By Ted Fischer
December 20, 2006

At the MWMA Fall Summit in West Palm Beach, Public Works Commissioners and city employees gathered together for a session on pride in the industry. “If you have ever wanted to end a conversation at a dinner party, all you have to do is say to the person you are speaking with that you are a trash man,” said Ken Baylor, Vice President, Employee and Labor Relations, Republic Services. “We are just as important as any other worker within cities, and we need to be proud of the job that we do. If someone is willing to dispute with you about the importance of your job, then it is time to stop services on a nice hot August day and let the trash on the curb sit for a week and see how the residents of your community quickly respect the job that you do.” “No one should be ashamed of the jobs that are done. We are a vital part of everyday life like police and fire departments, and we too are first responders in the event of a disaster, man made or natural and deserve the respect that others are immediately assigned.”

The session was able to bridge the views of management and employees, to look at the job of a public works employee and the recognition they receive. “Many cities are convinced that if they don’t have a budget for recognition, and there is no possible way of recognizing their employees. I am here to tell you that a few nice words go a long way. Tell your employees about the good job there are doing and don’t be scared to say thank you for their efforts,” said Baylor.

Baylor was dynamic and well received by conference attendees who were excited about the session. Not only did Baylor work on bridging the gap between employee and supervisor, but he also tried getting the attendees to understand that no one is above the job. “Take pride in everything you do. You are good at it and you offer one of the best services around for such an affordable price. Comparing apples to apples, you need to look at how much it would cost a customer to ship the same amount of trash via UPS, $40- $50 and everything has to be packaged in a particular way, yet trash pick up is only dollars to the customer and we pretty much take anything and in any shape.” For more on the MWMA Fall Summit and to see meeting presentations, visit the website www.usmayors.org/uscm/mwma