Teamsters strike at Republic Services disrupts trash pickup in La Salle County

Thousands of La Salle County residents had their trash collection disrupted Wednesday, after Teamsters at Republic Services in Ottawa launched a strike as part of a broader dispute with the company.

The walkout by 25 members of Teamsters Local 179 is one of a series of actions that could expand to involve more than 3,500 workers nationwide.

On Tuesday morning, 450 Republic Services workers in Boston went on strike, causing disruptions across the Boston area, according to a news release.

“This all started in Boston and it’s now growing across the country,” Teamsters Communications Coordinator Matt McQuaid said. “Teamsters everywhere now are coming together to address ongoing issues with Republic Services.”

The union is demanding improved wages, benefits and labor protections.

Chris Richter, President of Teamsters Local 179 of Joliet, said workers in Ottawa are pushing for a contract that matches terms already in place at Republic’s facilities in Joliet and Pontiac.

“Those two contracts are very close in wages and working conditions - what we like to call an area standard,” Richter said. “Republic has taken the position that they do not want to give us the same language or even remotely similar wages.”

Negotiations began in mid-June, but Richter said talks have stalled recently.

“We feel that they’ve been negotiating in bad faith,” he said. “They’ve taken upwards of five hours just to come back with counterproposals.”

There are no future scheduled meetings.

While some Republic garbage trucks were seen on the streets Wednesday, Richter said residents and businesses in La Salle County should still expect service disruptions, especially for recycling and yard waste pickup.

“They had maybe 10 or 12 trucks out today, but they’re filling them with supervisors who hold CDLs,” Richter said. “They’ve already told some customers not to expect yard waste or recycling to be picked up.”

Richter said the issues in Ottawa reflect a larger pattern nationally.

“This is not unique to just Ottawa,” he said. “Republic is making billions of dollars, and yet they don’t want to show up with the money or the proper language to protect the jobs of these hardworking men and women.”

According to the company’s most recent earnings report, Republic Services made more than $2 billion in profit last year and returned over $1 billion to shareholders, while also reporting strong revenue growth across its business in general.

In response to the strike, Republic Services issued a statement about the union’s decision to strike:

“It is disappointing that the union called a work stoppage rather than continue negotiating in good faith toward a fair and competitive contract that benefits our employees and our customers. A work stoppage does not benefit our employees or the communities we serve.

“We planned for the possibility of a work stoppage and have taken several steps to continue providing service, including securing Republic Services employees from other areas, prioritizing routes and optimizing routing efficiency. We are currently operating 75% of our collection routes and have been communicating service changes to impacted customers. We apologize for the inconvenience this may cause.

“We provide our employees with competitive wages, a robust health and wellness package and a generous time-off and holiday plan. Our current offer would increase wages, add a paid holiday and maintain current health and time-off benefits with no reductions.

“We are committed to continuing discussions with the union and remain hopeful that an agreement will be reached soon.”