[ad_1]
One corner features Republic services, the second largest garbage and recycling company in the country. In another position, it is the international brotherhood of Teamsters, a large, tenacious union representing thousands of Republic employees.
Around 450 Republic Service workers, represented by Teamsters in the Boston area, have been on strike since July 1, and work halts have since spread due to the involvement of thousands of workers across the country. In California, sanitary workers have left their jobs in Orange and San Diego counties and Bay Area cities.
Santa Ana warned of the delay and asked residents to keep the bottles on the curb, allowing them to ultimately receive service. In Anaheim, where the delay began last week, city officials said Sunday that 50% of customers in the Downtown area were collecting trash, with last week’s pickup expected to be compensated in the coming days. Garbage piled up in Fremont, California, is piled up on dumpsters and streets, warning of delays in operation in several cities. And in Chula Vista, San Diego County, Mayor John McCann called for a special city council meeting over the effects of the suspension, highlighting the possibility of declaring a state of emergency due to the dangers of stagnant waste.
Workers outside of Boston are not on strike themselves, but select facilities in California and elsewhere have chosen not to cross the picket line as a way to intensify pressure on Republic Services, a publicly-owned company based in Phoenix. Teamsters promise more of such a strike expansion.
“Republic Services have been threatening war with American workers for many years. Now they have one,” said Sean M. O’Brien of Teamsters, who accused the Republic of putting a burden on rank and file employees while lavishing executives with multi-million dollar compensation packages. “Teamster has it with the Republic. We will flood the streets and close the garbage collection in the post-state.”
Both sides met with federal mediators on Friday but failed to reach a deal. The company has returned to Teamster with a furious statement calling the union a “threat to employees and the community.” The company said the wage proposal will promote 43% coverage over five years, including generous retirement contributions and “zero premium healthcare.”
The company was also fighting the inclusion of contract clauses that would allow Boston Teamsters to participate in job halts by fellow union members in cities around the country.
So far, in Southern California, the majority of workers at the Republic Service Facility in Huntington Beach have joined Chula Vista in addition to Anaheim and Santa Ana.
Republic Services provides waste disposal to multiple cities in LA County, including the Alhambra, Inglewood, Whittier and La Canadha Flintridge, as well as waste and recycling services to Southern LA and Northeast San Fernando Valley.
The LA County site has not been directly affected.
“To date, the city has not experienced any impact,” said Tonya Shelton, a spokesman for the LA Department of Health, “we are ready to stimulate our emergency operational plans as needed to ensure uninterrupted services.”
In Chula Vista, mayor McCann said it was “incredibly unfair” that his city is dealing with the impact of a strike on the other side of the country.
“The goal they want to do is to get better wages and better opportunities for Boston drivers, but we don’t control that,” McCann said. Drivers from Arizona and other regions were working overtime until the weekend to keep up to the Chula Vista rubbish department.
Teamsters officials said responsibility should go to Republic Services leaders and their business practices.
“For millions of Americans who are watching garbage pile up due to the Republic’s strike, remember one thing: the company was transported for $77 billion,” said Victor Mineros, director of Teamsters Solid Waste and Recycling Division, in a statement. “The Republic can easily afford a fair and competitive contract that meets the needs of everyday hardworking Americans.”
[ad_2]Source link
