A further round of negotiations held last week did not bring the two sides of an ongoing trash strike in Greater Boston any closer to a consensus, as a rep for the waste management company says they aren’t sure what else they could offer to get striking Teamsters back to work.
Speaking with the Herald on Wednesday, Jake Anderson, Republic Services’ Area President, said that his company remains willing to talk with representatives for the 400 striking Teamsters Local 25 members, but that the other side needs to get serious about negotiating.
“We remain willing to negotiate and will return to the table just as soon as the union is willing to negotiate,” Anderson said.
The union’s Republic employees first walked off the job on July 1 — more than two months ago today — after their previous contract with the waste management giant ended without a replacement in place.
According to Republic, their more than a dozen meetings with Teamsters representatives have gone nowhere, despite the fact that they’ve offered to up driver pay by 16% immediately and 43% over the next five years. That would leave most Republic trash truck drivers in Massachusetts making upwards of $140,000 annually, according to the company.
The real sticking point seems to be who will cover the employees’ healthcare. The union wants its members transitioned to the Teamsters’ plan, while the company maintains their plan is a more comprehensive benefit package that comes with no premium costs for care.
Anderson could not say if the insurance matter had help up other Teamsters contracts, but did indicate that his company had successfully negotiated contracts with dozens of other Teamsters local unions.
Only the Local 25, he said, has proven to be different.
At their most recent meeting, he said, the union “continued to increase their ask” of the company but isn’t negotiating “constructively.”
On Wednesday, the union voted overwhelmingly — 84% — to reject the company’s new offer and remain on strike. Local 25 President Tom Mari said that his members will remain off the job until they see an offer on par with other trash companies.
“This group is one of the strongest groups I’ve ever worked with in my more than three decades as a Teamster. Today’s vote was another reminder that these workers are in this fight for industry standard wages and benefits,” he said.
“The ironic thing is that we are not asking for anything more than the other trash haulers represented by our union,” he added. “Today’s vote should be a strong message to Republic to come back to the table and negotiate a fair and equitable contract. We are ready to meet and make the discount, so we can go back to work.”
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