Indianapolis, Indiana – The Indianapolis Department of Public Works lacks 20 to 25 trash truck drivers per day.
Consequently, the garbage from hundreds of people is not being cleaned up.
There aren’t enough workers to fill in for the drivers that Public Works has removed from other agencies, which makes it harder to fix potholes and complete other jobs.
Public Works’ deputy director of policy and planning is Abby Brands. People are aware of the labor deficit, she claimed. “Probably the most evident, I think, the thing people feel the most is because they are setting their trash cart out and their trash is not getting picked up”
This week, public works was short 152 workers or 20% of the roles filled by union employees. According to I-Team 8, the COVID-19 pandemic caused some employees to retire while others simply moved on.
As per Brands, “Part of it is due to our early retirement program that happen during COVID. We saw a lot of people take that package and leave the city.”
A commercial driver’s license, or CDL, is necessary to operate a trash truck or a larger snowplow truck, and it is required for many of the vacant Public Works positions.
Public Works is covering the $3,500 training cost since the city needs workers with commercial driver’s licenses so badly. As per Brands, “And that is for new as well as current employees who we have that are interested. We will pay for the full training program for a Class B CDL.”
But the city will want its money back if the newly trained employee quits within a year.
Although winter snow isn’t far off, it takes time to train new drivers.
“I definitely think it could be a difficult situation. If Indiana weather were to snow tomorrow, we would certainly be in a tough spot in order to address that weather event,” Brands said.
An additional incentive to join Public Works is the $2,000 sign-on bonus that is being provided to new hires. During the first six months of employment, the money is paid.
Additionally, the city and the union have discussed retention benefits for current Public Works employees. Employees who have worked for the company for four years will receive a few hundred dollars. In 2022, a 20-year employee can anticipate receiving an extra $4,300.
In addition, the city raised the wage for entry-level jobs to almost $19 per hour.
The additional financing was granted by the Indianapolis-Marion County City-County Council, and Public Works is preparing a multimedia campaign to draw candidates. There is no assurance, though, that hiring more people and paying them more will result in quicker road repairs or timely trash collection.
