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City of Pittsburgh Environmental Services vehicles sit near Railroad Street in the Strip District.
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City Public Works employees from multiple divisions temporarily moved to refuse collection duty

Darrell Sapp/Post-Gazette

City Public Works employees from multiple divisions temporarily moved to refuse collection duty

13 sanitation employees are in self-isolation, according to the union

The city’s Public Works Department has moved employees to assist in trash and recycling collection in part because of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

Approximately 30 of the department’s employees were shifted last week from other divisions to sanitation work “to help with staffing due to Environmental Services workers who need to call off for various reasons, including but not limited to self-isolation,” said Timothy McNulty, mayoral spokesman.

The mayor’s office also announced Wednesday that one of the bureau’s truck drivers died from complications of COVID-19. 

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The city had announced last week that two sanitation workers tested positive for COVID-19 and that a “small group of coworkers who came into contact with them are in self-isolation as a precaution,” according to Mr. McNulty.

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The number of employees in self-isolation is 13, according to the Teamsters Local 249, which represents the city’s sanitation workers.

Because of the dip in manpower, “there is some rubbish left on the street,” said Paul Kapetanovich, of Local 249.

The reassignment of some Public Works employees is “just a temporary thing until our numbers get back up,” he said.

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The city employed 209 environmental services workers at the end of 2019, according to city employment records.

City sanitation workers rallied outside of the bureau on March 25, demanding protective gear after an employee was sent home and ordered to self-quarantine for 14 days after his wife had been potentially exposed to someone who tested positive for the coronavirus.

The administration said that federal health and safety guidelines are being enforced for the workers, including providing gloves and “doing daily health screenings.”

CLARIFICATION: This story has been updated to reflect new information from the city. The 30 employees represent multiple divisions within the Public Works Department.

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First Published: April 15, 2020, 6:52 p.m.

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City of Pittsburgh Environmental Services vehicles sit near Railroad Street in the Strip District.  (Darrell Sapp/Post-Gazette)
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