Trash haulers brace for drastic hit, but soldier on amid coronavirus

Trash bags piled up | Getty Trash haulers brace for drastic hit, but soldier on amid coronavirus

As the effects of a city economy in shutdown radiate throughout the city, the fleet of trash haulers that pick up commercial garbage are bracing for a major hit.

Mayor Bill de Blasio has banned dining-in at bars and restaurants and ordered movie theaters, concert venues and arenas to close their doors as coronavirus spreads throughout the city, meaning there will be significantly less commercial waste lining up on sidewalks.

While fewer trash bags on streets might seem like a perk for New Yorkers, it is a major source of anxiety for industry insiders and city officials, who fear haulers may have to cut workers or shut down with the dearth of business.

One Manhattan-based carter said its customer portfolio has dropped by 30 percent — and more drastic cuts are expected. Another executive at a large waste company said 300 customers have already suspended service this week, up from just 25 suspensions last Friday. He expects that number to grow to 1,000 soon.

"It’s worrisome,” said Ron Bergamini, executive vice president of Interstate Waste Services, the parent company of Action Carting, one of the city's biggest private carting companies. “If it's two weeks we're hunkered down, that's one thing. Once it gets to be four or five, it gets to be more disturbing.”

Officials from the Department of Sanitation and Business Integrity Commission discussed the impact coronavirus could have on the city’s intricate waste collection system at their regular meeting last week. Among their concerns is the hit private haulers could take, as waste volumes “decline off a cliff,” a sanitation official told POLITICO.

But they’re also monitoring any other factors that could alter staffing size and impact residential or commercial service, including “sickouts.” Teamsters Local 813 and Local 108, two unions that represent city and private waste workers, have provisions in their collective bargaining agreements that they can stop work in a state of emergency, the official said.

To rally the troops, the commissioners of both agencies sent a letter to waste unions emphasizing that sanitation workers are “essential employees who perform a critical public service for the City in this time of crisis.”

“The City must — and will — come together to ensure that we effectively address this crisis,” the letter read. “In the weeks ahead, private sanitation workers will play an integral role in ensuring the health and safety of all New Yorkers.”

But sanitation workers have given no indication they plan to stop providing service as long as they’re healthy and able to, the official added.

Douglas Washington, a driver for Royal Waste, said he’d work through a pay cut, if he had to, to ensure garbage pick-up for the many businesses that are still relying on consistent service, which includes hospitals working around the clock.

“What we do is essential, l think, because if the garbage don’t get picked up, there is more diseases and more infestation,” he said. “I don’t want to witness that — because that’s going to change the aspect of how people start to think.”

De Blasio has also emphasized the critical role sanitation workers play as the city grapples with a pandemic.

“Our sanitation workers have been great — you do not want to cancel basic services if you don’t have to,” de Blasio said recently on "Good Day New York." “We have to protect people, keep the city clean.”

To that end, haulers across the city have taken certain precautions to decrease their odds of contracting the virus.

Washington said he began his 6 a.m. shift on Tuesday by spraying down his truck with industrial cleaners provided by the company. He no longer checks in via hand scanner, but individually signs in under a tent the company recently erected — as is the new policy at Royal Waste.

The coronavirus has created a new normal for workers used to confronting their share of grime and pathogens.

“When you’re a garbage man, you think you’re almost like superman, machismo, I guess — because for years I’ve had to deal with toxic waste and, you know, fumes and toxic dust,” Washington said. “But I want to say, as of today, I have been wearing my sterile gloves and my mask.”

Despite headwinds, the industry is so far proceeding as normal. But insiders warn that could change depending on how long the pandemic lasts. De Blasio has warned much of the city's commercial life could be shut down until September.

Some in the industry have pushed for the city to make drastic changes so they can better brace for conditions ahead, calling for a suspension in recycling rules and delay of the city’s planned solicitation to enact a new waste regulatory system.

Neither of those are currently on the table, according to sanitation officials.

“We’re hoping it’s a temporary, big ugly hiccup and there’s a really rapid recovery on the other side of it,” said Mike Hellstrom, secretary-treasurer of Laborers Local 108. “We have to take a wait and see position. If it lasts ‘til August, I would say call me back in May and I’ll tell you how many people have been laid off.”

Hellstrom added large haulers have talked about reducing work hours as waste volumes decline.

While the private industry is temporarily losing customers, others expect the workload for sanitation workers to increase on the residential side as more people stay at home and produce waste throughout the day.

“We stand ready, willing and able to assist in any which way we possibly can on the potential for extra waste,” said Sean Campbell, president of Teamsters Local 813.

There are also underlying concerns of what the lack of business could mean for workers who don’t have labor protections. Many New Yorkers collecting trash in the dead of night for commercial businesses are represented by “sham unions.”

“Now is exactly the time that we need to be fighting to make sure there is equity and that private sector waste workers have all of the same protections that public waste workers have in terms of sick leave, family leave, retirement and obviously access to health care and benefits,” said Justin Wood, director of organizing and strategic research at New York Lawyers for the Public Interest, which has advocated for the new waste regulatory model.

City officials are monitoring the situation closely, and so far no haulers have said they are going out of business because of the pandemic.

“BIC will continue to provide regular updates to the companies we regulate regarding City resources and information to help them safely deliver an essential service to the City of New York during this difficult time,” Commissioner Noah Genel said in a statement.

The city is also taking its own precautions to ensure workers stay healthy as they continue to make their trips out in the public.

The Department of Sanitation has started shifts at 5 a.m. to avoid crowds and equipped garages with extra sanitizing materials, Commissioner Kathryn Garcia said in a statement. Workers have also been advised to wash their hands often and wipe down all surfaces before and after their shifts.

“Given the nature of our job, city Sanitation Workers are trained to practice good hygiene and must wear gloves and appropriate work gear when handling refuse and recycling collection,” she also said.