The Importance of Investing in and Celebrating the Public Works Workforce

National Public Works Week (NPWW) is an annual celebration of the vital role municipal public works departments play in cities, towns, and villages across the country. In every community, committed public works workers provide services that are critical to our quality of life. This NPWW, NLC is shining a spotlight on the importance of a worker-centric approach to Public Works workforce development.  

The city of Birmingham is one of 16 cities participating in the Good Jobs, Great Cities Academy, a collaborative initiative co-led by NLC and the U.S. Department of Labor’s Employment and Training Administration.

Led by Mayor Randall L. Woodfin, the City of Birmingham’s commitment to its mission of ‘Putting People First’ starts within its own departments. We had the opportunity to connect with Director of Public Works, Joshua Yates, to learn more about how the City of Birmingham celebrates and invests in their public works workforce all year long.

The City of Birmingham launched a New Waste Program across the entire city, which incorporated new waste carts for solid waste pickup, reduced and contained the waste on their roads, and allowed for automated truck pickup that reduced the number of employees collecting waste in the roadway. Waste collection in the roadway is one of the top 10 most dangerous jobs in the U.S. This initiative was able to leverage technology to protect and promote workers and create efficiencies for the department as the employees no longer on the roadways were then able to fill other gaps in the public works and local workforce.

While it may seem simple and routine, Director Yates shared that for most public works employees, job quality and higher employee morale come from having what they need to do their jobs with pride. By closely monitoring and evaluating the quantity and quality of equipment needed and by listening to his staff’s needs, Director Yates demonstrates his commitment to the department’s safety and expertise.

The city of Birmingham, in partnership with Lawson State Community College, a local, public, historically black community college, recently offered training opportunities for a CDL (Commercial Driver’s License) program. This program is a 2- or 3-week course, depending upon CDL Class B or Class A, which is free for the employee and during which the employee continues to be paid as if they were at work while they are being trained.

Promoting advancement and lifelong learning is a proven strategy for retaining important institutional knowledge, regardless of industry.

In 2023, Mayor Woodfin scored a major win for municipal workers by bumping up the minimum wage for city employees to $15.00/hour. Director Yates reflected that this wage hike significantly boosted both applicant numbers and staff retention in the public works department. Before the change, more than half of his 630 public works team members could have been earning less than $15.00/hour. In addition to increased earning potential for both current and new public works hires, drivers and operators saw their paychecks grow, too, as a market response. And the numbers do not lie, in 2021, vacancies in public works plummeted from 200 to around 80 – a 60% decrease that has and will continue to have a direct and positive impact on local quality of life and service provision. But Director Yates isn’t stopping there, he has his sights set on reducing the number of vacancies to 30 or fewer by 2025.