City Manager George Proakis spent more of his vacation than expected talking about trash, the strike, and how to deal with collection while Republic Services and Teamsters Local 25 negotiate a contract.
The two sides met Tuesday, the 11th negotiating session, but did not come up with an agreement. In the meantime, Watertown and around a dozen other communities have been trying to make sure trash is collected.
Proakis spoke to Watertown News at Tuesday’s grand opening of the renovated Arsenal Park, after returning from his time away from town. The City’s contract with Republic calls for replacement service to continue to pick up trash and recycling during a labor dispute. Proakis said the backup crews have not been able to keep up with normal trash and recycling collection.
“To run trash in Watertown requires you to be in town five days a week with three trash trucks and two recycling trucks,” he said. “But to run it with the backup crews that don’t know the streets and don’t know some of the day-to-day stuff going on the community — and by the way, they’re not using the trucks with the (mechanical) arms, they’re basically reaching, tossing them in the back of the trucks, which is more work. Even with the same amount of people they still can’t deliver the same service.”
He added that while on a typical day trash collection begins at 7 a.m., during the strike trucks sometimes don’t arrive until 10 a.m.
“So we’ve already lost three hours,” Proakis said.
In an effort to provide some relief to residents, the City has opened a trash and recycling drop off area at 148 Waltham St. (the former Sterritt Lumber site) from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. during weekdays. This and other efforts have cost the City money, which Proakis is calling on Republic to cover.
“I have put them on notice by email that there is a liquidated damages clause in our contract that says that they have to cover costs unanticipated created by their failure to not to provide we’re measuring those costs,” Proakis said. “They’re adding up quickly because we’re running that drop-off center, and we’re and we’re bringing some of our own contractors in to do bits and pieces here where we can. And we’re doing that all on our own.”
Watertown recently signed a five-year contract with Republic, Proakis said. Before the strike, service had been good.
“We have a good working relationship. Our direct contact person (at Republic) is very responsive,” Proakis said. “The challenge is that that person is a part of that unit. So, he’s on a picket line right now.”
Some have suggested switching contractors, but Proakis said that is not a simple change. The City would have to start from scratch with a new contractor, and rebuild the relationships and the company’s understanding of collecting trash in Watertown.
“Switching contractors is an interesting topic of conversation. I think the problem is there’s no perfect trash and recycling contract,” Proakis said. “And if (Republic Services) settle a contract, there’s going to be a period of time, once that contract is settled, that they will have labor peace. And if we switch to someone else, and they come out of contract next year, we can find ourselves right back in the same situation again. The thing I can say about Republic is that when they’re working, when everything is working well, which literally is like up until three weeks ago.”
He added that trash contracts are exempt from the state’s typical procurement process, which requires seeking bidders and awarding the contact to the lowest responsible bidder.
“We had a contract with Republic. Our last round we basically negotiated an extension,” Proakis said. “There’s different ways that you can do it. It does allow us to be nimble, like in this particular case, when we set up that transfer station that’s at 148 Waltham St. (during the strike).”
Proakis also spoke about the trash strike with Watertown Cable’s Jim Vershbow. See the video here.
Negotiations
On Tuesday, the two sides met for more than 12 hours, along with a federal mediator, but the two sides could not reach an agreement. According to a statement sent out by Republic, the company offered to return to the bargaining table on Friday, but the union did not agree to do so.
More State level officials have called for an end to the strike. Deborah Goldberg, Massachusetts State Treasurer sent a letter to Republic urging the company to settle the contract.
“Our Commonwealth depends on fair labor practices that respect workers and safeguard the communities they serve,” Goldberg wrote. “It is troubling that despite multiple negotiations, Republic Services has not met basic expectations for fair wages, comprehensive benefits, safe working conditions, and reasonable paid time off —forcing workers to strike as a last resort.”
Earlier, Secretary of State William Galvin sent a letter to Republic calling for a contract settlement.
Meanwhile, Republic filed a legal action in Federal Court in Boston against Teamsters Local 25.
“This action follows numerous incidents of harassment, threats, physical intimidation, vandalism, and blockades of Republic’s trucks and employees throughout Greater Boston, including:
- Theft of a Republic Services garbage truck
- Slashing of tires
- Spraying chemicals into the eyes of a Republic Services driver
- Blocking trucks at facilities and customer sites, delaying our ability to serve customers
- Threats of violence and hate speech directed at employees”
After Tuesday’s negotiation session, Teamsters Local 25 President Tom Mari released a statement about the status of bargaining.
“Despite the union indicating its willingness to modify its health insurance proposal to meet the company’s concerns, Republic turned its back to us. We offered a plan to the company that would delay the start of the union insurance, saving the company a substantial amount of money,” Mari said. “We also offered a plan that would result in certain employees the company claimed it was concerned about to make certain they would continue to get the benefits of the prevailing wage law. Instead, the company rejected every proposal. Then it actually decreased its wage offer for one of the more critical jobs performed for Republic.”
Republic also sent out a statement about negotiations.
“We confirmed that our wage offer is higher than our local competitors, but the Teamsters were unwilling to compromise on their demands,” the statement said.
The company said the wage offer is better than its competitors. Also, that Republic employees have a zero-premium healthcare plan with no deductibles and says that the one proposed by the union would be more expensive and not provide “significantly greater benefit.” And, the company said that safety is non-negotiable.
“Enough is enough. It is time for the Teamsters to end this strike,” Republic’s statement said. “We empathize with customers who have been impacted by the Teamsters’ decision to stop work. We are working hard to continue providing service.”
Mari said in his statement that Republic has not presented “a legitimate offer that recognizes our needs,” and he called on the company to provide the same wages as Teamsters working at other companies.
“As I told Republic weeks ago, Local 25 will continue the strike until Republic agrees to pay the same wages and benefits enjoyed by our members who work for Capitol and Star,” Mari said. “That’s why we are willing to meet every day for as long as it takes to get our members what they deserve.”