in hopes of restoring weekly recycling pickup for residents, which has been suspended for more than two years since the outbreak of the pandemic.
With the pandemic eased, the city now says the staffing shortages amid a competitive labor market have prevented restoring weekly recycling pickup.
Jason Mitchell, the outgoing director for the city’s Department of Public Works, has told the council in the past that starting salaries for sanitation workers have hindered his ability to attract new workers.
While recycling service has been cut back, the DPW has maintained weekly regular trash pickup service despite the staffing storages and the constraints of the pandemic.
Councilmembers Zeke Cohen, who represents Southeast Baltimore, and Isaac “Yitzy” Schleifer, who represents Northwest Baltimore, have long advocated for improvements in service and morale at DPW.
“Weekly trash pickup and recycling is one of the few areas where residents are going to directly interact with Baltimore City government,” Cohen said. “And so to have one of the most basic city services continue to not function on a weekly basis is unacceptable.”
Cohen and Schleifer plan to introduce a resolution on the pay increases at Monday’s City Council meeting. The councilmen say the city workers should be paid a starting salary as much as outside contractors in the private sector doing similar work.
American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) Council 67 and Local 44 – the city sanitation workers’ union – are currently negotiating a new contract with the city.
The councilmen said the city has been leaning on private contractors to compensate for the staffing shortages. However, they say the city should instead invest in its own agencies rather than turn to contractors.
“What we’ve seen is that the city has passed over giving raises to the sanitation workers, many times whereas in other fields, whether it be a police department or other agencies, have taken the suggested raises,” Schleifer said.
A study commissioned by the city last year found that the DPW needed an additional 48 commercial drivers and 96 sanitation workers.
The Department of Public Works did not immediately return Baltimore Fishbowl’s request for comment.
In addition to the pay increases, the councilmen are also calling for DPW to upgrade its equipment to create better conditions for workers. For example, DPW trash trucks lack air conditioning during the hot summer months.
Cohen and Schleifer said the issues at DPW stem from the agency’s overall management.
“We believe that it’s been poorly managed for the past few years,” Cohen said.
Cohen said sanitation work is a dangerous job and the city is competing for workers from both the private sector and the surrounding suburbs.
“We do want to make sure that the department is doing more to improve working conditions, that the people in this department are treated fairly and they are able to do what they need to do to make sure we have a cleaner city because that’s what people in Baltimore expect,” Cohen said. “Folks are tired of how dirty our city has become.”
Schleifer said the city has a unique opportunity to improve DPW because the city has access to millions of dollars of federal COVID relief funding under American Rescue Plan.
“I just think it’s important to note that we actually have the opportunity where we have the money,” Schleifer said. “Five years ago … you would not be able to say that ‘yes, we have the money to solve this problem.’ Because five years ago we didn’t. Today we do and it’s up to the administration to allocate that money accordingly.”
