Union: Safety record no factor in rewards

The Sanitation Department is a good opportunity for someone who has a high school diploma or passed the GED test to work his way into a career with excellent pay. The system rewards punctuality, doggedness and loyalty.

"The safety record doesn't have anything to do with it," said Frederick Winters, president of the local chapter of the Fireman and Oilers union, which represents garbage truck drivers.

Sanitation Department employees start off washing trucks, clearing vacant lots or watching brush dropoff sites. Or they work as groundmen, who ride on commercial trucks and roll garbage bins into position for a driver. Ambitious workers take vocational training or otherwise get a commercial driver's license.

"A lot of them get into positions where they'll dump trucks at the incinerator, or shuttle trucks around," Winters said. "You go from one of those serviceman jobs, which is really a maintenance worker, and you learn how to drive."

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