Some New Orleans Public Works employees say they're on strike

NEW ORLEANS, LA (WVUE) - Some workers with the City of New Orleans Public Works Department say they're on strike. They say they won't go back to work unless they get what they want.

The employees who spoke with FOX 8 say they want to sit down with Mayor Latoya Cantrell and talk about their pay and working conditions. They say they don't make enough to live in New Orleans, and they want a raise to $18 an hour.

"We don't have the manpower to keep the drains clean, we don't have the manpower to do the potholes," said Public Works employee Toinette Johnson.

"Believe me, we love our job. We wouldn't be out here doing it if we didn't, but we want to get paid just like you would pay anyone else. We can go anywhere else and get paid more. We need our money," said employee Kennan Mitchell.

The employees say about a dozen workers will be on strike in front of City Hall Tuesday morning.

We reached out to the city about this story. A spokesperson for Mayor Cantrell's office told us there is not a strike and the workers who came to City Hall Monday returned to work.

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