The city of Dallas is having delays with trash collection due to a recent shortage in the labor force.
The city of Dallas bland the trash collection delay on the shortage of workers. Dallas Sanitation Services Interim Director Tim Oliver said the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic and the current temperature could be the reason for the shortage of workers.
“I think the heat that came on all of a sudden. Those guys work out in the heat,” Oliver said. “I think that has affected it as well. We just did not come out of it as quickly as we expected,” he added.
Oliver said the sanitization workers shortage is also being felt all over the Country. Potential workers prefer taking the Unemployment Benefit they receive from the government to getting actual work.
“We thought coming out of the pandemic, it would return back to normal and we would get people hired,” Oliver said of the pandemic.
Greg Abbott, the governor of Texas, just recently ended the additional $300 in weekly federal unemployment. Abbott’s decision was made to get people back to work.
“We’re hopeful that it will have an impact here pretty soon,” Oliver said of Abbott’s decision.
In its effort to get more workers in the trash collection sector, the city of Dallas is planning a wage increase. Oliver said the city would increase pay by $15 an hour starting August.
The city of Dallas, which was under heavy criticism a few weeks ago for its delay in getting waste picked up, announced there would be more delays. The city announced it would have to delay trash pickup in some parts of the city. The delay, which is set to run intermittently over the next several weeks, could take up to two days at a time.
Residents of the city of Dallas are advised to wait at least 48 hours to report any delay in waste collection.
