United States
Sanitation Workers in New Orleans on Strike to Demand Better Conditions and Pay
- Peoples Dispatch -
In the wake of the coronavirus pandemic, across
the world workers on the frontlines of the
battle against the spread of the disease have
been organizing to demand that governments and
employers provide them greater protection. In
New Orleans, a group of sub-contracted
sanitation workers who work as "hoppers" on
garbage trucks have been on strike since
Tuesday, May 5, to demand hazard pay and
personal protective equipment (PPE).
The workers in New Orleans said they are not
being provided PPE by their employers and are
being exposed to coronavirus and other health
hazards on the job. Due to these risks, they are
demanding $135 standard day rate plus $150
hazard pay per day until the end of the
pandemic. They also demand the provision of
adequate protective equipment every day and the
seven paid sick days hoppers are entitled to
under the city's Living Wage Ordinance
The workers are not directly employed by the
city, and their conditions are related to their
precarious position as sub-contractors. The city
of New Orleans has a $10 million contract with
Metro Services Group, a private corporation, to
garbage and recycling collection services for
the city. The group of sanitation workers on
strike are not even hired directly by the Metro
Services Group but through People Ready, an
app-based temporary hiring agency.
The response of New Orleans Mayor LaToya
Cantrell to the sanitation workers' strike was
essentially to deflect the responsibility
towards the workers' safety onto Metro Services
Group. She released a statement saying that
"Metro is responsible for providing workers with
the necessary items for their safety. This would
include masks, gloves, etc."
Sanitation worker Greg Woods spoke to New
Orleans local news and explained that many of
the issues they are raising "have been going on
before the coronavirus even came. We get paid
late, everything is bad." He also pointed to the
fact that they work grueling hours from 4:20 am
until 4:00 pm and their pay for this labour is
insufficient.
In 2015, the city of New Orleans passed a
resolution to guarantee that city-contracted
workers receive a living wage. According to a
2017 study by Louisiana Association of United
Ways in the Orleans Parish which encompasses the
New Orleans metro area, a living wage to support
a family of four is $26 per hour, much less than
what the hoppers are paid who do work for the
city.
The workers are also fighting for the right to
form a labour union -- the City Waste Union --
in order to advocate for better working
conditions. They drafted a petition to raise
their demands with mayor Cantrell and to call on
her to intervene on their behalf with Metro
Services Group. The petition states, "Some of
our most essential workers are not being treated
with the dignity and respect they deserve.
During the COVID-19 crisis, New Orleans garbage
hoppers are working long, grueling shifts in bad
conditions, without adequate proper protective
equipment (PPE), for low pay. Our sanitation
workers put their lives on the line every day to
keep this city safe and clean, and now we must
support them as they organize for their rights."
New Orleans and the state of Louisiana were
hotspots early on in the outbreak of the
COVID-19 pandemic in the United States. The
State of Louisiana has recorded 30,652 confirmed
cases and 2,135 deaths, and 1,432 people have
been hospitalized.
This article was published in
Number 36 - May 26, 2020
Article Link:
United States: Sanitation Workers in New Orleans on Strike to Demand Better Conditions and Pay - Peoples Dispatch
Website: www.cpcml.ca
Email: editor@cpcml.ca
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