Trash strike over: Republic Services, Teamsters reach deal to end week-long strike
Jul 23, 2025, 3:15 PM
The week-long strike led by Republic Services trash workers in Thurston County has ended after Teamsters Local 252 ratified a new contract with Republic Services management.
The strike began in Lacey last week and expanded after workers in Snohomish and King Counties honored picket lines. The details of the agreement have not been disclosed, as of this reporting, but a representative of Teamsters Local 252 told KIRO 7 that the contract was “a step in the right direction.” The union claimed the previous offers it received were “an insult.’
The union stated they were striking to protest “unfair labor practices,” rallying for improved wages, stronger labor protections, and better benefits. Republic Services said the agreed-upon offer is “fair and maintains our competitiveness in the market.”
“I understand where the union is going with it,” Rick Sannes, a Republic Services customer, told KIRO 7. “They deserve to have a fair, living wage, and collective bargaining is part of the drill to get that. I support that, but it is inconvenient for people.”
Local residents fed up with trash strikes
Due to the ongoing strike by workers at Republic Services, garbage was piling up in several areas last week, including Bellevue.
The company provided customers with the option to drop off their trash at the Bannerwood Parking Lot, located at 1790 Richards Road, on Tuesday. That location reopened on Wednesday from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m.
However, a daycare told KIRO 7 they’d have to rent a truck to get their bags of dirty diapers to the drop-off site.
“I’d have to glove up and go in there and get it out,” a daycare worker said.
KIRO host Gee Scott cited a Facebook post his friend wrote to share his frustrations.
“Republic Services, please come pick up this trash. I don’t care about what y’all got going on, between my dad, kids, and myself —everything is backed up over here. Pay these people because now I’m gonna go to random places. I’m over it,” Gee shared on “The Gee and Ursula Show” on KIRO Newsradio.
WA strike a part of a growing national movement
The strike was part of a national movement. Teamsters 252 is set to join unions in California, Georgia, Illinois, and Massachusetts in the strike.
“These workers perform dangerous, high-stakes jobs that protect our communities and environment every single day,” Victor Mineros, Secretary-Treasurer of Local 396 and Director of the Teamsters Solid Waste and Recycling Division, said regarding the national movement. “They deserve a contract that respects their contributions — not lowball proposals and corporate stonewalling. The company must bargain in good faith.”
Contributing: KIRO 7
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