GARBAGE COLLECTING
"Sometimes life sucks. Sometimes it can be an opportunity in disguise. (Please, oh please, let it be that!)" [garbage collector Tauna Bolhmann]
The History of Garbage Collecting
(continued)
Although garbage collecting remains a physically demanding and potentially hazardous profession today, the pay is respectable – even higher than salaries in some “white-collar” professions. (In recent years, garbage truck drivers have earned higher salaries than some teachers in New York.) For example, in San Jose, California, where salaries are among the highest in the nation,, the average salary for sanitation workers is $28, 853. Overtime hours pay time and a half. Certain districts and private companies offer bonuses for safety and productivity. Benefits frequently include paid vacation and sick leave, retirement plans, and medical, dental, vision, and life insurance. Job openings in the field are expected to increase at a slightly higher-than-average rate in the next five years, as ecological and environmental awareness expands the recycling industry. Garbage collectors – 85% of which are male – will be around for a long, long time, and as Cayman Islands garbage truck driver Byron Britton affirms, "It would be good if the public could become more aware of our contribution."
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