After Virginia Beach workers demanded new garbage trucks, the city wants to buy them

Virginia Beach — In August, the city’s Waste Management workers demanded better pay and new garbage trucks.

When the council delayed providing hazard pay to them, they refused to collect trash for a day and said they didn’t feel appreciated by the city.

City leaders and elected officials listened to their concerns and agreed to start making changes.

Bonuses of $1,500 were provided to recognize city employees in several departments, including Waste Management, for working throughout the pandemic.

On Tuesday, council members are expected to approve allocating more than $3 million to buy 10 garbage trucks and to add 7.5 part-time positions that will lead to full-time work as truck operators.

New trucks are badly needed as many are getting older and break down frequently, said Drew Lankford, a spokesperson for the Public Works Department. He said trucks are replaced every 10 years but the department is hoping the budget will allow them to be replaced every seven in the future.

“We patched and bandaged them but we can only do so much of that,” Lankford said. “At some point, slapping on a Band-Aid doesn’t help.”

Since the COVID-19 pandemic began, residents have consistently thrown away more trash. This has caused workers to log overtime, sometimes without days off, throughout the pandemic. Having inoperable garbage trucks has made the problem worse and caused delays in pickups, the city said.

Councilman John Moss was the only council member who did not support bonuses for the workers because he felt funding should have been used to provide new equipment first. He said buying new trucks is the right thing to do.

Alissa Skelton, 757-995-9043, alissa.skelton@pilotonline.com.