Watertown DPW Watertown trash and recycling and compost bins.
The two sides met Friday to discuss the trash strike impacting more than a dozen other communities, including Watertown, but left without coming to an agreement.
The strike began July 1, and replacement crews began collecting trash and recycling in Watertown on July 7. The crews, however, were not able to complete the full day’s run, and this week Watertown hired an outside contractor to assist with pickups.
This week, City Manager George Proakis sent a letter to both the Teamsters and Republic asking them to end the strike. He also said in a separate statement that the City won’t join legal action filed by six other communities, for now. See more here.
The City of Watertown’s announcement about trash collection on Friday said that trash pickups would continue Saturday to collect in areas missed during the week.
The announcement added:
The emergency trash and recycling drop-off site at 148 Waltham Street will be closed over the weekend (7/19-7/20). The drop-off site will reopen on Monday, July 21, from 7:30am – 3:30pm for residents needing to drop-off any overflow trash and recycling. Please limit your drop-off to 3 bags of household trash and/or the equivalent amount of recycling that would fit in your bins. Please prepare to show a license or utility bill to confirm Watertown residency
Details regarding missed pickups:
- Please wait to report a missed pickup for 48 hours due to anticipated delays.
- Residents are encouraged to report a missed pickup just one time between scheduled pickups to the City’s 311 Service Center, on SeeClickFix, or the Watertown MA App.
Please continue to visit watertown-ma.gov/republicstrike for updates and also watch a recent interview with City Manager George Proakis discussing the trash and recycling disruptions.
Negotiations
On Friday, representatives from Republic Services and Teamsters Local 25 had a 5-hour session, but failed to reach an agreement.
A statement from the union called the meeting “a wasted bargaining session,” and said it offered to have its employees at Republic make nearly $5 less than those working for Capitol and Boston Carting.
Republic’s statement said that the Teamsters’ leadership are “focused on disinformation and disruption.”
Union officials said Republic refused to budget on items including wages, health insurance, and “continued to threaten punishment for employees for picket line activities.”
Republic said it offered “industry leading” wages and retirement contributions, and zero-premium healthcare. In addition, the statement said the union did not take the offer to its members, and “engaged in dangerous and unlawful intimidation tactics,” and “vandalized equipment and physically assaulted our employees.”
Read the statement from Teamsters Local 25:
REPUBLIC TURNS ITS BACK ON MASSACHUSETTS
BOSTON – Following another wasted bargaining session where Republic took a 5-hour caucus and then returned without any increase in its wage proposal and refused to budge from its position not to agree to the more comprehensive Teamsters Health Insurance Plan, Tom Mari, President of Teamsters Local Union No. 25 stated, “This continues Republic’s policy of surface bargaining. They’re going through the motion with no intent to reach an agreement and that’s why we filed an Unfair Practice Charge against the company with the National Labor Relations Board.”
“At 10:00am this morning we offered a complete package that would still leave Republic almost $5 behind Capitol in the first year of the contract because we offered to delay the implementation of the Teamsters Health Insurance for one year and would permit employees who aren’t covered by the company’s plan to opt out of ours. You would think that offer, with the possibility of a 5-year contract, would force the company to give us a significant counter proposal. Instead, after 5 hours of waiting, the company gave us NOTHING! They refused to increase their wage offer, refused the Teamster health insurance, still insisted on using cameras in the cabs to discipline drivers, refused to allow drivers to honor picket lines and continued to threaten punishment for employees for picket line activities,” Mari said.
Local 25’s negotiating committee refused to be intimidated by Republic’s unlawful behavior. Instead, the committee developed another offer that, if accepted by Republic, would be presented to the membership Friday evening. Mari said, “I promised the company that we would recommend its acceptance, and the employees would return to work on Saturday, but, once again, Republic refused to negotiate.” Mari concluded, “Obviously, we have no choice but to continue our strike until Republic comes to its senses.” Today’s session ended without any agreement on future dates for negotiations.
Teamster members remain on strike at several Republic locations throughout the United States as well as thousands of Teamsters members continue to honor extended picket lines in many states.
Read the statement from Republic Services:
Teamsters Want to Prolong Strike
Republic Services Committed to Resolution While Teamsters Choose Chaos and Conflict
We are 18 days into the Teamsters-led strike, and a stark contrast has emerged: 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.
Negotiations ended earlier than we wanted today, and the meeting revealed the Teamsters’ true priorities – their work stoppage isn’t about our Boston employees’ welfare. It’s about demands that benefit the union and a desire to cause chaos and conflict.
While Republic Services has offered to:
- Pay industry-leading wages
- Maintain our zero-premium healthcare plan with no deductible
- Provide industry-leading retirement contributions
The Teamsters have:
- Rejected strong proposals without allowing members to review or vote
- Demanded the ability to force Boston employees to strike over disputes in other states, which would harm our communities
- Engaged in dangerous and unlawful intimidation tactics
- Vandalized equipment and physically assaulted our employees
Yet, during today’s meeting, Local 25 President Tom Mari claimed that “we are stonewalling them.” This could not be further from the truth. Our proposal to increase wages 16% immediately, and 43% over the life of the contract is far from “stonewalling.”
The Teamsters’ pattern of criminal behavior — including truck theft, tire slashing, spraying chemicals on drivers and hate speech — demonstrates the union’s preference for chaos over compromise. The Teamsters have the audacity to demand – as one of their top priorities – amnesty for their threats, violence and criminal activity during this work stoppage. We believe everyone – even the Teamsters – should be held accountable for their actions.
Republic Services remains committed to our employees and the communities we serve. We want to welcome our team back to work with the industry-leading pay and benefits they deserve. The Teamsters appear willing to sacrifice employee paychecks and community needs to advance their own agenda rather than supporting the employees they claim to support.
No negotiating sessions are scheduled at this time.
We continue working hard to provide service. Customers seeking service updates can visit www.republicservices.com/BostonUpdates.