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Sewage Workers' Plight

To the Editor: Some information we would like the public to know:

I am one of 875 members, men and women, who handle the raw sewage of 14 million people every day plus the tourists who flock to our great city. The waters around the city haven't been this clean in over 40 years. Just ask anybody who has lived here. The blue-claw crab is back, the fluke are in the East River and countless marine life is flourishing. I feel our job is not only essential to public health but to the environment as well.

All anyone can ask is for a fair contract, one that even the Comptroller has acknowledged as overdue. A regular Laborer who works on the street makes $34 an hour without having any experience or skilled labor. My top pay is $23.51 an hour and we work hand-in-hand with raw sewage and are exposed to transmitted diseases as well as many hazardous chemicals. I haven't had a contract in six years; before that, I got 0 percent, 0 percent, 2 percent. That's 2 percent in the last nine years!

I must also go to college for different grades to receive raises to get to $23.51 an hour. We also do welding, carpentry, plumbing, and countless other tasks that a Laborer would never do. The city may say they are bargaining in good faith, yet they make us an offer of $28.50 an hour with many givebacks on top of this and walk away from the table without us giving our counterproposal. So many of my fellow union members are on the brink of losing homes, families, and plain old faith.

The city is holding the cards because of the Taylor Law, and using it to their best advantage making us beg, rather than giving us what is fair. The next time you flush, think about the 875 men and women on the other end. It ain't pretty, but somebody's got to do it, and we're damn proud of it.

ANTHONY MONGIELLO, Proud Local 1320 Member, District Council 37