malloy@ittral.UUCP (William P. Malloy) (07/29/85)
For some reason while talking about opportunites for women and such some people
have been making an example of garbage collectors as a prime example of
overpaid employees. As my little brother (22 yrs old) does this for a living
I'd like to comment on some assumptions you're all making. They start work at
4:30am because people do not like having their garbage out in front of their
house any longer then necessary. A contractor losts his contract once for not
getting the trash picked up on time.
When he applied for the job, he just had to go down to the yards where they
started out every morning at 4:30am and stand around and wait to have his name
taken. You don't apply for a job like that except by showing up. If you show
up for a month or so, and the foreman now figures you're reliable, he hires you
as a day worker. Meaning you get hired to work for one day at a time, as they
need warm bodies to man the trucks. Mainly during warm weather when people are
on vacation, and winter when they're out sick. After about 6-8 months of this,
my brother was hired full time five days a week.
Besides getting up before dawn every day, they work every day no matter how bad
the weather gets. He has almost been run down several times, despite his
orange rain suit. He has to buy clothes just for work, which gets thrown out
when it develops holes, because it smells too bad to be worn casually, and
can't be worn with holes because of the cold and the filth. Plus he deals with
the rats and assorted creatures that inhabit your average downtown area. My
brother always says you can kill all the rats you find, except the ones with
collars, they're pets. He has strained his back lifting overloaded barrels,
despite being in excellent condition. He was scrapped off the side of the
truck by a new driver who took a turn a little to sharply near a telephone
pole. And one morning he got the artery in his leg cut open by a piece of
glass sticking out of one of those plastic garbage bags. After that he went
into the hospital, and was back out working in the afternoon. Artery repair is
apparently fairly simple. The stiches slowed him down though.
What it comes down to is there's a lot more to collecting the garbage then most
of you imagine. Which is why in general it's a well paid job. The only reason
my brother keeps at it (along with the people he works with) is because they'd
never make as much money anywhere else. Despite the accidents, the rain, and
the strained backs. He is married and his two kids, and could never afford to
support them otherwise.
DISCLAIMER:
I live far away from my brother. I don't think there are any women working
there (but don't blame me). And for those who wish to complain to my brother
about his living arrangements, (wife at home, two kids), do so to him and his
wife. I don't because it's none of my business, and besides he's 6' 4", and
I try not to argue with people who are taller then I am. Plus his wife (Kathy)
used to be the star defense player on the girls ice hockey team, and isn't
likely to take too kindly to criticism either.
BTW They call themselves ``shakers''. As in shaking the barrels to get the
rubbish out.
--
Address: William P. Malloy, ITT Telecom, B & CC Engineering Group, Raleigh NC
{ihnp4!mcnc, burl, ncsu, decvax!ittvax}!ittral!malloy