Tipping your 'garbageman'

Hunter1 · December 2003

A couple of answers to an earlier post mentioned leaving a tip for posters' garbageman. This brought to mind a subject I'm ambivalent about, and since it's the day after Christmas, and I'm the original Scrooge, I'd like to get some other posters' opinions: Recently, the Teamsters (sanitation services) were on strike in the Chicago area. They settled their contract under the following terms: 5 years, total of a 30% increase in wages and benefits over the term, continued fully employer-paid health insurance, a substantial employer contribution to an under-funded pension plan, and all this on top of a wage that was $19.86/hr before the contract, and included a $1.00/hr wage increase at the start of the contract.

Our sanitation employees make $18.00/hr, and their fringe benefits take them to just under $30.00/hr. I know this is not a 'king's ransom', and that other sanitation employees may make more or less than those in our area, and, certainly, this would not be a living wage in some areas. Still, this is a good job in this area.

We have a policy against taking tips (public sector, you know), and my understanding is that tipping has fallen off considerably. Our citizens are paying these wages and benefits. Are tips necessary, too?

marc · December 2003

I am one of those who tips them during Christmas, but it is really recognition for the times they do more than our service agreement calls for. It isn't often, but I occasionally exceed the allowable number of bags and bins, and they always take everything I put on the curb. I also occasionally exceed size limits - like bundles of trimmings that are too long - again, they take them. I think that qualifies as above and beyond.

It is certainly not something I do everyweek, and I do not tip the mailman or the paper delivery service, because I do not perceive them going above and beyond.

Now, tipping the food server when we dine out is one that I somethimes get torqued about. It is so expected. The restaurants and bars pay minimum wage and expect their customers to make up the difference. I now go to 20% for average service.

Hunter1 · December 2003

Marc: Thanks for the response, and this is intended to be light-hearted: So, for the sanitation workers, what you REALLY tip them for is for breaking their employer's rules??

marc · December 2003

I call it customer service.x;-)

HRsage · December 2003

My opinion on tipping is it depends on the situation. I don't tip my garbageman. I don't put out excess bags for him to handle, in fact in my neighborhood he doesn't even have to get out of his truck to touch a trash can. Plus they make as much if not more than me in wages and benefits, granted it's not a job that I'd want.

When it comes to tipping the waiter/waitress it also depends on the service I receive. 15% most times and 20-25% for really good service. It urks me that even if they give poor service they expect me to tip them the same as if they had given me good service. They chose to take a minimum wage job, if they are relying on tips to supplement the wage then they should be giving excellent service all the time.

And now it seems everyone is asking for tips. Every coffee house, smoothie bar, fast food place has a "tip jar" by the register.
Are you kidding me?
Unless I'm a regular and they know when I walk in what my regular order is, I'm not putting a thing in that jar. My best tip for them would be to get another job if they're not happy with their pay.

mwild31 · December 2003

I'm not a fan of tipping for services that I otherwise pay for & have zero input into the speed or quality of service. I've just moved into a townhome & was surprised to find out that removal of a Christmas tree was going to cost about $20 bucks AND I would have to chop the thing into pieces before they would pick it up - so I went artificial this year.

Unions drive me crazy - on the one hand, I think they're needed in some lower paid, though highly necessary professions, but hate it when they get a foothold because they take the wage/benefit levels way too far. This year, my old school district had one of the longest teacher's strikes in the nation. The issue was of course pay & benefits. It just seemed extremely outrageous to me that the teachers were going to complain about their already high wages & benefits & want more and yet, our county has been hit the hardest with the recession and the bust in the aerospace industry. In one week alone, 19,000 people in my county went off unemployment because they had exhausted their benefits & other than part-time seasonal work, there's really nothing else out there. Before anyone cries foul about my disgust with the teacher strike, let me just say that my ex's family are all, except two, teachers & in fact two of them work in this same school district. The strike finally ended & now with the latest election, all of the school board members that were standing firm against the unions were voted out & a new batch (union supported) voted in - they're going after the sitting superintendent & they'll probably win.

Whether it be garbage collectors complaining about their salary/benefits or teachers (average wage for this school district is $56k + benefits) it all seems nuts to me. There, that felt good to get that gripe off my chest.

Disclaimer: The above was just opinion, mine & mine alone, I don't claim to know everything or nothing, they're just my thoughts on the thread.

ray a · December 2003

I will tip the paper carrier this year because he finally started giving good service. And after some complaining he has turned out to be one of the better ones in recent years.

The garbagemen? Forget it. Marc you are fortunate. We have all these rules and if you inadvertantly disobey their rules (for which I pay them well) they red flag the garbage and refuse to take it. But, they see no problem with destroying my cans. Bah Humbug to them.

HRQ · December 2003

I'll bet Marc and I have the same type of service. The garbagepeople x:D never get out of the truck. A big arm-thingie swoops down, raises my can over the truck, flips it over to dump it, and then swoops it back down to the curb.

Come to think of it, maybe there are no actual people in the trucks - they might just be operated via remote control by some gal in her robe and jammies, sitting in her recliner at home. Now THAT job, I'd take. Forget the tips.

I completely forgot to tip my house cleaning people. They work hard, work fast, SMILE, greet me every time they pass me in the hallway, and chat with my children. They are honest, and tell me immediately if they've scratched or broken something. I'll have to catch them the next time, and give 'em some cookies too.

I tip servers more than 15% if they behave like they genuinely enjoy their jobs - I don't mean the false act that some put on. I also tip more if think I've been rude or annoying to them. (THAT never happens! x;-))

Pixie · December 2003

My brother was a garbage man for over 20 years. He loved the holidays, residents never tipped him, but they did throw away many valuable items. The holidays were especially fruitful, many gifts would be thrown out with the crumpled wrapping paper. He brought home new clothes, jewerly, hand held tv's, you name, he got it. When he was asked "how's work?" he always responded, "Ican't complain, it's always picking up and I have all the free food I can eat!"

HRQ · December 2003

He must've been the type of garbage man who actually had to get out of his truck to do the work. x:D

Isn't it odd that in the land of snow (OH and other states) they have to get out into the weather to do their jobs, but in AZ and NV where the worst weather is rain and MAYBE temps in the 30's or heat in the summer, they get to stay in their trucks and let the big "arm" do all the work?

Not that I'd ever want to trade jobs with them...

Don D · December 2003

[font size="1" color="#FF0000"]LAST EDITED ON 12-27-03 AT 06:52AM (CST)[/font][br][br]I would not knowingly tip any service person who belongs to a union. They are the sole reason that jobs are leaving my state by the thousands and going, as they say, 'offshore'. Blame it on NAFTA or whatever you like. Bottom line, it's union wages and other demands driving the jobs away. I do tip the garbage man, as you call him. I taped a $5 bill to the can one day last week. I also recalled that one day he hollered at me in the yard and laughed about the empty cardboard beer box I put on top of my can sometimes. He laughed and said, "Hey man, I always look in here thinking maybe you left me a can." Today, the day after Christmas, I had my two full garbage cans and three extra black sacks sitting by the mailbox. When he swung down off the truck with his usual smile, I told him, "Hey hold up", and I took him a case of beer, more expensive than they one I buy for myself. He put it up in the cab of the truck. These guys are not union where I live, just struggling with minimum wage jobs. They used to use prisoners with striped green pants and I know they could not accept beer. But that was in a past era.

Don D · December 2003

At the risk of offending another poster, above, I would certainly tip the garbage worker who returned a handheld TV I inadvertently discarded. I don't think I would want him on my route if he didn't return it.

ray a · December 2003

OK, I break one of the rules for garbage collection and they write me a "ticket" so I should still tip the collectors. Should I likewise tip the officer with a badge and gun when he pulls me over for speeding and gives me a ticket?

Whatever · December 2003

Here's the Chutzpah award for the year (Chutzpah is Yiddish term meaning gall. More specifically, it's someone who kills their parents and then asks for the mercy of the court because they are orphans). My newspaper is delivered to my apartment building. The building staff distributes it to the various apartments. Before Christmas, the delivery person (who sometimes doesn't deliver) included in every paper a stamped self address envelope with a very religious money card and a thank you note. On Friday, when the morning paper finally arrived at 2 pm, it included another stamped self adress envelope with avery religious money card and a reminder "thanking you for the present I know you forgot to send."

marc · December 2003

Wow, Whatever - that takes the cake.

HRQ, our garbage guys in Nevada are hardly in the truck. They run alongside and wheel the cans to the back to deposit the contents in the back. These guys are above minimum wage, but not by much. I think they pull in about $8.50 per hour, but as I understand it, they get either a bonus or additional time off if they 'beat the clock' time established for their route.

Anyway, they seem to work hard and are usually fairly cheerful about their work. Not unionized and they do not write tickets. I am glad I don't have the issues others have depicted. Maybe I should tip them more frequently....

HRQ · December 2003

Maybe the luxury of never having to exit the garbage truck in gorgeous 75 degree weather is an AZ thing... Sorry I assumed, marc. x:D I have no idea what garbagepeople are paid in AZ.

mushroomHR · December 2003

The way our garbagemen throw our cans after dumping them I wouldn't tip them a cent. The cans always end up in the middle of my driveway and I have to get out and move them before pulling in. They also leave half the garbage in the cans too. I only tip when I get good service and that is usually from my newspaper carrier, hairdresser, and of course the UPS man. Waiters/waitresses get tipped too for good service.

JudyT929 · December 2003

Our sanitation workers don't even get out of the truck, it is all automated. We have mandatory containers that have to be placed a certain way on the curb, the trucks automatically reach out 'arms' to lift and dump the container. If their is a vehicle parked in front of your container you are out of luck, if something flies out of the container due to wind it stays where it lands, if something gets stuck in the container too bad...The thought to tip these people never crossed my mind and never will. I also wouldn't tip the newspaper person since I have to walk to the curb to get my paper and it took them 2 months to understand that weekend delivery meant I didn't want a paper Monday to Thursday. I also didn't tip the mail person since they still, weekly, are delivering mail to me addressed to the people I bought the house from a year ago although I constantly write FORWARD on the mail and place back in mailbox. Maybe I'm a scrooge... I do generously tip restaurant employees, my manicurist and hairdresser and anyone else who goes above and beyond the call of duty in a service postion.

FHR · December 2003

Keep in mind that in some states tipped restaurant employees are paid below minimum wage and their tips are taxed. It is also the hardest job I have ever had as far as multitasking is concerned. I worked at one restaurant where the kitchen was on the ground floor and the dining area up two flights of stairs. I had to run up and down those stairs with huge oval trays filled with all sorts of stuff weighing up to 75 lbs. And the customers were apalling at times. By the end of the day that smile was definitely pasted on.
Cristina

Shawn · December 2003

Here's a tip.......don't eat yellow snow!

WOCO Frank · December 2003

I tipped my garbageman for Christmas... I left an extra 15% trash for him.

POPEYE · December 2003

>I tipped my garbageman for Christmas... I left
>an extra 15% trash for him.
>
>
>;)

Woco you almost stole my line. I was going to respond that my trash during the holidays was at least 15-20% better than most weeks.

WOCO Frank · December 2003

I couldn't believe the line was still open after three days!

Janet · December 2003

I'm a little late to this thread, but I just have to chime in. I "grew up" in the trash business--my dad owned and operated a disposal business. Christmas was always great for him and our drivers--lots of goodies from appreciative customers. However, we were a family-run business--most haulers aren't and the service they provide reflects that. I say: If the service is worth it, tip your driver. (The driver WILL remember what you gave him, I promise!)

Sue · December 2003

I'm late with this post too. Each year, mid-December our garbageman, Jim, leaves us a Christmas card with his name. For the past few years I've bought him and the postal worker a small gift (less than $10) as thanks for a good job. I like giving, it simply makes me feel good!

Tipping your 'garbageman'

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