Bosses Agree to Negotiations, Sanitation Workers Return To Work

Waste Management Sanitation Workers who service King and Snohomish County will return to work unconditionally at midnight to prevent a public health crisis and to minimize service disruptions to area businesses and residents.

“The public comes first,” said Ewart Grove Jr., a 25-year Waste Management employee. “We won’t stand by and let Waste Management break federal labor laws, but we also won’t let this company hold our community hostage to its illegal actions.”

Union representatives expect seven hundred area sanitation workers will resume normal operations Friday morning to catch up on the backlog created by yesterday’s work stoppage.

“We are trying to persuade Waste Management to stop bargaining in bad faith,” said Rick Hicks, Secretary-Treasurer of Teamsters Local 174. “However, we are also concerned that if we continued the strike, Waste Management might lockout our members and create another Oakland.”

When Waste Management locked out sanitation workers in Oakland, California many residents did not receive trash pick up service for one month.

“At the urging of Seattle Mayor McGinn and King County Executive Constantine, we commit to getting this done at the bargaining table and to keep the public out of it, if possible,” added Hicks.  On Wednesday, McGinn and Constantine issued a joint letter encouraging both parties to return to the table and resume work as quickly as possible.

The Company did not respond directly to the Union’s renewed request of today to return to the bargaining table and negotiate in good faith.  Instead, Waste Management today chose again to deal directly with Union members.  Nevertheless, Hicks said, “we will take management at their word when they promised our members that the Company will bargain in good faith.”

Critical issues remain to be resolved.  “There is no reason why Waste Management can’t provide the same healthcare protections provided by its competitors,” said Tracey Thompson, Secretary-Treasurer of Teamsters Local 117. “With the amount of money this company is spending to fly over 500 strikebreakers to Seattle they could easily match Allied Waste and CleanScapes healthcare packages and give their customers a rate break.”

Waste collection and disposal ranks as the fifth most dangerous job in the U.S. Waste Management employees regularly report being exposed to human feces, rats, rotting meat, maggots, dirty needles, blood products and medical waste.