http://money.cnn.com/2016/02/24/news/economy/trash-workers-high-pay/index.html:dwillhuh:
February 25
NEW YORK
When Noel Molina smells trash, he smells money. Lots of it.
Molina and his co-worker, Tony Sankar, have been picking trash together for a decade in New York City.
They've seen, and smelled, it all. Stale fish, footlong rats, dead pigs and cows. Countless drunks have heckled them. And yes, one time Sankar saw a human leg in a dumpster.
They work the graveyard shift -- 7 p.m. to 3 a.m. -- rain or shine, ice cold or burning hot.
And yet, they love their job. Part of the reason is they get paid well for their hard work.
"Your trash is my money," Molina, 32, says with a baby-faced grin.
Molina made $112,000 last year as a garbage truck driver and Sankar made $100,000 as a helper, riding on the back of the truck. Their wages have grown in eight of the last nine years, according to their bosses, brothers David and Jerry Antonacci, owners of Crown Container, a waste management company.
Related: Workers' rage over move to Mexico caught on video
Molina dropped out of high school in the 10th grade and he's worked at Crown for 10 years. He says his starting salary was about $80,000. Sankar too dropped out of school before migrating to the U.S. from Guyana 20 years ago.
Not everyone makes six figures, but most trash workers are doing better than high school dropouts and even graduates.
Nationwide, the annual salary for a garbage truck driver is $40,000, according to the Labor Department. Across all professions, high school dropouts earn about $24,000, while high school graduates make $30,000 annually, according to the U.S. Education Department.
Molina and Sankar are aware that they outearn many people with a college degree.
Guys who go to college might not make the kind of money "(I make) on the back of a garbage truck, picking up trash," says Sankar.
Related: The $100k job: Be an apprentice
Not only do they earn a good salary, their wages are growing faster than the average too. Nationwide, wages for trash workers have grown 18%, which is a lot faster than the 14% average for all workers since the recession ended in June 2009.
That's because it's not easy to find workers in the business. Employers can't find qualified truck drivers, landfill operators or mechanics.
David Antonacci says he got 50 applications when he advertised for a truck driver's job. Only four applicants had a commercial drivers license and all four had penalties on their licenses. So Antonacci couldn't hire any of them.
Related: Yelp CEO responds to employee letter on low wages
That lack of available talent is one key reason why Antonacci and others in the industry have given out raises at a faster pace than the national average.
It's the same story in other parts of the country. Kathy Morris runs a waste management facility in Davenport, Iowa, and she's raised wages to retain employees.
"Not only has the demand for workers increased but (so have) the types of skills," says Morris, director of the Waste Commission of Scott County. The landfill operators at her site make about $50,000 a year.
February 25
NEW YORK
When Noel Molina smells trash, he smells money. Lots of it.
Molina and his co-worker, Tony Sankar, have been picking trash together for a decade in New York City.
They've seen, and smelled, it all. Stale fish, footlong rats, dead pigs and cows. Countless drunks have heckled them. And yes, one time Sankar saw a human leg in a dumpster.
They work the graveyard shift -- 7 p.m. to 3 a.m. -- rain or shine, ice cold or burning hot.
And yet, they love their job. Part of the reason is they get paid well for their hard work.
"Your trash is my money," Molina, 32, says with a baby-faced grin.
Molina made $112,000 last year as a garbage truck driver and Sankar made $100,000 as a helper, riding on the back of the truck. Their wages have grown in eight of the last nine years, according to their bosses, brothers David and Jerry Antonacci, owners of Crown Container, a waste management company.
Related: Workers' rage over move to Mexico caught on video
Molina dropped out of high school in the 10th grade and he's worked at Crown for 10 years. He says his starting salary was about $80,000. Sankar too dropped out of school before migrating to the U.S. from Guyana 20 years ago.
Not everyone makes six figures, but most trash workers are doing better than high school dropouts and even graduates.
Nationwide, the annual salary for a garbage truck driver is $40,000, according to the Labor Department. Across all professions, high school dropouts earn about $24,000, while high school graduates make $30,000 annually, according to the U.S. Education Department.
Molina and Sankar are aware that they outearn many people with a college degree.
Guys who go to college might not make the kind of money "(I make) on the back of a garbage truck, picking up trash," says Sankar.
Related: The $100k job: Be an apprentice
Not only do they earn a good salary, their wages are growing faster than the average too. Nationwide, wages for trash workers have grown 18%, which is a lot faster than the 14% average for all workers since the recession ended in June 2009.
That's because it's not easy to find workers in the business. Employers can't find qualified truck drivers, landfill operators or mechanics.
David Antonacci says he got 50 applications when he advertised for a truck driver's job. Only four applicants had a commercial drivers license and all four had penalties on their licenses. So Antonacci couldn't hire any of them.
Related: Yelp CEO responds to employee letter on low wages
That lack of available talent is one key reason why Antonacci and others in the industry have given out raises at a faster pace than the national average.
It's the same story in other parts of the country. Kathy Morris runs a waste management facility in Davenport, Iowa, and she's raised wages to retain employees.
"Not only has the demand for workers increased but (so have) the types of skills," says Morris, director of the Waste Commission of Scott County. The landfill operators at her site make about $50,000 a year.
till he rolled out in his 5 series 
