Pasadena’s Trash Workers Pile Into City Council, Demand More Than 25¢ per Hour Raise

Still in the midst of negotiations, the men in orange who pick up Pasadena’s garbage with a smile came to Monday’s City Council meeting to ask for a bigger raise.

Made up of 27 employees who spend Thanksgiving, the Fourth of July, and every other holiday picking up solid waste to keep the streets of Pasadena beautiful, the department said the 25 cent raise they have received in the past seven years is simply not enough to sustain living.

The City offered a two percent raise for the next three years. One of the men noted that trash and recyclable collections is listed in the top 10 most dangerous jobs in the U.S. because of the high fatality rate according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, a list that does not include firemen or police officers.

Pasadena Police officers received an 8.65 percent increase on July 1 with ten additional steps offered with a minimum differential of 2.5°/o.

“I feel like I have to get a second job now. My rent goes up every year, grocery shopping, everything is going up except my pay. We love working for the city, but we need to be recognized,” Jose Munoz said to the City Council. “We feel that our department is a forgotten department. We feel that our department is a really important department, we are picking up your trash.”

Munoz spoke about many of the fleet trucks being without air conditioning in the over 100 degree heat.

Councilmember John Kennedy instructed City Manager Michael Beck to answer the questions of the workers especially pertaining to air conditioning.

“What we do is a dangerous job, people don’t realize that, from 17 to 25 tons down alleys. We are good at what we do, we take it seriously. I invite each and everyone of you to ride along with us, maybe you’ll have a better appreciation of what we do,” Tim Singleton said.

Kyle Johnson has worked for the City for 16 years and simply asked for a little more respect.

“Our birthdays are spent on the road doing our route so that we can make our city clean. 25 cents over seven years is kinda hard to live with,” Johnson said.

Jose Rivera said the solid waste department is not asking for much, even a five or six percent raise for the next three years would be enough for the unit to carry on.

Compared to Glendale and Burbank, Pasadena’s refuse collectors get paid less according to Rivera. Negotiations will resume this week.