Hurricane Ida’s garbage is stinking?
20th September 2021 · 0 Comments
When several “hoppers” went on strike against Metro Disposal Company in 2020, the workers demanded more pay and benefits. A Metro executive said the company raised wages, but its competitors wooed workers away with higher income. The pandemic and Hurricane Ida exacerbated the labor shortage in the City’s waste management industry.
Power outages and the loss of food follow hurricanes. The aftermath of a storm is when garbage collection is critical for maintaining and safeguarding public health. Rotting food draws disease-causing rodents and scavengers that can ultimately invade homes and cause structural damage and illness.
The chickens, or “garbage,” have come home to roost not just for Metro but for all waste disposal companies. It’s a fact until workers are paid decent wages, labor shortages will persist. And that’s not good. There’s no doubt that federal stimulus checks raised some out of poverty but for how long?
To her credit, New Orleans Mayor LaToya Cantrell hired emergency waste management contractors and opened the City’s former waste incinerator on Elysian Fields where residents can bring their garbage.
Cantrell came under fire for the way she handled the garbage crisis. Critics say she should have brought in additional contractors months ago. Before Hurricane Ida, “When will the garbage be collected?” became a common refrain among neighbors.
Some say the Elysian Fields dump is not a viable solution for all citizens. Elderly people and residents without transportation won’t be able to use the site. Others say the place is dangerous and may lead to exposure to harmful toxins. Then some people don’t want to tote garbage in their vehicles or doing the garbage collectors’ job while still paying monthly for sanitation services.
The miles of garbage lining sidewalk edges will reportedly be gone by September 24.
After that, what? New Orleanians have had it with TBD garbage pick-ups and power outages. Combine those outrages with low wages, and New Orleans might be in for a more significant labor shortage than expected.
We hope Ida’s evacuees don’t do what Hurricane Katrina’s evacuees did. That would be déjà vu and not in a good way. Many never returned. It’s not a stretch to say that Black people left New Orleans before, during, and after natural disasters in search of a chance to achieve the American Dream. They knew they couldn’t reach the good life in a city built on structural racism.
During the Great Migration, aka “Black Migration,” six million African Americans left the South and settled in the Northeast, Midwest, and West between 1916 and 1970. They went for economic reasons but also to escape segregation and discrimination. Many Black New Orleanians pulled up roots and resettled to compete and achieve their goals and dreams.
New Orleans’ Black Migration continued into the 21st Century. From 2000 to 2010, New Orleans lost 30 percent of its population. And in April 2020, New Orleans had 17 percent fewer residents than in 2004, the year before Katrina hit, according to Census data.
New Orleans is a top travel destination, a wonderland, a great place to visit and party. But trying to be successful in “The Big Easy” is anything but easy.
New Orleans culture is laid back and artsy, and its people pleasant and colorful, but nearly a quarter of residents are poverty-struck. Finding jobs paying more than $7.25 is daunting. Highly educated and professional people are underpaid here, too. It’s why New Orleans is trapped in a cycle of continuous brain drain. A person can make double the salary offered here for the same skill set.
In fairness, a few local companies have gone beyond the federal minimum wage, and city workers’ got a raise, but few pay the $15 minimum wage essential workers demand. Anyone who works 40 hours weekly shouldn’t be in poverty, period.
Louisiana legislators haven’t passed a minimum wage. They follow the federal minimum, which no one can live on. Even $15 hourly isn’t a livable wage. Curb New Orleans reported that A Go Banking Rates study estimates it costs $60,782 annually to live well in New Orleans.
Whatever happens with the evacuees, one thing is sure, Hurricane Ida underscores the need for Louisiana to pass a living wage bill. $7.25 an hour is a poverty wage, but a family of three with two $15 an hour jobs could climb out of poverty. Absent a state minimum wage, companies and local governments will have to pay competitive wages.
Right now, New Orleans’ streets are full of Hurricane Ida’s destruction. Rotting food, roofing materials, and all manners of debris are still sitting on neighborhood sidewalks. So, addressing the labor shortage is critical for maintaining public health.
Those inclined to use the incinerator site can dump trash and garbage at 2829 Elysian Fields Avenue, which is open from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Residents are responsible for off-loading their garbage at the site. The City will only be accepting bagged household garbage. Vegetative debris, construction debris, appliances, electronics, or tires will not be accepted.
This stinking garbage dilemma is a reckoning for the waste management industry here. People are tired of working to stay in poverty. The only way to solve the labor shortage is to pay people like you’d want to be paid.
This article originally published in the September 20, 2021 print edition of The Louisiana Weekly newspaper.
