A summer of discontent has unfolded across the United States as garbage strikes disrupt waste collection in various cities, leading to unsightly messes and malodorous fumes that plague many communities. Labor unrest that began to party a few days before that. Representing sanitation workers across the eight-county metropolitan area surrounding Boston, Local 25 launched a strike this week against Republic Services. This move was soon followed by similar actions in Manteca, California, Ottawa, Illinois, Cumming, Georgia, and Lacey, Washington.
At the height of the strikes, over 2,000 refuse collectors were out of work. This crisis impacted millions of Americans and left many municipalities in a reactive state trying to adapt to the growing mountain of waste. Eric Fiel, a veteran sanitation worker who’s more used to moving the incredible 1.5 million pounds of garbage a day. Yet now, with strikes ongoing in major cities across the U.S., municipalities had a hard time maintaining normal collection services.
It was in Garden Grove, California that the fight escalated. Mayor Greg Vargas joined forces with the mayors of five other surrounding towns to sue Republic Services for breach of contract. Adjacent to Philadelphia, the City of Complacency, Mayor Kenny dealt with a garbage strike that lasted all of eight days. Yet the pact with the public workers was soon struck. This speed resolution stands in stark contrast to the dynamics of labor negotiation around the country.
As a result of the strikes, Gloucester even repurposed some municipal employees to help with refuse collection. Still, when faced with the disruption, other cities turned to emergency outsourcing of waste management functions to private, Third-Party Contractors.
Will Zekas, a sanitation worker from Lacey, Washington, thanked the workers’ solidarity across the country. He loves their unity to demand better wages and health care through their unions. He pointed out the dangers that sanitation workers have encountered in this time.
“We have a pump system that keeps breaking. Basically it just pools up. You’re wading through this water. It’s full of feces, diapers, animal feces, whatever comes through.” – Will Zekas
Though we won some victories at the bargaining table, the state of things is still dark. Mike Ortiz, a truck driver on contract with Republic Services in Malden, Massachusetts, shared his anger about the $1.50 an hour increase that Republic Services is offering.
“The cost of living is high – what they’re offering, I wouldn’t be able to live on that in a month.” – Mike Ortiz
In response, as the strikes dragged on, Boston Mayor Michelle Wu made her move. She ordered Republic Services to pay fines for their failure to pick up garbage from the right of ways across the city. This court ruling highlights the need for a swift resolution as trash continues to mound in cities.
In Lacey, Washington, the local union scored a historic win. Only after striking for about a week did they achieve their hard fought victory at Republic Services. The negotiations elsewhere have proven challenging. International Union representative Mike Ortiz says that the union and Republic Services remain miles apart. They have some very important issues to discuss on pay and health-care benefits.
Greg Vargas, disappointed by Republic Services’ inability to make good on their promises from pre-strike negotiations. He commented on the company’s commitment to provide effective and environmentally safe waste management solutions.
“When they were talking to us before the strike, they said, don’t worry about it, we’re a national company. We’ll have people in place and take care of everything,” – Greg Vargas
“That has not been delivered on since day one.” – Greg Vargas
They focused on winning a deal that puts employees on a path to the industry’s best pay and benefits. In response, they charged Teamsters leadership with focusing on disruption instead of engaging in good faith conversation.
“Republic Services is focused on facts and reaching an agreement that provides our employees with market-leading pay and benefits, while Teamsters leadership is focused on disinformation and disruption.” – Republic Services
As we know with the protracted garbage crisis, social harm has become the focus of a larger discussion about the intersection of waste management and public health. Sarah A Moore noted that the stigma around waste is often tied to poverty and illness.
“We have these negative associations with waste, particularly smellier waste, that is associated with poverty and disease – other things we don’t like to see or think about.” – Sarah A Moore
For a large number of frontline workers who have participated in this labor struggle, the price—as calculated in shock and trauma—has been immense. Glaicy Santos concluded by expressing her palpable anger at what is going on today.
“It’s been horrible, terrible, really. I don’t know how to explain how frustrating it is.” – Glaicy Santos