Union trash haulers to return to work
Striking employees for the Seattle garbage hauling company Waste Management returned in full to work today after accepting the company's offer to return to the bargaining table. 450 workers struck for the last two days, after negotiations stalled and they refused to return to talks. The Teamsters Local 174 said they were happy with the new bargaining offer - currently the final offer could raise drivers' wages about $1,000 a year for the next five years. With the return of the employees, trash for approximately 1 million locations in King and Snohomish counties will be picked up as normal. Waste Management could have faced up to $1.5 million in penalties per week, for every week that waste was not picked up. The company had scrambled for the last two days to assemble its 'Green Team,' managers and replacement workers who would remove trash during the strike.
See "Union trash haulers to return to work", Lynn Thompson, The Seattle Times, April 22, 2010