Baltimore City's Sanitation Workers are grossly underpaid for the work that they do.  This petition calls on the elected leaders of Baltimore to find the money to pay these hard-working men a fair wage and to provide them with more reasonable working conditions.

The sanitation workers recently were in the news when an outbreak of COVID-19 ravaged the department and caused a temporary suspension of recycling collection.  As part of the news coverage, it was revealed that Sanitation Workers make as little as $11 an hour.  That's the wage for temporary workers.  The regular workers make $14 an hour.  The drivers, who must have Commercial Driver's Licenses, make $17 an hour.  https://www.baltimorebrew.com/2020/06/24/trash-pick-up-resumes-amid-employee-concerns-about-coronavirus-infection/

After reading the above-linked story in The Baltimore Brew, I downloaded the Baltimore City database of employee salaries and filtered the salaries for sanitation workers.  https://data.baltimorecity.gov/City-Government/Baltimore-City-Employee-Salaries-FY2019/6xv6-e66h/data  This verified that the average salary for the department has a $36,068 base.  This average includes salaries for administrative staff, which reach as high as $123,938.05. The department-wide average comes up to $40,799 with overtime. There are hundreds of workers who make less than $40,000 gross for doing this difficult and essential work.

I further learned that the sanitation workers' hours are spread over a 6-day workweek.  They have short days, so that the city can have them on the street for an extra day.  In watching them work, I have noticed that they tend to avoid using the mechanical lifter arms on the trucks.  Instead, they lift and twist heavy containers and plastic bags.  It was explained to me that they work faster without using the lift arms. 

Sanitation workers get cuts from sharp objects in the bags.  They work in extremes of climate. They navigate through busy city traffic, on foot.  Sometimes, they have to ride on the sides of trucks without straps or safety gear. They work near equipment that can be dangerous.

Baltimore's treatment of its sanitation workers stands out compared to other workers.  The "living wage" that the city requires city contractors to pay is $12.30 an hour.  Police officers earned $99,329 as reported on the city's salary database.  Sergeants, $130,191; Lieutenants $139,491.  The prevailing wage rate for contractors on projects of $100,000 or more ranges anywhere from $17.31 to $35.03.  In March, 2017 the Baltimore City Council voted 11-3 to impose a $15 an hour minimum wage on private sector employers.  (The bill was vetoed by former Mayor Pugh.) Inexplicably, the same council members have each year approved a budget that pays less to the city's own sanitation workers.

It might cost the city an additional $20M a year to bring the sanitation workers up to a reasonable middle class income, with a 5-day base workweek.  If one spreads that cost equally among Baltimore City's 238,436 households (as reported by the U.S. Census, it would come to $83.87 per household, per year.  That's 23¢ a day.  I'll pay it.

Baltimore's sanitation workers are predominantly male and black.  There is a national dialogue about racism and fairness towards African-Americans.  Fairness begins at home.  The campaign for fairness should start at the curbs and in the alleys of Baltimore.

I am calling on the city to:

1. Establish a pay scale for permanent sanitation workers that begins at $20 an hour and ranges upwards to $28 an hour.  The pay for temporary workers should be $15 an hour.
2. Establish work rules that will enable Baltimore's sanitation workers to have a 5-day week.  They deserve to have weekends with their families.
3. Establish policies that will make use of mechanical lift arms the standard in Baltimore, instead of the exception.
4. Once the pay scale is improved, the city should give its sanitation workers priority in government home ownership initiatives.
5. By signing this petition, the residents of Baltimore are acknowledging that it might cost an extra 25¢ per household, per day.

The Maryland State Government provides significant economic relief to Baltimore City.  I also am calling on the Baltimore City delegation to the General Assembly to make fair pay for sanitation workers a priority when it appropriates money to the City.