But nine times out of ten, being a veteran, I am gonna pick it up myself. My job consists of me getting on and off a garbage truck, lifting the can, and putting it on the tipper. This was the first job I got out here and I’ve been on the job ever since.

I wanted something different and I came here to visit my uncle and just fell in love.

“I ended up in New Orleans in a step of faith. According to The Advocate, city trash contractors have found it hard to hire workers in recent months, leading to delays in trash pickup, and “sanitation drivers have sought higher-paid opportunities elsewhere in recent months,” meaning “those left in that department must work overtime to process residential waste.”īrister, who is from Gulfport, Miss., has been a hopper for eight years and has worked for Metro for four. They say their other demands were not met and some employees are working 90-100 hours per week. They all said working conditions are largely the same, except for their pay, which went from $10.75 hourly and $11.19 in overtime to $11.19 hourly and $12 in overtime. Southerly spoke to three men who were part of the strike two have returned to work for Metro. Some workers returned to work for Metro after it abruptly ended, and others left for better-paying jobs. A spokesperson for Metro did not respond to requests for comment. The hoppers who went on strike-all of them Black-were employed by a staffing agency called PeopleReady, which works with Metro Service Group, a garbage collection company that contracts with cities across the South. They called themselves the City Waste Union and demanded better working conditions and pay during the coronavirus pandemic, including a $15 hourly wage, $150 in weekly hazard pay, proper personal protective equipment, and a fix for broken trucks they say leak hydraulic fluid. In May 2020, a group of New Orleans hoppers-sanitation workers who ride on the backs of trucks to empty trash bins-went on strike.

Garbage truck jobs in new orleans