Just noticed an issue on Ubuntu MATE 19.04 that I didn't have in previous versions. So, looking to see if I'm the only one before opening a bug report.
When I open a new Caja window and right click on the trashcan (in the left panel), I don't get the option "empty trash" in the context menu; it doesn't matter if it's full or empty, I mean that the line in the menu doesn't even appear, not that it's greyed out. Subsequent tries work. It happens for every new Caja window that I open.
Finally found out a bit more about this: it seems to be a theme bug. When testing Manjaro, I noticed that the context menu on initial Caja window opening displayed an arrow at the bottom to show more options, among which the "empty trash" one. I first thought it was because the apps versions were different and it has been fixed on Manjaro (as it's a rolling release version). But trying a different theme on Ubuntu MATE like Arc shows the same arrow.
So, the issue seems to actually be with the default Ubuntu MATE theme (Ambiant-MATE, Radiant-MATE and Ambiant-MATE-Dark), though I'm not sure why Caja behaves differently when opening the trashcan context menu (click once: it'll show part of the menu with an arrow to scroll; click again: it'll show the full menu).
(EDIT: Imgur displays the screenshots in the wrong order, so I've added the numbers.)
Screenshot #2. Arc Dark theme after opening a Caja window: you see that the menu doesn't show everything and there's an arrow at the bottom to scroll and show more (there seems to be too much space on top so the menu appears a bit weird but it's probably a bug in the Arc theme, as I got a nice menu with the arrow when testing Manjaro).
Screenshot #3. Still Arc Dark theme, after having right-clicked again on the trashcan: it shows the whole menu. That's where my original confusion came from, the menu first shows only part of the options, then the full ones.
Screenshot #1. Ambiant-MATE theme when opening a new window or changing dir (same case as 1/screenshot 3): the arrow is actually there but is probably dark grey on dark grey, so it's invisible and adds to the confusion. That's why I first thought that Caja displayed an incomplete menu.
EDIT: actually, I have the same issue on Manjaro as with the Arc theme with the display of the initial menu (too much spacing on the top, separator crossing the last item), it's just that I didn't really notice when testing. So, it's possible that it's an issue with Caja that is shown by some themes more than others.