Boston City Councilors, Secretary of State urge company to resolve trash strike

The Secretary of State and several members of the Boston City Council are calling on waste management giant Republic Services to go back to the negotiating table and end a nearly two-week sanitation worker strike affecting more than a dozen Bay State communities According to Secretary of State Bill Galvin the ongoing dispute between the company and more than striking members of Teamsters Local should have been resolved already Galvin blamed the delay on the trash company Residents of these communities are experiencing inconvenience disruption and hardship because of these stalled negotiations caused by the failure of your company to continue functioning participation the long-serving statewide official declared in a letter addressed to Republic Services President Jon Vander Ark Galvin s letter comes with an air of caution for the company indicating that the strike raises serious questions about whether these crucial population services should be left to private companies without state oversight On behalf of the citizens I represent I urge you to intensify your negotiations at once Galvin wrote Galvin s concerns were echoed by several members of the Boston City Council which last week voted to unanimously endorsement a resolution standing in solidarity with Teamsters Local calling on Republic Services to negotiate in good faith In their own letter addressed to Vander Ark City Councilors John Fitzgerald Ed Flynn and Erin Murphy revealed they are deeply concerned about the ongoing work stoppage and the resulting impact on the city s residents strength local businesses and our residents The elected officers pointed to Vander Ark s annual compensation exceeding million and questioned why a Fortune company with substantial annual profits and such a well paid boss would nickel and dime its employees and refuse to provide them with the fair and respectful medication they deserve We urge Republic services to promptly return to the bargaining table and reach a contract that reflects the dedication of these workers and meets the expectations of the communities you serve they wrote According to a spokesperson for the union Teamsters members met with company negotiators in the presence of a federal mediator for nine-and-a-half hours on Friday but reached no agreement The company offered more money than they had in previous rounds of negotiations but they wouldn t budge on employee healthcare benefits and wouldn t continue talks through the weekend Republic Services explained in a Saturday message that they upped their pay increase offer to an approximately raise over five years with a nearly gain to be seen instantly Since nearly half of the company s local employees earn upwards or more than six-figure salaries according to the company the negotiated rate would see multiple sanitation workers making about annually within the next five years The company suggests it s Teamsters Local President Tom Mari who s responsible for dragging out talks and that the union s representatives are not taking negotiations seriously Contrary to the a multitude of falsehoods the Teamsters are spreading our offer outpaces competitors When a wage proposal this essential is combined with zero-premium healthcare and generous retirement contributions there is no question who is responsible for this ongoing strike Teamsters Local and its president Tom Mari It is time for the Teamsters to get serious about negotiations so our employees can return to work they announced in their declaration Mari disclosed that the offer made on Friday still leaves his members short of the pay they would earn working for a competing trash company The union yearned to keep negotiations going through the night and the weekend if needed Mari revealed but the company apparently walked out and refused to meet again until Tuesday morning Tuesday morning will represent the third week of strikes which began at the start of July when the Teamsters last contract with the company expired without a replacement on the books I feel bad for the citizens in the cities and towns serviced by Republic I know that several of the towns have threatened Republic with fines and penalties but nothing seems to get the company s attention Mari noted The Local union president announced that he warned the company that if they didn t wrap negotiations the walkouts would spread to local unions in other parts of the country Mari mentioned the strike has now expanded to include Teamsters in California and Washington state and that upwards of union members are now in the midst of a work stoppage The union will continue striking according to Mari until Republic bargains fair and equitable contracts in locations across the country Trash overflows at a dumpster in Allston on Sunday Nancy Lane Boston Herald On strike signs are tacked onto the gate outside Republic Services in Revere on Sunday Nancy Lane Boston Herald