The two sides have not come to an agreement on the trash strike impacting Watertown and 11 other communities, and it appears they have not been at the negotiation table since last week. The City says replacement crews continue to pick up trash, and missed collections will be dealt with later in the day.
On Wednesday, Teamsters Local 25 sent out a release saying that officials with Republic Services have not met with them.
“Republic Services was told on Thursday, July 3, if they did not begin negotiations by Monday, July 7, we were prepared to extend picket lines across the country. Local 25 has not been contacted by Republic since then,” an announcement from the union said.
According to WHDH Channel 7, Republic services responded to the Teamsters’ statement.
“We stand ready to meet at any time with the Teamsters when they are ready to re-engage. We will continue to focus on providing service and doing right by our employees. We call on Teamsters’ leadership to immediately stop the instigation, intimidation, and criminal acts, and resolve this situation,” Republic said, according to a report by WHDH.
Trash collection restarted this week, but some residents have not had their trash collected this week. The City encouraged residents to call 311, or go to the City’s 311 Service Center page, to report a missed collection.
See more information in the City of Watertown’s statement on the Trash Strike for July 10:
- Curbside pickup will continue tomorrow, Friday, July 11, 2025, with regularly scheduled Friday B week service in Watertown.
- The City is aware delays and missed pickups have occurred during Republic Services’ curbside pickup service this week. Delays have been caused by the replacement crews’ unfamiliarity with Watertown and travel times, among other factors.
- Please continue to leave your bins out if your scheduled trash or recycling pickup was missed. If you have called the City this week to report a missed pickup, the City has documented that missed pickup and continues to share an updated list with Republic Services. Republic Services is returning to previously missed pickups at the end of each day.
- For those with scheduled pickup on Thursday, July 10, 2025, whose trash or recycling was missed, please contact the City’s 311 Service Center, or submit a request via SeeClickFix or the Watertown MA App.
- The City has requested Republic Services to provide Saturday service this weekend to complete any missed pickups that have occurred and are not returned to before Friday. We will announce updates regarding this request as soon as we have them.
- The City will continue to operate an emergency trash and recycling drop-off site at 148 Waltham Street on Friday, July 11, 2025, from 7:30am – 3:30pm. Please limit your drop off to 3-bags of household trash and/or an equivalent amount of recycling that would go into your bins.
Please stay up to date at watertown-ma.gov/republicstrike and read the regularly updating FAQs. The City will make another announcement tomorrow, Friday, July 11, 2025, to keep residents updated. We appreciate everyone’s patience and understanding.
Trash was picked up just now.