Case #1495.0

A Day's Work for a Day's Wages: Boosting Worker Productivity in New York's Department of Sanitation

Publication Date: January 01, 1999
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Abstract:
This municipal labor relations case tells the story of the effort by New York City's sanitation commissioner to convince, or force, the city's 11,000 "san-men" who work on the city's 1,000 garbage trucks, to reduce the cost of collecting the city's trash. It describes the city's approach to contract negotiations with the highly-unionized sanitation force and the combination of incentives and threats it employed--knowing that the wrong mix could prompt a strike which could cripple the city.

Learning Objective:
The case allows for discussion of the uses and limits of non-confrontational approaches to productivity gains, the interests of union leaders and members, and the pros and cons of privatizing select municipal functions.

Other Details

Case Author:
David Eddy Spicer
Faculty Lead:
Linda Kaboolian
Pages (incl. exhibits):
23
Setting:
United States
Language:
English
Funding Source:
AFSCME Jerry Wurf Memorial Fund