Trash haulers threaten to strike if deal isn't reached by Friday

Trash haulers and local governments in King and Snohomish counties are bracing for a possible strike by drivers who pick up trash from the homes of about 2 million residents.

Teamsters Local 174 announced Monday that 96 percent of drivers voted Saturday to authorize a strike if an agreement isn't reached before the current contract expires Friday night.

But representatives of the union and the region's two dominant trash haulers, Allied Waste and Waste Management, said they were hopeful a contract would be signed without a work stoppage.

"We don't want a strike, and we'll do everything possible to avoid one," Local 174 Secretary Treasurer Dan Scott said in a statement. But, he added, "We're ready to strike if we are forced to."

The two companies' 500 to 600 Teamster drivers pick up trash in nearly all of King County, including Seattle, all of unincorporated Snohomish County and some Snohomish County cities, such as Mill Creek and Mountlake Terrace.

"We're optimistic that we can reach a settlement that's reasonable and responsible," said Nels Johnson, Allied Waste municipal-affairs manager.

Jerry Hardebeck, Waste Management's director of public-sector services for Washington, said his company hasn't been involved in a strike since it expanded into the Seattle area in 1981.

A last-minute agreement averted a strike in 2000 when the companies and drivers reached agreement on a six-year contract that boosted base pay for experienced drivers to $24.45 an hour.

Key issues in negotiations, which began last month, include employee health-care premiums, safety and mandatory overtime, said union and company representatives.

Overtime is a safety issue, said Teamsters spokesman Tom Herriman. "If you've been out on the road for 10 hours in those trucks, which weigh 18,000 pounds when empty and weigh 30,000 pounds when fully loaded, it's like an unguided missile."

Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels' spokesman, Marty McOmber, said the city has developed contingency plans for a strike and Nickels will discuss the issue at a news conference Wednesday.

The Metropolitan King County Council's labor operations and technology committee will receive a briefing Wednesday on the impact of a possible strike.

King County Solid Waste Utility spokesman Logan Harris said county transfer stations will continue to operate if there is a strike. Customers of Rabanco Connections in Snoqualmie, North Bend and part of Sammamish, and American Disposal on Vashon Island would not be affected by a strike, Harris said.

The last garbage strike in Seattle was in 1997, when service was disrupted for three days in some neighborhoods. A 1995 strike affected 40,000 customers in South King County.

Keith Ervin: 206-464-2105