Union optimistic garbage strike can be averted

Wednesday, March 29, 2006

Unionized garbage-truck drivers won't necessarily walk off their jobs at midnight Friday night if no labor agreement is reached by then, when their current contract expires, a union representative said Tuesday.

Although drivers, represented by Teamsters Local 174, have authorized a strike, continuing progress in negotiations could keep them on the job, local Secretary-Treasurer Dan Scott said. (Note: Scott was misidentified in the original version of this article.)

Scott said he is hopeful an agreement could be reached to avert a strike. "I'm an optimist," he said. "I do see the elements for a possible settlement."

The 600 drivers in Local 174 work for Waste Management Inc. and the Rabanco division of Allied Waste Industries Inc. Those companies provide curbside garbage pickup in Seattle, most of the rest of King County and parts of Snohomish County.

Drivers of trucks that pick up recyclables and yard waste are in a different Teamsters local covered by another labor agreement.

The companies and the county are developing contingency plans in the event the drivers walk out, county administrators told a King County Council committee Tuesday.

"We believe we're prepared in case of a strike," Theresa Jennings, director of the county's solid-waste division, told the council. "We will continue to operate as normally as possible and on schedule," she said.

But a strike would curtail service for five to six weeks, Jennings said. Single-family residences would be most affected, with collections delayed up to three weeks, she said.

The companies will put managers behind the wheel and hire replacement drivers, but they can't fill all the slots of striking drivers, she said.

If there is a strike, hospitals and nursing homes would get top priority for pickups, she said. Next would be food processors, then businesses that generate a lot of waste, such as restaurants, and then supermarkets, apartment and condominium developments and finally individual residences.

The garbage pickups by Local 174 drivers in Seattle are covered under Waste Management and Rabanco contracts with Seattle Public Utilities, rather than with the county.

The drivers are seeking relief from health insurance costs as well as reductions in overtime requirements, Scott said.

P-I reporter Gregory Roberts can be reached at 206-448-8022 or gregoryroberts@seattlepi.com.

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