‘I’m giving residents options’: Ya Fav Trashman sees strike dilemma from both sides

Philadelphia s largest blue-collar union s strike has left the city s residents without sanitation and trash pickup services for three days now Along with the piles of trash that have been accumulating on sidewalks and the temporary dropoff locations across the city entrepreneurs offering to pick up people s trash at varying costs have popped up on social media platforms Terrill Haigler the former municipal sanitation worker turned clean streets advocate and Philly social media personality better known as Ya Fav Trashman was among those who offered this organization using the truck he bought earlier this year On Monday Haigler posted a video on Instagram with his thoughts about the prospective strike if a deal wasn t reached by midnight He gave his endorsement to every DC municipal worker saying give em that money When the strike began the Instagram account wildtuna posted info on Haigler s trash pickup services which was a house The post got plenty of feedback it has over comments as of Thursday afternoon prompting Haigler to post a response during the first day of the strike View this post on Instagram A post shared by Terrill Haigler yafavtrashman Haigler announced he s been called a scab a phony and a fake and been accused of spanning the picket line and profiting off the strike There have also been messages of help Feedback has been right down the middle Haigler reported I have percent of people saying they hate me now and I m being called all kinds of names he declared Then I have people who are sending me encouraging messages and say Hey you don t work for the union you don t work for the city you re not taking city money and our contract to pick it up You ve been doing this as a private business since so why not make money Unlike plenty of of the people who ve emerged offering private trash pickup this week this has been Haigler s daily grind for years This isn t something I m taking advantage of he reported I ve had a hauling company since I ve been hauling trash through my nonprofit for free since Terrill Haigler aka Ya Fav Trashman center and workers Tyler Johnson right and Tymir Wilson left with the Philly Litter Task Force s new truck out collecting litter like drywall and mattresses that were dumped in constituents areas on January Kimberly Paynter WHYY As Haigler stated in the video he supports the union s efforts But he also wants to continue the clean streets advocacy his social media platform and business have been doing since he launched them No one had a matter with me picking up trash for free using my own money or organizing with corporations and sponsors of my nonprofit raising money to pick up the trash he commented It s the same thing Residents are choosing to sponsor their own trash pickup until the strike is over Haigler says that he and his crew did about pickups on Tuesday Wednesday had around and Thursday was headed towards Haigler estimated that all this added up to around eight tons in trash pickup due to the strike along with the construction cleanup and illegal dumping pickups that he collects on a normal week By Thursday afternoon he already had pickups scheduled for Saturday July and the number was climbing Haigler had been mulling whether to keep his business going during a strike over the past three weeks since the possibility that AFSCME District Council and the city might be unable to resolve their impasse began to loom on the horizon He announced he even called chosen of the sanitation workers he previously worked with to get their opinions All but one commented they wouldn t take it personally if he kept offering to help he noted He added that one of his former coworkers notified him that his advocacy and spotlighting of Philly s municipal sanitation workers and environmental justice had contributed to the confidence and momentum that the union now has to try and negotiate for a higher wage and go on strike I m not trying to toot my own horn but since I ve started my Instagram and started advocating I know personally I ve shifted the perspective of sanitation workers and trash in the city of Philadelphia he stated History lessons Haigler reported he understands the bargaining leverage the union has with all the trash left out on the streets He has seen the calls for people to drop off their trash in front of City Hall as a form of protest and disclosed he supports those who wish to do that As a municipal sanitation worker he performed a similar form of protest in front of the Municipal Services Building back in to protest the efforts of the Streets Department under then-Mayor Jim Kenney Haigler commented that those were different circumstances than this week though In we weren t on strike We just didn t have the support to do our job But we weren t on strike he reported Everyone was still coming to work Everyone was still busting and hustling and the lack of people at work wasn t because of a strike It was because of a pandemic People were sick People were dying This strike while just as pivotal is a different circumstance than Tensions have flared between striking union members city workers and police particularly at the sanitation centers accepting dropoffs AFSCME District Council president Greg Boulware was a guest on WHYY s Studio Thursday and was questioned whether people should take their trash to the temporary dropoff sites I would say it doesn t help our cause at all to do so Boulware declared Would I call a citizen a scab Absolutely not They are citizens They re tax payers They re just trying to figure out what to do with their trash I would tell those citizens to urge the administration and the Mayor s office to get to the table with us to come with a deal that s literally workable for us Because thus far we ve not come to that place Haigler explained he hasn t received threats or any efforts to hinder his business I m not taking advantage of anybody What I ve been advocating and doing this entire time for the last five years I m creating an economically feasible way for Philadelphia to stay clean he explained I m not taking advantage of anybody I m not trying to make in one day After dump fees paying his workforce motorcycle costs and everything else Haigler explained his profit margin on his per household pickup offering comes to around per house He also stresses that none of this is coming from the city I m not taking money from the mayor or the city I m giving residents options to sponsor their own trash pickup until the strike is over Haigler says his amenity is not taking what it collects to the temporary dropoff sites the city has opened this week As he has reliably done he takes it to the dump and pays the fees to dump it there which eats deeply into any perceived profit margins It s a ton minimum So if I go do a pickup truck and pick up houses the pickup truck only has half a ton I still have to pay for a full ton he mentioned People just don t know all the things that go on in the industry They don t know everything that goes into being a hauler One of the goals of Haigler s business is also to provide work for young people returning from incarceration and at-risk youth He disclosed this factor also makes him confident with his decision to continue picking up trash during the strike I know that there s people that haven t had any work that are working now and they have a second chance in life and we re empowering them to make better decisions he commented So I m OK with my decision I still stand toes deep Haigler disclosed that he hopes that the strike will be over by Monday He was shocked that the negotiations haven t reached a settlement Particular of them are living paycheck to paycheck but that just shows the seriousness of DC workers thoughts of their wages he explained They are in desperate times So for you to vote for a strike and not be paid during this time means you re serious Again I help them wholeheartedly Wholeheartedly The post I m giving residents options Ya Fav Trashman sees strike dilemma from both sides appeared first on Billy Penn at WHYY