More than four years without a raise has prompted some of the most public faces of DeKalb County’s workers to petition for a union.
More than 85 percent of the county’s 150 sanitation workers who work from the garbage trucks have petitioned for the county to recognize Teamsters Local 728. Beyond more money, employees said they are worried about their safety and dignity on the job.
“We do a great job out there. People respect us,” said Robert Pruitt, who has worked on a garbage crew for 20 years. “But we feel like we are suffering. Our families are suffering.”
County commissioners, who would have to vote to acknowledge the union, have said they are willing to consider the request. But they note that no county workers have received merit raises since 2008, including police and firefighters already represented by unions.
“I have approved raises when times were good, but right now, we just don’t have a way to pay for them,” said Commissioner Larry Johnson, noting an expected $35 million shortfall in the 2013 budget. “Our focus now is to make sure our employees are treated well.”
Treatment has been a sore spot among employees for years, who have complained about healthcare increases and pension changes that eat into stagnant paychecks.
Sanitation crews are set apart, though, both locally and nationally.
Garbage workers do the fourth most dangerous job in the country, suffering more fatalities than even police officers, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. And in DeKalb, those workers roll out four days a week, serving and seeing all but a fraction of the 700,000 people in the county every week.
Unlike Cobb and Gwinnett counties, where trash pick-up is provided by private haulers, DeKalb also runs a sanitation department and owns its own landfill on Seminole Road. The county has kept curbside rates steady for six years in part by emphasizing recycling and expanding the life of the dump.
In September, the county scrapped its one-time $30 recycling fee to further boost recycling. County leaders have said despite the freebie they expect they will need to raise garbage rates in the next year – proof to the workers that the county can get the money for raises, more employees or new gear.
“We hope to be able to work internally with the county, so these workers can have a voice,” said Ben Speight, the organizing director for the Teamsters.
Discussions between workers and county commissioners have begun on the issue. More meetings are slated for December.
The commission is likely to refer the request to committees for further review, meaning a vote on the matter won’t likely come until next year.
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