Sanitation workers

[perdidochas]

How much do you tip your sanitation workers for the holidays?

I don't the current ones, as they are government workers, and have pretty decent benefits. When a private company picked up at a different house, we would on occasion gift them with a 6 or 12 pack of beer and/or soda.

 

[BeachLove]

I stopped tipping since they constantly leave trash in my yard and my big trash can on its side in the middle of my driveway. Every single time I get home on trash day I need to get out of the car, pick it up, pick up the trash next to it and move it down my driveway. I don't know but my neighbor has the same issues with them. The can is mostly always half full or less so its not like I pack it full of stuff. I cut my cardboard boxes to size, my plastics always have the recycle symbol. So why in the world do they toss those bins into the middle of my yard with stuff still in them. No tip for you

 

[gncntry]

I don't ever see my sanitation workers but I as several PPs have said I do receive and pay my Public Works bill.

I buy several 12-packs of sodas and some bags of candy and leave it for them.

 

[DVC-Don]

Ours is a private company and I've never met the workers. I do know there is only one person on each truck (garbage & recycle) and they never get out of the trucks. If it ain't in a bin, it ain't getting picked up.

We don't get a paper.

The letter carrier keeps putting other people's mail in my box, so nothing to give there. (Friend of mine is a letter carrier in Leominster, Mass and makes more $$ than I do).

 

[mickeyfan9194]

Trash guys: 0. They don't get out of the truck.
Newspaper person: 0. They can't even get it in my driveway/yard half the time. I find the paper in the street, laying in the gutter.

The 2 above only come once a week.

My mail carrier will be getting a $20 gift card from me. He's always smiling, talking to the kids, brings my packages to the door, pets my dog...and is there 5 days a week.

 

[Jenny3]

I pay my bill every quarter when it comes....and that's it.

I wouldn't have the slightest idea who they were and I dont think they even get out of their truck to empty the can anymore.

I'm sure they're great guys, but I don't see them as someone I should be tipping.

Yep.

I don't tip my mechanic, my mailman or my DD bus driver either. The only people I buy for outside of my family are my administrative assistants and my children's teachers/aides.

 

[Sinderelly]

Our sanitation crew workers do a great job. They work really hard in all kinds of weather. We give them a case of Pepsi or Coke, candy and a restaurant GC for lunch. We get a thank you card signed by each of them in our mailbox. I sometimes go outside if I'm home when they come if it's hot and give them a bottle of water or a soda. They REALLY appreaciate it.

We also give our mail carrier and stylist something from Bath and Body Works.

We give our favorite server a double tip for the holidays.

Sometimes a little kindness goes a long way.

 

[Disneefun]

I really don't tip anyone at the holidays. The trash guys make a bigger mess most of the time than they clean up, the newspaper guy has the gall to put a card in our paper that says, "If you'd like to tip, please make checks out to..." (I won't tip anyone who asks, no matter how politely the request is put), I tip my hair stylist all year long so I don't add any more b/c it's December, and the mail people are an ever revolving cast of nitwits who can't get the correct mail in the correct boxes. It's literally a different person every couple of months.

The only person I might tip is my UPS guy because he really does go out of his way for me at times but when the holidays roll around, he doesn't do my route. I think it's b/c he's good at his job so they put him on the "gotta have it there by 10 AM" route and leave the regular routes to the temps.

 

[kkandaj]

This will be the first time I "tip" the sanitation workers. And really, I don't even know if their the same ones that pick up the trash at my house or not. My mom lives about 2 miles away and her trash is picked up on a different day than ours, but my son stays with her during the day. He loves to run outside and talk to them--he sometimes gives them little treats or cards that he's made--and they always stop and talk to him for a minute or two. If the weather is bad, they will honk and wave through the windows at him.

The company used in our town is a small company and they do ride on the back of the truck and actually have to put the trash/recycleables in the truck. I had no idea there were "arms" on trucks in big cities.

I am getting each sanitation worker a $5 gift card to the popular gas station in the KC area, for DS to give them tomorrow. It may not be much, but he's given them bags of crackers before and they've appreciated that. I am sure they will appreciate a drink or hot dog from the gas station. Under other circumstances, I would not be giving them any sort of tip. DS loves the trash men though and waits for Thursdays so he can see them!

 

[penn19]

I really don't tip anyone at the holidays. The trash guys make a bigger mess most of the time than they clean up, the newspaper guy has the gall to put a card in our paper that says, "If you'd like to tip, please make checks out to..." (I won't tip anyone who asks, no matter how politely the request is put), I tip my hair stylist all year long so I don't add any more b/c it's December, and the mail people are an ever revolving cast of nitwits who can't get the correct mail in the correct boxes. It's literally a different person every couple of months.

The only person I might tip is my UPS guy because he really does go out of his way for me at times but when the holidays roll around, he doesn't do my route. I think it's b/c he's good at his job so they put him on the "gotta have it there by 10 AM" route and leave the regular routes to the temps.

I feel the same way. I felt bad not sure why, but did, the last time I went to my stylist. It was just before Thanksgiving and when I was getting ready to leave, she said oh I guess this will be your last time in before Christmas. I said yea (well, duh, I just made my appointment for the end of January, so yea, this would be the last time in before Christmas). Didn't think anything of it until after I left that it was probably a not so subtle hint that I should tip her for the holidays? I tip her every time I get my hair done. I don't understand why I feel pressure to tip more at the holidays. She should do something for me!

I don't tip anyone extra for Christmas. I tip during the year, the regular tipping stuff, but don't feel the need to tip extra. Call me crazy. Or a Scrooge.

 

[momof3ds]

I'm from NYC, now living in upstate NY.

We lived in an apartment as a kid so we didn't tip garbage guys or mail people, never saw them/

Still don't tip them. And, if someone ever purposefully ran over my garbage can, you can bet I'd be complaining.

 

[kennethsrib]

DH ,works for a private sanitation company. Yes there are trucks that the drivers do not have to get out of the truck to pick up your garbage. Yes it would appear that they don't do much, however what you may not realize is that all that garbage gets squished into the truck and a lot of times behind the blade needs to be cleaned out. That means that your sanitation worker is climbing into a stinky smelly truck and hauling disgusting leftovers out of the truck with a shovel.

I realize that everyone has their opinions, and I do too. My dh's job is not one that gets many tips, as he does commercial pickup. You can bet that when he does receive any kind of recognition for a job well done, he is thankful. Many times it is simply a card of thanks, or a phone call to his company. Not everything is about money.

So, perhaps a card of thanks or a phone call to the company would be a nice and non threatening to your pocketbook way of commending someone for a job well done

 

[dakcp2001]

When I lived in New England it was normal to tip the trash men. They were the same guys every week, they put your cans back where they belonged, and they would often stop and help people who got their cars stuck in the snow. Ii lived on a hill where cars would often need a push in the snow. We knew their names and a Lot of us hired them to help us love or take out an old appliance etc. we also knew our mailman it was the Same man every day for almost 15 years that I lived there. Where I live now,I have never seen my mail person. I have never seen my trash people. So here I do not tip. I will leave a box of candy for the maîlperson.

 

[wtrmlnlabs]

Reading things like this reminds me I love my area! It never occurred to me to tip my garbage man till a few years ago. We'd bought the house I grew up in, so it was always the same guy. He just does a few areas and it is just him. We only pay $2 a can, every other week, only put out one can, so SUPER cheap. The first year I realized maybe I should give him something we gave him $20. DH watched out the window to be sure he got it, told him "Merry Christmas" when he did. The guy was shocked. The next 2 years I sent out $50. I agree with a PP, when it's expected It's quite annoying, but knowing he was surprised at it and grateful, I'm happy to give the man that has to deal with such nasty smells, bugs, and just plain ick a nice surprise.

All that being said, this year we've moved, it's a company that picks up now. They get out of the truck and load the garbage in it but it's much more expensive and I've got no plans to leave them anything. I don't leave anything for anyone else either, don't tip the hairdresser extra this time of year... okay, maybe a teeny bit extra. We have different mail carriers so I don't leave anything there. I home school so there are no teachers or bus drivers. I did take a pumpkin roll to his tae kwon do instructors though...

 

[sherry7]

I had never heard of tipping a garbage man until I read about it hear on DIS. The same goes with tipping a plumber, furniture delivery men, UPS, FedEx, postman, etc.

My paper delivery person puts a "tip reminder card" in my paper a couple of weeks before Christmas. Considering that the service sucks and I have to frequently call the office to get my paper, I won't be tipping him anytime soon.

I tip wait people, baggage handlers, my hair stylist, hotel maids, etc during the course of the year.

 

[DisneyEater]

I normally tip them if I have too much garbage or if I put something too heavy or something they wouldn't normally take out on the curb. I just tip them that day for doing the extra instead of an arbitrary end of year tip.

 

[AndreaDM]

So your criteria for tipping is whether they make more money than you? That seems arbitrary. So a high school kid taking his girlfriend or boyfriend out to dinner on money he's saved from Christmas and birthdays should not tip the waitress, because she makes more money than him? Alternatively people who make a lot of money should tip everyone, because they make less?

I know some bartenders/ waitresses who make 1500 a week- I hope people don't ask them how much they make before deciding whether or not to tip
them.

Sanitation is a messy, ugly job. I am grateful that we have dedicated folks who make my neighborhood look nice. To me, it's worth it.

That's comparing apples to oranges. Servers/Bartenders make a very small hourly wage and that $1500 per week they make is FROM tips, they don't make that as a salary and get tipped on top of it. A sanitation worker is paid a decent wage for his/her job, their salary is not dependent on tips.

 

[ZoeBell]

That's comparing apples to oranges. Servers/Bartenders make a very small hourly wage and that $1500 per week they make is FROM tips, they don't make that as a salary and get tipped on top of it. A sanitation worker is paid a decent wage for his/her job, their salary is not dependent on tips.

Someone I know is a sanitation worker. He makes $12 an hr. is that decent to you? He certainly doesn't make $1500 a week. He barely makes that a month.

 

[4HppyCamprs]

Someone I know is a sanitation worker. He makes $12 an hr. is that decent to you? He certainly doesn't make $1500 a week. He barely makes that a month.

It depends on the city and where they work how much they make. Our city has a very strong union for streets and sanitation so they make
More than the police and firemen in our city.

Sent from my iPhone using DISBoards

 

[AndreaDM]

Someone I know is a sanitation worker. He makes $12 an hr. is that decent to you? He certainly doesn't make $1500 a week. He barely makes that a month.

Still, it is not a tipped position. Should we tip every grocery store clerk who makes minimum wage?