City plans to hire 300 sanitation workers in time for winter
The city is beefing up the ranks of its Sanitation Department by hiring 300 new sanitation workers over the next few months.
This is good news for Sanitation union officials, who have repeatedly complained about a dwindling workforce, as well as for candidates
whose names have been sitting on a slow-moving civil service list.
It could also be a strong signal from the city - still smarting from last winter's botched snow cleanup - that it is anxious to head off any future problems.
"I'm just so happy that we have enough people so that we can fight a major storm," said
Harry Nespoli, head of the
Uniformed Sanitationmen's Association. "This is a good move by the city of
New York."
Nespoli estimated the new hires will bring the number of Sanitation workers up to 6,150. Last year, he sounded a warning when the
city had just 5,800 front-line workers going into the winter.
"This is not the highest number of people we ever had, but this is the lowest we should be going into for the winter," Nespoli said.
"We're going to protect the people and keep this city open."
Tempers flared last year when the Sanitation workers - seasoned snow fighters led by a proven veteran - were unable to clear city streets after the massive December storm.
There were questions about staffing, equipment and interference from City Hall. Rumors of a systemwide worker slowdown proved to be just rumors.
"Let's face it, that was a major storm," said Nespoli.
The city, the department and its workers will be anxious to
put those memories to rest this winter.
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