Off Hillsborough Street, another came outside to greet the men collecting his recycling, even though pickup came a day late.

And in Roanoke Mini Park off Whitaker Mill Road, the women minding their toddlers didn't mind stacks of cardboard and newspaper piled at the street another day.

"You can say Five Points mothers stand in solidarity with the garbage workers!" said Easter Maynard, 35.

Workers met with City Manager Russell Allen for a second day Friday, as the city's trouble with sanitation workers continued. They heard Allen promise results if given time but remained skeptical.

"He was ducking and dodging, saying give me more time," said Charles Moody, a five-year veteran who collects recycling. "We asked, 'When are you going to come back?' He said, 'When do you want me to come back?' Come on, man."

Some have chosen to join with the N.C. Public Service Workers Union, UE Local 150.

The group is busy drafting a list of demands, which leaders hope to present at Tuesday's City Council meeting, said Saladin Muhammad, its international representative.

North Carolina, among the least unionized states in the country, limits unions' power by outlawing collective bargaining for public employees.

Mayor Charles Meeker said he will ask Allen for an update and suggestions for change at that meeting, but he knew of no requests to speak from workers or their representatives.

"Obviously, it's highly important, and we want to deal with it right away," Meeker said.

Among the workers' demands:

* No mandatory overtime work.

* Overtime pay for time beyond the regular four 10-hour days.

* Permanent jobs for temporary workers.

"We need to make the 10-hour workday a reality," Muhammad said.

The U.S. Department of Labor is aware of Raleigh's sanitation workers' grievances but has not opened an investigation.

"At this point, we haven't received enough information that the city is in violation of labor law," said Richard Blaylock, district director in Raleigh.

Green trash bins were emptied a few hours later than usual Thursday along St. Mary's Street near downtown Raleigh.

The delay worried Regina Spencer, 70, who lives at Cameron Village Condominiums, where she can be charged $50 if her garbage bin stays outside after 7 p.m.

Still, she said she sympathized with the workers. "I can't blame them," she said.

Workers in solid waste cite problems going back months, mainly being required to work 12- to 14-hour days with no overtime pay. Instead, they say they are promised compensatory time that is never delivered.

More than 50 workers in all three sections of the department -- garbage, recycling and yard waste -- walked off the job Wednesday and Thursday, a protest that has delayed pickup by at least a day. The city has asked residents to leave trash and recycling at the curb until today, when workers are expected to complete all routes.

"People keep coming out to talk to us, saying y'all do a wonderful job and the city needs to take care of you," said Moody, collecting recycling off Hillsborough Street on Friday.

In Five Points, some residents thought workers' claims were bolstered by their willingness to walk off the job.

"I'd just like them to be properly compensated," said Donna Mehr, 34. "If they come a day later, that's OK. I hope the city is listening to them."

She had one other request for the city: Don't fine her for leaving her bins at the street. They're still full.

(Staff writer Ryan Teague Beckwith contributed to this report.)

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