Pierce County garbage haulers vote to strike
Members of Teamsters Local 313 voted around 5 a.m. today, saying Folsom, Calif.-based Waste Connections’ latest contract offer would cost them money in the long run.
Waste Connections was ready with replacement workers and trucks were rolling out the company’s gates in Fife at 6:15 a.m.
Waste Connections and the local companies it owns, Murrey’s, D.M. and American disposal companies, serve about a dozen Pierce County communities, including Fife, Puyallup and the Gig Harbor area.
Company officials said last week that garbage would be collected, though it would probably be late as managers and drivers learned the routes.
About 55 garbage haulers serving 65,000 customers have been working without a contract since Sept. 30. They’re asking for pay raises and improved working conditions.
Union leaders have asked for a $1.23 per hour wage increase over a three-year contract. Waste Connections has offered a pay freeze in the first year of a five-year contract and raises that add up to $1.10 per hour over four years.
Workers, who earn about $18.75 an hour, are also asking for more paid holidays, better working hours and better health benefits.
The company proposed cutting holiday pay and taking away Labor Day as a holiday, according to Rick Payne, secretary-treasurer for the Teamsters Local 313.
Company officials have declined to discuss the contract.