Some NYC sanitation workers see salaries approach $300,000 due to staffing issues

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They’re really cleaning up.

About 100 New York City garbage collectors and their bosses pulled in salaries of about $300,000 due to a windfall from overtime, a report published Sunday said.

The New York Post, citing a department representative, reported that the blowout salaries were due to excessive overtime hours because of staffing issues throughout the year. The shortage was blamed on the COVID-19 epidemic. The paper pointed out that many of those who saw a jump in pay were retirement-age supervisors, who can use the bump to "fatten their pension."

FILE: A sanitation worker wearing a mask and gloves collects trash amid the coronavirus pandemic on April 28, 2020 in New York City. (Photo by Alexi Rosenfeld/Getty Images) (Alexi Rosenfeld/Getty Images)

The paper identified Christopher Tamas, a supervisor in the Bronx who was hired in 2000, as the overtime "king." His total compensation was $299,160 after earning $170,883 in overtime.

TEEN COUPLE MISSING AFTER TAKING TRAIN INTO NYC

FILE: A New York City Department of Sanitation worker wearing a mask and gloves collects the trash amid the COVID-19 pandemic on April 30, 2020 in New York City. (Photo by Alexi Rosenfeld/Getty Images) (Alexi Rosenfeld/Getty Images)

Like other city organizations, the agency has a vaccine mandate in place that has compounded staffing issues. The city’s Correction Officers Benevolent Association last week sued Mayor Bill de Blasio over his "draconian" vaccine mandate, and complained about the long hours workers are expected to clock due to staffing shortages. As of last month, 87% of the department’s 10,000 employees have received at least one jab.

FILE 2021: A New York City Department of Sanitation snowplow travels along a street following a winter storm in New York. Photographer: Mark Kauzlarich/Bloomberg via Getty Images

The Post’s report said the jump in overtime was attributed to massive snowstorms and the fact that the department did not hire as many new employees as in years past. The sanitation department did not immediately respond to an after-hours email from Fox News.

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"They didn’t hire new people for over a year," Harry Nespoli, the head of the Uniformed Sanitationmen’s Association, told the paper. "They didn’t hire nobody during the pandemic because there was a hiring freeze. The garbage needs to be picked up."