Shreveport Garbage Workers Call in Sick Again

Nearly 40 Shreveport solid waste workers called in sick on Monday and more have called in sick today.

This is delaying pickup for many Shreveport residents. 38 employees did not report for duty on Monday and the City had to scramble to get to the thousands of residents waiting on garbage collection. Monday pickup includes most of southeast Shreveport east of Youree Drive to the Red River and Flournoy Lucas Road. Many residents in Broadmoor and South Highlands will have to wait at least a day for service.

Mayor Cedric Glover released this statement: "normally, 35-40 trucks hit the streets first thing Monday morning to collect trash. Today only 14 trucks were deployed. ``This isn’t something that we anticipated would happen but we do have contingency plans that we can activate if it happens again,’’ said Stan Harris, director of Shreveport Public Works. ``On the bright side, all of the appointments for bulk collection were completed today and we expect to fully meet Tuesday’s schedule of 60 pickups as well.’’

 The workers have concerns about pay and working conditions. Harris has been in discussions with the Union Rep, but no contract adjustments have been made.