A Republic Services trash can.
Photo by Michael Whitney.
SNOHOMISH COUNTY — Republic Services workers remained on a work stoppage in cities throughout Snohomish and King counties as of press time Monday because they are in solidarity with a strike by the Teamsters Local in Thurston County at a Lacey landfill, who went on strike Wednesday, July 9.
The next negotiations can happen when the two agree to meet again. The union said Monday afternoon they’re still waiting on Republic to open talks.
Until the Lacey contract is resolved to get the workers off strike, or if the company fills in the gap with outside workers, local services will be paused.
“We are taking additional steps to serve customers if the work stoppage continues,” Republic Services said in a July 11 statement about restarting services. These could mean using drop-off locations for trash and adding staff to work routes, the company said.
Locally, Republic is contracted by individual cities such as Snohomish and Monroe to handle garbage, recycling and yard waste pick up.
Those local Teamsters members are not on strike, but didn’t come to work due to the Lacey situation.
International Brotherhood of Teamsters spokesman Matt McQuaid said extending the strike picket line across Western Washington was “a tactic that was a last resort” after talks failed. That local union had been negotiating for a long while.
An extension to a picket line is like enlarging the net of workers who are off the job in solidarity with the local Lacey union’s strike.
McQuaid wasn’t sure as of July 9 on whether the picket line extension would extend statewide.
If talks happen and a contract is agreed, the ratification process which would end the local strike could happen within a day, McQuaid said July 11.
The strike effects were a surprise to the office, a Republic Services customer service representative said.
The company is working to send notifications to customers.
People in Snohomish County “should care because this is entirely the company’s fault,” McQuaid said. “It’s the company’s fault garbage is piling up.”
Snohomish County’s transfer stations and recycling services are all open, county public works spokesman Bill Craig said. These are not affected for people to bring their garbage and recycling.
Local cities are being kept appraised.
“Our hope is it gets resolved,” Snohomish city spokeswoman Shari Ireton said.
Republic Services issued an update to the Tribune on Friday it is “taking additional steps to serve customers if the work stoppage continues into (this) week, including securing additional Republic Services staff, prioritizing routes and identifying potential drop-off locations. We will continue to communicate updates to customers via text, automated phone messages and emails. We appreciate the community’s patience and apologize for any inconvenience this union work stoppage has caused.”
Republic declined to clarify by deadline with more details in response to followup questions on what that means.
Securing additional personnel, though, might mean bringing in drivers from elsewhere to drive the collection trucks to resume services in limited capacity.
In the East Bay area cities of San Francisco where a strike walkout is happening, Republic brought in drivers from out-of-state to collect garbage in some but not all affected cities, the CBS affiliate KPIX-TV reported.
Republic is negotiating on five separate workers contracts around the country.
Some 2,000 of the 6,000 Teamsters workers working for Republic are on strike, McQuaid said July 9.
The first strike was July 1 in Boston. It was about matching pay wages to a competitor’s wages, according to the organization Teamsters for a Democratic Union, an independent group of union members.
Then a couple of days ago, other Teamsters Locals also in contract negotiations — such as one near Chicago, and another in Stockton, Georgia — went on strike.
In the negotiations in Lacey, the local union seeks better health care packages, better wages and better worker protections, McQuaid said.
McQuaid said Lacey workers are paid 13% less than the Western Washington average. For health care, they seek lower premiums and better deductibles. McQuaid said they seek health care packages comparable to other Teamsters at competing waste companies.
“The company is hurting because of our unity. That’s the firepower we need to win the contract we deserve,” Jose Zepeda, a chief shop steward at the Stockton Republic landfill, was quoted in a Teamsters for a Democratic Union article.
