Garbage strike
Drivers are expected to return to regular collection routes Thursday after approving a new Waste Management contract. (97.3 KIRO FM/Tim Haeck)

Garbage drivers accept new Waste Management contract

BY MyNorthwest.com  on August 1, 2012 @ 6:23 pm (Updated: 1:00 pm - 8/2/12 )

The garbage strike is over after Waste Management recycling-yard waste drivers ratified a new six-year contract. Terms of the deal have not been released.

Waste Management and Teamsters Local 117 reached a tentative agreement Wednesday evening.

Teamsters leadership recommended that striking recycling and yard waste truck drivers approve the pact before a vote on Thursday morning, the two sides said in a statement.

"This deal recognizes Seattle-area recycle and yard waste drivers for the tremendous job they do in performing difficult, dangerous work that protects the public health and the environment," Tracey Thompson, Secretary-Treasurer of Teamsters Local 117 said in a news release. "Recycling is our future. We thank our drivers for their critical role in keeping our cities clean and for helping to make our region one of the leaders in the industry."

The ratification means more than 200,000 customers can expect the return of regular yard waste and recycling service. The strike began July 25.

Garbage truck drivers, represented by a different Teamsters local, have been honoring the strikers' picket lines, but also returned to work Thursday.

"We are extremely pleased that we reached an agreement on a new contract that delivers a solid compensation package to our hardworking and professional drivers," said Robin Freedman, spokesperson for Waste Management.

Due to the timing of the ratification vote, recycling and yard waste collection on Thursday will be limited.

The company is telling residential and commercial customers to put out their bins if Thursday is their regular collection day.

Mayor Mike McGinn said Waste Management customers in Seattle can continue to drop off up to six bags of garbage or yard waste at transfer stations for free. This free service will last through this Sunday.

The company has said it expects it will be fined for missing pickups. Its contract with the city allows penalties of $1.25 million a day for service disruptions that last more than a week. The fines would be used to help customers pay bills.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

MyNorthwest.com, Staff report
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Comments (40)


  • Add A Comment

  • Rotary Engine 101 wrote...
    about
    August 1, 2012 6:30 pm
    F ing time.. Well next Strike in this state will be some teachers Union and this will begin in about 31 days from now.. and then it will be another pissing contest Union Workers Vs. Non Union Workers
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • R L M 456 wrote...
    Maybe thinks won't be this bad with our new Gov
    August 1, 2012 7:34 pm
    Rob McKenna

    he will not want to cuddle bed with The Teachers Union

    I think he might expect them to live by the contract

    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • otmilkr wrote...
    Jesus Rotary.....!
    August 1, 2012 7:44 pm
    Who are you.. a multi millionaire with employees? I don't understand why you have such an axe to grind with people cutting their own deal. I am sure you would be happy if a Corporation were able to "cut a wage stagnation" deal and prevent workers from earning any more money for a decade, why can't you be happy if the other gets one now and again? Over all, your mentality of people is winning, working people have been losing buying power for years.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • Rotary Engine 101 wrote...
    I wont say who I am as it wont matter
    August 1, 2012 7:59 pm
    I dislike Unions as when you all go on strike you hold some one hostage to get your way whether it is a company or citizens like in this case.. In just about all Union Strikes I will side with the company or corp as I dont think it is fair and to go on strike is so 1930 to 50's thinking.. but this is just my own way of thinking and like with other posters on here I am not alone.. So now next month it will be some teachers union and will be the last one before the princess in OLY is gone, and when this happens it will be the same argument & Questions from me as well.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • Rotary Engine 101 wrote...
    Here is what I posted last night just in case you missed it
    August 1, 2012 8:01 pm
    I think that Unions in this country are too powerful and demand too much from the owner of what ever company or Corp.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • otmilkr wrote...
    Unions are too powerful
    August 1, 2012 8:53 pm
    Really, what things have Unions done in the last 5 years ... even 10 years , that make you believe that? How about scooting over to google, and look at what wages have been for the majority of people since 1980. I just do not understand how you can believe that workers have " too much". OK, let's go with ... you are right. What should be done then? Declare Unions to be illegal, and give Corporations and the wealthy 100% total control oer everything? I bet the wealthy would agree with that.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • TwoTrees wrote...
    Well...looky there.
    August 1, 2012 6:39 pm
    WM shows some back-bone, and look who comes scampering back to the table.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • otmilkr wrote...
    Ignorant comment 2 trees
    August 1, 2012 7:48 pm
    Negotiations have been on going. WM was not going to be able to sustain putting people up in motels, flying them around and then having to replace the work where the scabs were coming from in any profitable manner. There is a CDL driver SHORTAGE , and it is getting worse by the day. In case you ever get out and about, you might notice the wanted signs on the backs of nearly every truck. You can type all you want on here, it just makes you look foolish by doing so however.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • HockeyMom wrote...
    Looking foolish....
    August 2, 2012 6:45 am
    Sorry, but in this case the union is the one that looks foolish. They certainly got back to negotiating once other drivers were out there working. I, for one, want to say a HUGE thank you to those drivers (you know, the ones that you all say are inexperienced and dangerous) that came by and picked up my trash on time. Your shortage of CDL drivers argument falls a bit short, otmilkr, when just in the first day of ads they had 100's of applicants. This is just not the time for people to be walking away from a decent paying job with benefits. There are just too many of those out here wanting work with decent pay and benefits. Seems that many were happy to apply and get out there to work.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • maplefish wrote...
    Booo Hoooo Otmilkr
    August 2, 2012 9:39 am
    These garbage men were friggin lucky to get there jobs back. There are so may people out of work right now, those jobs would have been filled in a minute. The Union LEADERS were STUPID to try to pull this off in the middle of the worst economy ( Obama;s economy) Since the Great Depression.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • Chuck Gould wrote...
    Perfect! The (more) level playing field produces results again...
    August 1, 2012 6:41 pm
    In the normal course of a work week, management holds all the cards. No individual worker dares speak out against management or try to negotiate an individual deal, the balance of power is always on the management side of the table.

    By standing together, workers can assume the same type of bargaining power that is traditionally reserved for management and employers. The employers can always say, "Your *job* is at our mercy, make us mad enough and we will fire you, regardless of your performance." Standing together, the workers can say "Your business depends upon our labor. Just as you reserve the right to fire us if it is to your benefit to do so, we reserve the right to withhold our labor if we feel compelled to ask for a bigger slice of the corporate pie."

    It's always hilarious to hear people who are normally in favor of free markets GD unions. Unions are the epitome of a self determined, free market. The wages finally settle out as a result of compromise and negotiation, not because one party, management, has unlimited power and the other,labor, has virtually none.

    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • otmilkr wrote...
    Absolutly Chuck
    August 1, 2012 7:45 pm
    Two quotes come to mind : "Without representation, you are a lone individual, without influence or consequence of any kind" - John L. Lewis & "All you will get out of life is what you are big enough and tough enough to take" - James Riddle Hoffa ...
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • Daddy Dennis wrote...
    Good for WM
    August 1, 2012 7:20 pm
    They put public safety ahead of profits. The idea of drivers with one year of experience roaming the neighborhoods of this region in big trucks has been averted. This is good news.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • Hectic wrote...
    What?
    August 1, 2012 9:31 pm
    On please, are you really that gullible?
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • longwayhome wrote...
    rlm
    August 1, 2012 7:52 pm
    Are you on drugs? Drinking and posting? McKenna will never be gov. of our state. And what do the teachers have to do with a garbage haulers strike? Have you been hanging around with the disfunctional posters on this site? Its me, hpd, ch and all those other brain dead republican echo boxes of limbaugh?
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • Rotary Engine 101 wrote...
    I only
    August 1, 2012 8:04 pm
    brought up the Teachers Strike as deep down it will happen again and next month is when everyone goes back to school..
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • R L M 456 wrote...
    longway
    August 2, 2012 10:06 am
    No as a matter of fact I am not on drugs or drunk.

    It may also surprise you that I am NOT a republican. Just fed up with the direction the current State leaders ( Dem's AND Repub's) are aiming the boat, The comment on teachers was a response that I agree they will be the NEXT public Issue strike (opps, there was the lead in) and of course it will come right AFTER school starts.

    as far as McKenna, a few short months till election will show that either You or me are dilusional

    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • Hectic wrote...
    No Class
    August 1, 2012 7:59 pm
    I totally lost respect for both side thru all this. Especially WM running all those ads today, USING desperate, unemployed people to advance their own agenda. They had no intention of hiring anyone, so lame.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • CH wrote...
    Lets see the details before we start jumping up and down . . . .
    August 1, 2012 8:05 pm
    Look at your wages. $96k an't so bad. Sorry scabs time to go home. LOL
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • John E wrote...
    WM duped
    August 1, 2012 8:32 pm
    The folks who were "permanently hired". Here are some folks begging for an opportunity and were even willing to be a scab to get some work. They were used as pawns.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • kiddenme wrote...
    Not sure its really 96k
    August 1, 2012 8:32 pm
    doesnt that number include full benefits? Which can run 35 - 40% of pay these days? Never know what facts to trust in these deals
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • kiddenme wrote...
    I dunno... both are wrong
    August 1, 2012 8:37 pm
    Unfair to be quite so disdained to the unions. A guy makes $30 an hour and wants healthcare and people get very emotional. The head of a health care firm or oil company makes $200,000,000+ during the recession (partailly caused by healthcare and oil increases) and the same people scream its a free market leave em alone. (uh... it aint exactly free those jokers have just as many lobbyist as your unions does). Do unions ask for too much, yes. Do i want someone driving a 20 ton missille down my street where my kids play who only makes $12 an hour... no way. I mean hec, screw all the workers, we can just outsource their jobs to china right?
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • Derrol_o wrote...
    kiddenme
    August 1, 2012 9:29 pm
    How exactly does a garbage truck driver's wages affect how well they can drive the truck?
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • kiddenme wrote...
    Just saying...
    August 2, 2012 12:49 pm
    I want a professional experienced driver on my block. I do think you get a better applicant pool as the wage scale increases. Matter of fact, I suspect it is difficult to get hired as a driver these days.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • shark75 wrote...
    MilkR is drunk on OT
    August 1, 2012 9:05 pm
    Probably a union e.ff. Anyway, I think this agreement is bad news for customers. I was hoping these union e.ff's would be so blinded by their greed that they'd hold out and WM could fire all of them and rotate the garbage to new drivers even if the union would eventually infiltrate that crop like a bad case of AIDS. At least it would send a message. That said, I'm standing by for the next teachers/Boeing/Teamsters strike. Can't be long, pretty much the only way a union worker gets through their lazy day is knowing that the prospect of a strike is right around the corner. Losers...
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • otmilkr wrote...
    Sahrk 75
    August 2, 2012 4:10 am
    Yes, I am a Union guy. I take that as a compliment...thank you. No, they are not losers, I have not seen the contract offer, they may vote yes, they may vote no, it is a bit past 5 am, I am off to a 12-13 hour work day by the way right now that many people could not or would not do. I will guess that they will get raises of something on the order of 50 , 60 , 65 , 70 , 75 , 80 cents an hour per year.... We will likly hear in a little bit what it is. "In this economy" to use a Conservative term , which is just BS , I would call that employee a "winner"...
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • C"mon Man wrote...
    Done deal
    August 1, 2012 9:47 pm
    Now get back to work, and no overtime to catch up on the results of your hold out!
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }