Teamsters at Waste Management Strike for Fair Contract, Respect

[Omaha Steve]

http://sev.prnewswire.com/environmental-services/20071020/CLSA00920102007-1.html

450 Los Angeles Sanitation Workers Seek an End to Substandard Wages

Teamsters at Waste Management Strike for Fair Contract, Respect

LOS ANGELES, Oct. 20 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- On the morning of October 19, more than 450 members of Teamsters Local 396 that are employed by Waste Management Inc. made the difficult decision to go out on strike in an effort to raise awareness of their fight for a fair contract offer from the company. This decision was made after extensive discussion and consideration between the membership and union leadership.

The members voted against ratifying the last contract offer from Waste Management by an overwhelming margin of 247-115. To date, the workers have voted down three offers from the company due to, in part, Waste Management's refusal to make a serious effort to correct the wage disparity that exists in its system. What the company continues to ignore is that these 450 workers make far less per hour than workers under other Waste Management Teamster contracts in major cities across the country.

"I am out on this picket line because I am in a fight for my family's future," said Sylvester Anthony, a 29-year employee at Waste Management. "Los Angeles is one of the most expensive places in the country to raise a family and I can barely make ends meet on the wages Waste Management provides. How am I going to explain to my son that I can't afford to pay for the college education he has worked so hard to earn?"

Waste Management pays as much as $9 per hour more to its workers in other large cities across the country. In comparison, city employees in LA County that perform similar work make up to $6 per hour more.

"Our workers are only asking for comparable wages," said Ron Herrera, Secretary-Treasurer of Teamsters Local 396. "This is a company that spends millions of dollars sending its strike-breaking 'Green Team' around the country. Waste Management spends more on this team than it would take to settle a contract that includes a respectable wage structure. These workers are tired of being victims of a corporate agenda."

Local 396 has stated publicly that it is prepared to return to negotiations with Waste Management at any time so both sides can work toward constructing an agreement that addresses the workers' concerns.

Teamsters Local 396 represents more than 10,000 workers in the LA County area, 3,500 in sanitation and more than 1,000 workers at Waste Management Inc.
Website: http://www.teamster.org/