Trash hauler fails to sign labor pact

Three months after garbage-truck drivers negotiated a new contract with employers, they may go on strike against one employer that hasn't signed the May 7 agreement.

Dan Scott, secretary-treasurer of Teamsters Local 174, said Monday that he expects union leadership to decide today what to do about the unsigned contract with Waste Management.

Waste Management's 350 drivers collect garbage from about 1 million customers in Seattle and other parts of King and Snohomish counties.

Jerry Hardebeck, the company's public-sector services director, said the company hadn't signed the contract because another Teamsters branch — Local 117, which represents recycling and yard-waste drivers — had said the contract infringed on its members' right to move to higher-paying jobs as garbage drivers and back again.

"We're caught in the middle," Hardebeck said. "We're happy to sign the contract as soon as these two unions settle their differences."

Local 117 Organizing Director Leonard Smith dismissed that explanation as "company spin. ... It's a job-security issue and I'm sure it's something we will work out."

Smith noted that the issue didn't stop Allied Waste, the region's other large hauler, from signing a contract with garbage drivers in June.

While the contract between drivers and Waste Management remains unsigned, the 40 mechanics who maintain the company's trucks also have grown frustrated with their unsuccessful contract talks with the company. After meeting with mechanics Sunday, Scott said the union gave the company 10 days' notice that it will terminate the contract that expired last December.

Without a contract in force, mechanics will be free to strike at the end of 10 days, Scott explained.

He said garbage drivers could be called out on strike at any time without a membership vote. Drivers terminated their contract with Waste Management last spring and authorized a strike if an agreement weren't reached.

Scott said he has been meeting informally with drivers and expects to decide today whether to strike or file an unfair-labor-practices complaint with the National Labor Relations Board.

He said the union informed the company Friday of its plans to file an NLRB complaint if the contract weren't signed by today.

"We've been very responsible and very patient," Scott said. "My patience has worn thin. I'm no longer interested in warnings or threats or any heads-up." If the company doesn't sign the contract, he said, "they will get what they deserve."

King County Executive Ron Sims' chief of staff, Kurt Triplett, said Sims' office was monitoring the situation but had not been informed of plans to strike. "We are encouraging both sides to come back to the table and work it out. We are hoping it's going to get resolved soon," Triplett said.

Marianne Bichsel, spokeswoman for Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels, reiterated the mayor's earlier position that the city will impose hefty fines on Waste Management if it fails to pick up household garbage. "We expect them to meet the terms of their contract with the city," she said.

Keith Ervin: 206-464-2105 or kervin@seattletimes.com