Trash collectors in Columbia should get fair compensation for their work, Mayor Brian Treece said Monday.
“There are refuse collectors that have been here for five to 12 years that are still making $13 an hour,” he said. “We need to reward them with the same dignity that other cities do.”
The mayor made this statement at the Columbia City Council’s first work session on the $458 million budget that City Manager Mike Matthes proposed in July. The city has had recent trouble hiring and retaining full-time trash collectors, given the relatively low pay and high rate of injuries that come with the job. Columbia’s Solid Waste Utility requires 30 full-time trash and recycling collectors but only has 17.
Treece said that the current staff is doing twice the amount of work.
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