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ST. LOUIS — Roughly a third of the city’s trash truck drivers have called in sick to start the week.

Multiple workers blamed low pay, heavy workloads and poor treatment from management.

“They already don’t get paid enough,� said Downtown Alderman Rasheen Aldridge, who has fielded such complaints himself. “To be disrespected at the same time is unfortunate.�

The demonstration marks the latest sign of distress for a department under pressure. The city has struggled to provide consistent service in recent years due largely to difficulty with hiring and retaining drivers. Officials have responded with pay increases and other incentives, and staffing levels have improved.

But pay remains below what drivers can get in the private sector. Citizen complaints about late pickups remain well above historical levels. And drivers have been working seven days a week to make up for shortages.

Streets Department Director Betherny Williams said 18 of around 50 total drivers were out Monday, and just over a third of the city’s trash routes got completed. Sixteen drivers were out on Tuesday. And Williams said the division will be working the rest of the week to catch up.

Williams said she met with union leaders Tuesday to discuss complaints raised this week. She noted that the department has raised starting salaries for drivers to $44,252, and said the department does not require people to work overtime. She said department leaders will investigate complaints of mistreatment.

“All employees should be treated fairly,� she said.

Problems at the city’s trash division are nothing new. Seven years ago, the problem was the trucks: The city lacked the money to keep the fleet up to date, and on some days, nearly half of it was out of commission.

A trash fee hike fixed that.

But then the pandemic hit, and personnel became the problem: The city imposed a hiring freeze. More people started leaving for better-paying jobs in the private sector. By July 2021, division leaders said they were throwing recycling out with the trash in much of the city to ease pressure on overworked staff.

And when the city restarted recycling in the summer of 2022, the pressure ramped up even further. Dumpsters across the city were left untouched and overflowing for weeks. And the division started running routes seven days per week — instead of the traditional four.

The difference has been visible in budget figures: Overtime for trash collection hit $1.34 million in fiscal year 2023, up from $700,000 in fiscal 2019.

And last week, Refuse Commissioner Randy Breitenfeld said he wasn’t sure how much longer his staff can endure the workload. It was one reason he complained to the Board of Aldermen’s budget committee about a proposed cut to trash truck driver positions.

The administration disagreed. Williams said the new budget would have enough drivers to cover all of the routes, though drivers would have to continue picking up seven days per week instead of the traditional four.

And that didn’t sit well with workers.

“That pissed us off,� said one of the trash workers, who asked for anonymity for fear of retaliation. “They said we’re good. We’re not good. We need more pay so we can get more people so we can have our days off.�

The demonstration could ease Wednesday, workers said.

Williams said that would be welcome.

“We’re hoping they’ll be back tomorrow,� she said.

In the meantime, she’s asking residents to leave out roll carts if they haven’t yet been emptied.